Cruisin’ for Canteen

11 October, 2016

You’ve really gotta admire the folks that go out of their way for charities, and especially the large organizations that can make big things happen, changing the lives of an unquantifiable number of deserving people. Saturday, October 29 will be one of those days, with the Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise supported by Big Boys Toys and Smits Group in support of Canteen. 

The cruise will host a wide range of vehicles, and will attendees will be provided gift packs and a unique told-on-the-day cruise route, finally ending up at Big Boys Toys. 

Upon arrival, those involved in the cruise will take part in a VIP lap through the live-action arena, right before parking up in a VIP area created just for the cruise. For those interested in taking part in the charity cruise, your car must be presented at a very high level, including customs, classics, hot rods, imports, and street machines — as this is a show after al!

What’s also a really cool aspect of the cruise is that Meguiar’s is donating 50 cents for every vote submitted in the People’s Choice Award competition, as well as donating the entry fees to Canteen. 

If you’re interested in entering your car into the charity cruise and supporting an amazing cause, click here. Entries cost $45 per car. 

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.