Blue Ovals only: Henry Ford Memorial Day Display

13 September, 2016

As we all know, the success of most automotive events is largely dependent upon the weather. Well, the second weekend of September 2016 blessed us with amazing skies, and we were rewarded with a stellar show put on by the Waikato Mustang Owners Club. The annual Henry Ford Memorial Day Display and Swap Meet was originally scheduled for July 31, but ended up being postponed due to bad weather — we can tell you that it was well worth the wait.

Considering it was hosted by a Mustang club, you can be sure there was no shortage of them, but it was so much more than that. Dedicated to everything ‘Blue Oval’, with around 800 cars on display ranging from Model Ts through to the latest Falcons and Mustangs, as well as a hefty swap meet, the event was not just for the Ford lovers — any petrolhead would feel right at home.

That said, a bit of Ford love certainly wouldn’t go amiss — not when sights like this were on offer wherever you’d look.

Or sights like this, although the Mach 1’s bum isn’t the only big thing in this photo. Just check out the decent-sized crowd milling around.

But if you were after big, you couldn’t go past the big chunk of Ford Aeromax truck hiding in the background of this photo — see, it wasn’t just Mustangs!

And not-so-big Fords were in attendance, too. Check out Ashley Hollings’ remote-controlled Model A tow truck, powered by a pair of mobility-scooter motors, and built by her dad, Jono.

It didn’t have to have a Blue Oval badge to be welcome, either. The Shelby Cobra is a massive part of Ford history, and one that’s spawned countless replicas across the world. This one looked beautiful, and we’ve gotta hope the ‘427’ fender badges weren’t lying!

On the opposite end of the performance scale, these Model Ts paid a fitting homage to the grandfathers of modern motoring.

In fact, just about every year of Ford production seemed to be present and accounted for — an excellent turnout for what is a truly excellent event. Twenty-two years sure seems to have perfected one of the best ways to kick the old event calendar in the guts, and get the horsepower party started!

Lunch with … Cary Taylor

11 September, 2024

Many years ago — in June 1995 to be more precise — I was being wowed with yet another terrific tale from Geoff Manning who had worked spanners on all types of racing cars. We were chatting at Bruce McLaren Intermediate school on the 25th anniversary of the death of the extraordinary Kiwi for whom the school was named. Geoff, who had been part of Ford’s Le Mans programme in the ’60s, and also Graham Hill’s chief mechanic — clearly realising that he had me in the palm of his hand — offered a piece of advice that I’ve never forgotten: “If you want the really good stories, talk to the mechanics.”
Without doubt the top mechanics, those involved in the highest echelons of motor racing, have stories galore — after all, they had relationships with their drivers so intimate that, to quote Geoff all those years ago, “Mechanics know what really happened.”

ROTARY CHIC

6 September, 2024

Kerry Bowman readily describes himself as a dyed-in-the-wool Citroën fan and a keen Citroën Car Club member. His Auckland home holds some of the chic French cars and many parts. He has also owned a number of examples of the marque as daily drivers, but he now drives a Birotor GS. They are rare, even in France, and this is a car which was not supposed to see the light of day outside France’s borders, yet somehow this one escaped the buyback to be one of the few survivors out in the world.
It’s a special car Kerry first saw while overseas in the ’70s, indulging an interest sparked early on by his father’s keenness for Citroëns back home in Tauranga. He was keen to see one ‘in the flesh’.
“I got interested in this Birotor when I bought a GS in Paris in 1972. I got in contact with Citroën Cars in Slough, and they got me an invitation to the Earls Court Motor Show where they had the first Birotor prototype on display. I said to a guy on the stand, ‘I’d like one of these,’ and he said I wouldn’t be allowed to get one. Citroën were building them for their own market to test them, and they were only left-hand drive.”

Blue Ovals only: Henry Ford Memorial Day Display

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