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Pukekohe Swap Meet approaching

22 February, 2016

The 39th annual Pukekohe Swap Meet is set to take over the Franklin A&P Showgrounds, Station Road, Pukekohe, on March 5 and 6, 2016.

The event, which is hosted by the Auckland branch of the Chevrolet Enthusiasts Car Club always attracts a huge crowd and offers a great variety of stalls, making for one of the last true swap meets still around. Also, this year’s Targa Rally will be using part of the grounds for their service base, and this will be open to the public to see!

Swap sites are just $40 including entry for the driver, or $15 including driver for Sunday only, with $5 entry on the gate for the public. Entry is free for classics or hot rods on both days.

For those intending on making a weekend of it, remember there are no bar facilities, but you are more than welcome to bring your own refreshments.

Call Rob on 0274 955 567, or email [email protected] for more info. There are a limited number of powered sites available, which need to be booked in advance. 

Britannia rules the roads – Royal Tour Cars – part 1

30 May, 2025

Today we take royal tours for granted, but once upon a time, or at any time before the 20th century, it was impossible for our monarchs to visit their downunder dominions because of the distances involved and the unreliable transport.
The advent of steam power for ships and trains, the evolution of the motor car and, finally, the arrival of passenger air travel shrank their world, and ours, considerably, and the royal tour became a feature of the empire and the Commonwealth.
The first British royal visitor to Aotearoa, New Zealand, was Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1920. During his 28-day tour, he travelled mostly by the royal train, which was both safer and more convenient for royal personages. A variety of best-available cars were used locally. Ideally, these would be Daimlers.

Motorman: Blame it on Rio!

22 May, 2025

Following the third polite advisory, I figured there had to be a fair degree of substance to the warning. “If this is your first visit to Rio de Janeiro, please be careful,” came the personal hushed dialogue from the pleasant hostesses on a far from crowded Varig flight from Los Angeles to the famous Brazilian seaside city.
The previous evening I had flown into LA from Auckland en route to the 1985 international launch of the Fiat Uno Turbo. I was prepared for another long haul of just under 12 hours across Mexico, central America, Colombia, and central Brazil to that nation’s third largest city. Surprisingly the 10,500km run from Los Angeles to Rio is actually longer than the 8800km LA-London air route.
With the journey including a brief stopover in Honolulu I expected to travel just under 44,000km for the return journey to sample what was to be a low-volume version of a popular Italian car that would sell in even lower numbers in New Zealand. I like to think this shows nothing more than my deep commitment to my craft. In fact, even though I became lost on the homeward journey my total air miles would be little different.