Valentine’s Day beauty, plus much more in the latest New Zealand Classic Car magazine

10 February, 2016

The February issue of New Zealand Classic Car is now on sale. From classic American to stylish European, and the latest in British, there’s plenty of good reading for everyone.

Matching all the glitz and glamour of the Ellerslie Intermarque Concours and Classic Car Show, our featured Valentine’s Day–special 1958 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe is indeed a real heartbreaker.

An author and retired barrister, the owner of our featured Karmann Ghia is well qualified to write about the restoration qualities of his stylish German coupé — so we asked him to tell his own tale.

Jaguar takes on the Germans at their own game with the all-new XE. We get behind the wheel of the Sport version for a day and find out if this new model really is capable of putting the cat amongst the pigeons.

We count down to the Ellerslie Intermarque Concours and Classic Car Show, and there’s also our usual Nationwide News section, Behind the Garage Door, as well as Motor Man, Motorsport Flashback, plus much more.

Pick up a copy at your local supermarket, bookshop, or petrol station, or buy a print copy or digital copy below:   


Merry Christmas from NZ Classic Car magazine

The Classic Car magazine team is taking a few weeks’ holiday from the work computer and heading to the beach for some kickback time.
Merry Christmas, and have a wonderful summer holiday to all our readers, followers, and fans. Enjoy this special extra time with the family. We will be posting archive articles again in mid to late January.
Have fun, be good and be careful out there.

Two engines instead of one?

Popping two motors into a car is not only complicated, it doesn’t always end well. Donn Anderson recalls early attempts, including John Cooper’s ill-fated original Twini Mini built 58 years ago

For a boost in performance, better traction, and perhaps improved handling to some, two motors seems an obvious solution. It would also eliminate the need to develop a larger engine replacement from scratch, but would that outweigh the not inconsiderable technical difficulties?
The idea of using a pair of engines dates back at least 86 years to the Alfa Romeo Bimotor single seater racing car that was officially timed at 335km/h, or 208mph. Taking a lengthened Alfa P3 chassis, the Italians fitted two supercharged straight eight 2.9-litre and 3.2-litre engines, one in front of the cockpit, and the other behind the cockpit.