Variety Trillian Bash: drama before the start

16 March, 2016

As vehicles slowly arrived for scrutineering at the start of the Variety Trillian Bash on March 11, it was uncertain whether the full line-up would make it. The 1981 Beststart V8 fire truck was towed off the Desert Road and the NZAF mechanical team was trying to get it going as we were writing this article, the Powerparts Thunderbirds 2 holed a flux capacitor at Matamata. Parker said, “That’s what you get when you have 425,000km on the instrument cluster.”

Still, Ohakune’s Seuss Subbus had picked up some of the Beststart crew, and were snapped heading through Taihape en route to Bulls.

The Subbus Crew launched the Bash when team captain Kandy Mott handed over a cheque for $4668 to Bulls School principal Kim Gordon for a basket swing. Ms Gordon said, “The teachers suspect that some of their students suffer from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Studies show that rhythmic patterning calms the brainstem and allows children to be better focused in the classroom. The school has already noticed an improvement by using rocking horses in the classrooms, and believe that a swing will bring a significant change.”

Not everyone passes scrutineering, which is not a surprise given the age of these vehicles. Stu’s Crew needed attention on the 1963 V8 Fairlane from the Royal New Zealand Air Force boys, who use the Variety Trillian Bash as a training exercise.

Meanwhile the rest of the teams slowly arrived at Tatum Park on the Friday evening to sign in before the Levin start and the drive to Blenheim. They entertained children from the Child Cancer Foundation on the Bluebridge dock from noon.

Photos: Jacqui Madelin

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.

Variety Trillian Bash: drama before the start

Contact us

Sign up to New Zealand Classic Car's newsletter