Fantastic All Ford Day

23 February, 2016

 

data-animation-override>
If you are a fan of the blue oval, and the fine machinery produced by Henry Ford’s team of merry men, then the Christchurch 2016 All Ford Day was a must-do event.

Hosted, once again, by the Canterbury Mustang Owners Club, the February 20–21 event had a great turnout of vehicles — no doubt encouraged out by the beautiful weather.

Ford owners celebrated a weekend of their cars, starting with a cruise, held on Saturday afternoon, which involved taking part in the Henry Ford Memorial Run. This cruise was attended by a large group of owners. 

With rain causing problems for the 2015 event, this year’s host club would have been very happy to be greeted by the polar opposite of bright sunshine on Sunday. Held at the Wigram Airforce Museum grounds, cars flooded the field with many clubs well represented, such as the Falcon Fairlane Car Club, Classic Cortina Club, and, of course, the Canterbury Mustang Owners Club, as well as the many individual owners who took the opportunity to get their rides out of the garage. 

As well as food stalls, there were a number of vendors selling hats and clothing, and the two local Ford dealers ventured to the event to showcase the latest offerings from Ford, including the new right-hand drive Mustang. 

It was great to see such a diverse range of vehicles on show. With a large number of Mustangs, including a black Super Snake, there was something to suit everyone’s taste, whether it was an Escort, Cortina, Falcon, GT40, or a T-bucket, the day had it all. 

Well done to the organizers for another great show, and a little shout-out to Mother Nature for helping out this year with the sunshine. 

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.