Quick Quiz: show us what you know about Pukekohe Park Raceway, and be in to win!

6 October, 2015

Pukekohe Park Raceway is widely considered to be the home of New Zealand motorsport. For many, it’s the location where their love affair with all things fast first kicked off — many a fan quick to proclaim that they know everything about the place they lovingly refer to as ‘Puke’.

But how well do you know Pukekohe Park Raceway? We’ve assembled a list of questions about the sacred grounds at the southernmost point of Auckland, and, if you take the quiz, you’ll be in to win an awesome V8 Supercars ITM 500 Auckland, 6-8 November prize package consisting of two three-day Platinum Reserved Grandstand tickets, as well as two Paddock passes — all adding up to a total value of over $500!

To enter, all you need to do is complete the quiz below, then fill out the form underneath with a few of your details, and your quiz score. It’s as easy as that! 

Pukekohe Park Raceway: take the quiz and be in to win

Ford’s Mustang – the endlessly hip American dream machine

Fifty or so years ago, the only place in New Zealand to see a Ford Mustang was on the racetrack. In a local market severely constrained by a lack of new motor vehicles, the new North American Ford was a dreamy icon boosted by considerable motorsport success.
Import licences for cars were limited, and if Kiwis travelled abroad, the amount of currency they could take with them was restricted. What’s more, those funds could not be used to buy a car for importation back home. Yet it was OK to spend the money on heavy drinking at a London pub, Gucci shoes, sable fur coats, and excessive stays at the Hôtel Martinez at Cannes in France.
However, any rare Mustang that landed on our shores would not be destined to pose around Auckland’s then trendy Queen Street on a Friday night but would more likely be found in the care of well-known racing drivers on the starting grid at local motor racing tracks.

Chrysler’s classy cruiser

I first saw our feature car, a 1970 V8-powered Regal 770 hardtop, towing a trailer carrying the tidy Ford Anglia classic racing saloon in Broadspeed racing colours that has featured in these pages. The coupe is comparatively rare here, which means anyone contemplating purchasing one of these big two-doors is sure to see prices continue to climb. The latter Charger has claimed much of the Aussie Chrysler limelight, but the simpler and classier lines of this car, which appeared dated soon after its introduction, now have a more timeless appeal.
Former owner, Balclutha motor engineer, Mike Verdoner, remembers the car well. He believes it came from Dunedin originally.
“I’m not sure about the car’s history, but I bought it off its owner at Kaitangata. Unusually, it was advertised in the local newspaper, the Clutha Leader, which was a surprise as these usually go for a lot more money on the internet. I had it for quite a few years. It needed a little bit of work to tidy it up, so I had to decide whether to spend the money on it to do it up, which could have been twenty grand. Its value at the time was not like it is now, so I sold it to Ewan. It’s probably now worth three or four times what I sold it for.”