Fantastic All Ford Day

23 February, 2016

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“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.

The other Q car

12 August, 2026

Say the word ‘bond’ to anyone in the street and around 80 per cent straight away think of pop culture’s least-secret secret agent. The other 20 per cent may think of the wad of cash required to secure a flat or hire equipment that one gets back providing the fixtures and fittings stay much as they were.
However, mention ‘bond’ in specialist classic car circles and people will spin a very different yarn. If you dig deep enough, you will find an eccentric British carmaker that, throughout its 23 years in business, spawned some quirky and charming little cars.
The company was founded by Paul Sharp in 1922 under the name of Sharp’s Commercials Limited. However, the company did not start producing cars until 1948. The first car to carry the Bond name was the Bond Minicar. A three-wheeled, soft-top, two-cylinder eco car, the Minicar was a big hit at the time as the desire for an economical urban runabout that didn’t attract four-wheel car tax was strong in post-war Britain. All in all, 34,285 Minicars were produced over 26 years in a variety of variants.

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.”

Fantastic All Ford Day

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