Porsche nail 17th Le Mans victory

15 June, 2015

Following the spectacle that was the 24 Hours of Le Mans over June 13–14, the Porsche team has come out on top once again — the marque’s 17th victory at the event. What makes this event even more special is the fact that some of New Zealand’s very own racing talent helped to make it happen.

Kiwi Earl Bamber, along with Nico Hülkenberg and Nick Tandy, raced the Porsche 919 Hybrid to take the title exactly 45 years to the day after Porsche’s first victory at La Sarthe.

Kiwi young-gun Brendon Hartley also enjoyed a podium finish, along with teammates Timo Bernhard and Mark Webber, rounding off Porsche’s 1–2 podium effort.

We’ll have coverage of Le Mans in our upcoming issue of New Zealand Classic Car, so keep an eye out.

Put a ring around that

Provenance is a valuable part of a classic car and DKW/Auto Union collectors Brendan and Bobbette Odell have a detailed documented history of a special car in their growing collection of these little two-stroke wonders.
Brendan’s hometown of Pretoria enjoyed more than its fair share of the marque, where their reliability and performance made them popular..
“There used to be a joke going round in South Africa that there were more DKWs in Pretoria per square mile than anywhere else in the world,” Says Brendan.
The Odells redressed that balance a little when they shifted to New Zealand as they brought some of the cars with them.
One of their DKWs also accompanied them to Tonga. Brendan’s green 1959 Auto Union 1000 two-door went with them from South Africa to Tonga from 2010 to 2013 where he worked for the local airline. It then travelled on with them to New Zealand. It is one of just 10 right-hand drive cars of the two-door basic model remaining worldwide.

Stag roars again

The Triumph Stag pictured here has been lovingly restored from what was once, in the owner’s words, “a horrible, terrible job”. Owners Glynn and Alison Gaston hail from Dunedin and along with their grandchildren now enjoy cruising in the Stag after a three-and-a-half-year restoration.
In 2011, Glynn was looking for a classic car to restore. After 21 years with Air New Zealand he was working as a Super Shuttle driver, with four days on and four days off, which gave him the time to take on such a project — something he had always wanted to do.
“I’d looked at quite a few cars over the years. The idea was to restore a car as something to keep me going. I had looked at different MGs and I would have quite liked an Austin Healey or something similar but they were really expensive.
“Then I saw a Stag and I thought, Ah, this is nice. This is what I would like.