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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8 December, 2024

Having dominated the world motorcycle championships of the 1960s, Honda had a crucial decision to make in 1969. Would Soichiro Honda heed his engineer’s pivotal advice?
“Very few examples of the early Civic, a car that set Honda onto the path to becoming a giant of the car world, remain road registered in New Zealand.
Retired Tauranga owner of this example, Graham Inglis is thrilled with his classic little Honda Civic, the first of eleven generations built so far by the company. The Civic became a household name.
“It’s quite amazing the number of people who not only wave, but come up to me in the street and tell me how much they like the little Honda and its colour, and then they want to start talking about it. A guy in our vintage car club wants to buy it and he has been pushing me a bit. It’s not for sale,” he laughs.
Graham bought his 1977 Honda Civic from Wellington enthusiast Julian Foster, who was the instigator of its restoration.”

A star in their eyes – 1968 Ford Galaxie 500

6 December, 2024

“Everyone asks that until they take a closer look,” says its owner today, Brent Harris of Auckland. “They also ask if I’ve done the restoration myself, and I have to tell them no, it is 100 per cent original. It’s the paint listed in the handbook.”
It was the original condition of the car that won Brent over from the moment he first saw it — that and the fact “it just looks stunning”.
Brent had owned a 1968 Mark II Cortina for four years. It was in need of some work and the question arose whether to spend the money or get something different. You don’t get much more divergent than Ford’s different approaches to its markets in the UK and the USA.

Take a look at five decades of local rallying

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