Weekend touring with the Bay of Plenty Jaguar Drivers Club

10 November, 2016

The temperamental weather did not put a dampener on the plans that the Bay of Plenty Jaguar Drivers Club had for their weekend trip to Whanganui on Sunday, November 6. Part of their lower North Island tour included a trip on the MV Wairua riverboat as part of the itinerary, which meant that the Whanganui public could come out to view the fine array of Jaguars on display by the Riverboat Centre, drawing out some of the local Jaguar owners as well.

The impressive display started with the unmissable E-Types glistening away under the intermittent sun. For me, my favourite was the Carmen Red V12, which sat their on display in all its magnificence. You just can’t beat the E-Type in red — it’s much like trying to say the word Jaguar without saying it in an English accent. Fortunately I have an English accent so it makes it much easier for me.

The range included a few MKI XKRs made famous by the James Bond film Die Another Day, XKR MKII’s, V8s, E-Types, Mk2s, XK8s, XJSC V12, plus a XJS. The XJS, although desirable to many Jaguar purists, carries a reputation of being unreliable, something that a company in the UK tried to correct by taking old XJSs and improving on everything up to, and including, the big 5.3-litre V12. Alas, the XJS before me was not one of these, but it still looked great amongst the more modern models, and more importantly it had made the journey there.

The event showed the good-natured trusting attitude of the Bay of Plenty Jaguar Drivers Club. They were happy to have their trip on the MV Wairua and let the adoring public roam through the neatly formed aisles — they certainly turned a few heads when the rumbling of V12s and V8s left to continue their journey.

Lunch with Bill Leckie: An Imp’s tale

6 August, 2026

Seeking limelight is part of Bill Leckie’s DNA, but when I asked him if anyone had written about his career and the cars he created, he didn’t think so. Even so, I was delighted when he agreed to sit down with me over a pie and coffee to reminisce. I started by asking how it is that someone who is so fanatical about F1 only ever raced saloon cars? Well, we’ll get to that, but where did things start? “I went to Cornwall Park Primary School and then to Remuera Intermediate where I became good mates with Geoff Perry, son of the legendary motorcycle racing legend Len.” Geoff Perry was 23 and on the edge of stardom when he was killed in a mystery air disaster over the Pacific in 1973. “We used to race around his backyard on a cutdown motorbike. It was friendly competition that I suppose helped hone our racing instincts. There was never much between us and so, by 11 or 12, I had a definite leaning towards speed.”

Mitsubishi’s secret weapon

31 July, 2026

Ewen’s Starion is a little different and special. He saved this one – literally ‘found in a paddock’ — just in time, as he relates.
“Mine is a 1983 Starion. I’ve had it about five years. I first saw it in a paddock at Ryal Bush [north of Invercargill], and I went past it three times. The third time I went back and knocked at the door, but the owner didn’t want to sell. He rang up a year later, and put a price on it, which we accepted. Only thing wrong was the motor was totally dismantled.”
Ewen then set about getting the car back to its current state.
“It took me six months to find somebody suitable to refurbish it back then. Simon Bradley at Midas in Invercargill offered to do it and he did a great job on it. The head was badly damaged around the valves, and Simon said you could get generic cylinder heads now, so he installed one, and it cost $800. It’s made such a difference to the car. Mine is an intercooled, fuel-injected turbo model, fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox. It’s a great car to drive too.”
Except for a small patch of surface rust, Ewen’s car was in surprisingly good condition despite its paddock life.

Weekend touring with the Bay of Plenty Jaguar Drivers Club

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