The Ford Mk1 Cortina salvaged from the wrecker’s yard

16 September, 2016

Chris Alexander discovered the car in a wrecker’s yard in Mangere, South Auckland, seven years ago, sitting forlornly on a wooden pallet. It was a completely stripped shell with the four doors attached, and it quickly caught Chris’s eye. He immediately thought ‘rally car’ — what a fantastic opportunity to start a project.

Chris wanted to recreate an Alan Mann Cortina. The four-door shell was ideal for rallying, as the spare wheel can easily be stowed inside the cabin along with all the necessary accessories, leaving only the fuel pumps in the boot. Chris built the Cortina with a retro theme in mind, wanting to keep it classic, but mixing in the modern touches for safety and reliability.

He had planned to campaign his Cortina in this year’s Targa, but unfortunately had to withdraw at the last moment due to illness. He expects to make a full recovery, and is looking forward to competing in the Classic Rally of New Zealand 2017.

We’ve included a few additional photos that didn’t make it into the October issue of New Zealand Classic Car — grab your copy below to read the full story.

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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.”

The Ford Mk1 Cortina salvaged from the wrecker’s yard

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