East meets West with this oriental Colt Galant GSR

18 September, 2015

Japanese car culture’s expansion to the proverbial West continues to grow and grow, with an exponentially increasing amount of stories of cars like this beautiful Mitsubishi Colt Galant GSR, which now calls America home, popping up all over the World Wide Web.

In stark contrast to the high-tech Mitsubishi GTO from the early ’90s that NZ Performance Car staffer René gallivants all around the greater North Island in, the Colt Galant GTO and GSR were much simpler beasts from a much simpler time. While René’s GTO features four-wheel steering, seats that mould to your body, and a twin-turbo six-cylinder 6G72 power plant; the Colt Galant GTO is your perennial battler, making do with an enthusiastic two-litre twin-carb engine paired with a five-speed manual. Simple thrills.

But enough of our talk (did we mention that René owns a GTO?) — find a quiet spot, put your feet up, and check out this stunning Petrolicious video on the Colt Galant below:

Header image: Petrolicious / Jeremy Heslup

Angela’s ashes

In November 2018, Howard Anderson had a dream of finding a 1964 Vauxhall PB Cresta to recreate the car he, his wife, Ruth, and three friends travelled in from London to Invercargill in 1969. The next night’s dream was a nightmare. He dreamed he would find the original Angela but it was a rusted wreck somewhere in Southland.
Howard’s inspiration came from reading about a driver in the 1968 London–Sydney Marathon who was reunited with his Vauxhall Ventora 50 years later. He, Ruth, and her parents had watched the start of the rally from Crystal Palace in South London. The fashion at the time among the rally and race set was to paint bonnets flat black to avoid the sun’s reflections flashing into the driver’s eyes, thus saving them from certain disaster. Howard admired the flat black bonnet on the Ventora so much he had Angela’s bonnet painted dull black.

Be in to win this Father’s Day with Classic Car

There’s going to be one lucky dad this Father’s Day
Be in to win a Husqvarna Pressure Washer worth RRP $729 when you subscribe to NZ Classic Car magazine.
Subscriptions start at only $39! Head here to our own shop magstore.nz to subscribe
Enter the code ‘WASHER’ at checkout to enter the draw.
Ts & Cs: Entries close 30 September 2025. This offer is open to New Zealand subscriptions only. The winner will be notified by email and have their name published in NZ Classic Car magazine.