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Contesting Bonneville Speed Week in a Mini

17 November, 2016

Kiwis and the salt flats in Utah, USA have a love affair that stretches back to the 1960s with Burt Munroe and his 1920 Indian. Ever since, hot rodders have travelled to the salt flats to battle the extreme elements and push their home-made machines far beyond what any manufacturer ever thought possible. It’s one of those bucket-list challenges that many dream of and few Kiwis actually achieve. 

In NZ Performance Car Issue No. 241 we sit down with the guys behind the Mini known as project 64; a group of Kiwis who have made their dream a reality not once, but twice. In 2016 they set two records, one of which was a reset of a record that they had previously claimed back in 2012. Built by a bunch of mad Kiwis based in Nelson, and with help from the Hartleys in the Manawatu, this little Mini Cooper has received worldwide press for its achievements, including a feature on Jay Leno’s Garage. Check it out here: 

The engine remains the factory 970cc capacity, but surprisingly makes 275kW on methanol, thanks to a BMW K1200GT twin-cam motorcycle head conversion and custom engine internals. The best speed Nelson has squeezed from it is 251.067kph. Grab your copy of NZ Performance Car Issue No. 241 to see what it’s like to run Speed Week, building motors on the salt, shaving your tyres, and pushing both man and machine, just like Burt did back in the ’60s. 

Take an on-board ride with Nelson during their 2012 salt adventures. 

NZ Performance Car Issue No. 241 will be in stores from Monday, November 20, but you can order your print copy now:




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NZ Classic Car magazine, March/April 2025 issue 398, on sale now

23 February, 2025

An HQ to die for
Mention the acronym HQ and most people in the northern hemisphere will assume this is an abbreviation for Head Quarters. However, for those born before the mid-’80s in Australia and New Zealand, the same two letters only mean one thing – HQ Holden!
Christchurch enthusiast Ed Beattie has a beautiful collection of Holden and Chevrolet cars. He loves the bowtie and its Aussie cousin and has a stable of beautiful, powerful cars. His collection includes everything from a modern GTSR W507 HSV through the decades to a 1960s Camaro muscle car and much in between.
In the last two Holden Nationals (run biennially in 2021 and 2023), Ed won trophies for the Best Monaro and Best Decade with his amazing 1972 Holden Monaro GTS 350 with manual transmission.
Ed is a perfectionist and loves his cars to reflect precisely how they were on ‘Day 1,’ meaning when the dealer released them to the first customer, including any extras the dealer may have added or changed.

You’re the one that I want – 1973 Datsun 240K GT

21 February, 2025

In the early 1970s, Clark Caldow was a young sales rep travelling the North Island and doing big miles annually. He loved driving. In 1975 the firm he worked for asked Clark what he wanted for his new car, and Clark chose a brand-new Datsun 240K GT. The two-door car arrived, and Clark was smitten, or in his own words, he was “pole vaulting.”
Clark drove it all over the country, racking up thousands of miles. “It had quite a bit of pep with its SOHC 128 hp (96kW) of power mated to a four-speed manual gearbox,” he says. Weighing in at 1240kg meant the power to weight ratio was good for the time and its length at almost 4.5 metres meant it had good street presence.
Clark has been a car enthusiast all his life, and decided around nine years ago to look for one of these coupes. By sheer luck he very quickly found a mint example refurbished by an aircraft engineer, but it was in Perth.