Take a look at five decades of local rallying

30 January, 2017

Apart from motor racing, the early days of New Zealand’s motorsport scene consisted of car trials and timed events designed to keep to the legal speed limits.

Then in the late ’60s, the influence of European special-stage rallying (closed roads where drivers could go as fast as possible) started to take over.

New Zealanders took to this new form of motorsport like ducks to water. Our smooth-flowing gravel public roads, and the abundance of well-maintained government forest roads, saw the early days of rallying quickly build to events that attracted up to 135 starters.

Grab your copy of the February 2017 issue of New Zealand Classic Car Issue No. 314 to read the full story.

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A second dose of Dash

24 April, 2025

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

16 April, 2025

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.

Take a look at five decades of local rallying

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