The sound of engine music

30 January, 2017

Twelve-year-old boys are highly impressionable. With the parameters and perceptions of adulthood still some years off, if presented with anything that dazzles them, they are ripe to soak up associated kaleidoscopes of sound and images, and such momentous events can become lifelong addictions.

The 1968 New Zealand Grand Prix was only the second motor-racing event Gerard Richards attended — he had just turned 12. By the time he returned home that evening, the world would never be quite the same again.

Grab your copy of the February issue of New Zealand Classic Car (Issue No. 314) to read this Gerard’s enchanting audio journey.   


A star in their eyes – 1968 Ford Galaxie 500

“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.

Bob’s Bambina video

Bob McMurray has spent a lifetime inside Formula 1, including 33 years he and wife, Shaune, spent working for McLaren from his earliest days as a mechanic through to watching Scott Dixon’s first Kiwi win at Indianapolis. Bob is now one of our top motorsport commentators and Toyota Racing New Zealand’s ambassador, a role he relishes.
Bob now owns this restored Fiat 500 F. The story of how he became its owner almost by accident and of its restoration is one of those that has ended well, and it was a bit of a laugh getting there. Bob’s Fiat actually has a distant McLaren connection.
This is a short video of Bob’s Fiat Bambina shot by Classic Car magazine