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The Great Queen’s Birthday Market: a British transformation in Auckland

22 February, 2016

There’s a right-proper celebration happening this Queen’s Birthday weekend (June 4–6) at Auckland’s spectacular waterfront spot, Queens Wharf.

The Great Queen’s Birthday Market will see lower Shed 10 transformed into a thriving hub of stalls and performances, at which you can stock up on specialty, imported British, and Scottish products, along with countless New Zealand treasures, thanks to popular local craft, art, fashion, and accessory vendors.

Fun carnival fare with classic seaside carnival games — including laughing clowns and rides — will also be on offer to keep the young ones satisfied, or they can get crafty at the children’s workshops. The real kooks in the family can try the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. In addition, there will be performances from The Puppet Man marionette show — side-slapping fun for the whole family.

Vintage car displays will be revolving daily, with a broad selection of historic motors in attendance. Clubs that have displayed in previous years include the MG Car Club, Humber-Hillman Car Club, Daimler Lanchester Owners Club, Land Rover Owners Club, Jowett Car Club, and Jaguar Drivers Club Auckland, plus luxury British cars from the Giltrap Group, including McLaren, Aston Martin, and Bentley. And keep your eyes peeled for Robbies Double Decker Fun Bus rides touring the downtown area throughout the weekend.

Three great family films will also screen over the weekend, alongside an array of refreshments for anyone who just wants to kick back and relax. The Cloud will play host to a high-tea offering upstairs, for a touch of class, while there’s a relaxed bar and restaurant area downstairs.

So, make the most of the best long weekend in winter and get the family down to Queens Wharf.

Last Tango in the Fast Lane

30 April, 2026

In the mid ’80s, I locked into a serious Nissan/Datsun performance obsession. It could have kicked off with my ’82 Datsun Sunny, though this would have been a bit of a stretch of the imagination, given its normally aspirated 1.2-litre motor — not the sort of thing to unleash radical road warrior dreams. But it did plant a seed, and it was a sweet little machine and surprisingly quick, in contrast to all the diabolical English offerings I had endured.
I was living in South Auckland at the time and was an unrepentant petrolhead. Motor racing was my drug of choice, and I followed the scene slavishly. Saloon car racing, with the arrival of the international Group A formula, was having a serious renaissance here and in Australia and Europe. There was suddenly an exotic air in local racing that had been absent for 15 years.
I was transfixed by this new frontier of motor racing that had hit our tracks in 1985–87 and the new array of machinery on display. In 1986, the Nissan Skyline RS DR30 made a blinding impression on me. The Australian Fred Gibson-run, Peter Jackson-sponsored team of George Fury and Glenn Seton were the fastest crew of the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship. But Kiwi legend Robbie Francevic snuck through to win the Aussie Championship in his Volvo 240T after a strong start and consistent finishes.

NZ Classic Car magazine, May/June 2026 issue 405, on sale now

26 April, 2026

Reincarnation of the snake
We are captivated by a top-quality sports car
The Shelby NZ build team at Matamata Panelworks has endured a long and challenging journey, culminating with the highly anticipated public unveiling of the 427SC and firing up of its sonorous V8 at the 2026 Ayrburn Classic Festival of Motoring in Queenstown on February 20. This is a New Zealand-built car with loads of character and potential.
The car is now back in Matamata, and I finally have an opportunity to get up close and personal with it. But before then, the question that must be asked is, “Why would ya?”
The first answer is easy, as mentioned in the last issue of New Zealand Classic Car (#404). It was a great way to use up all the surplus Mustang parts acquired while converting brand-new Mustangs into Shelbys. The unused new Mustang parts would be great in any kit car, but the 427SC in front of me cannot be classified as one.
This is not a kit car. The reality is that it is a high-quality, factory-made production car.
Possibly the second answer is because the CEO of Matamata Panelworks, Malcolm Sankey, wanted to build a replica of the car that is a distant relation to the Shelby Mustangs scattered around his showroom floor, a car created long before the first Mustang was even thought of, and the brainchild of Carroll Shelby back in the early ‘60s.