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How to tailor your garage door to suit your classic-steel

23 May, 2017

 

A classic car owner can find joy in two areas of what they do with their machines. First, the process of buying/restoring/owning their dream classic; and two, building/tailoring a garage to suit their taste. So when you have both of those pieces of the puzzle, there is one aspect to form the cherry on top — the perfectly suited garage door choice.

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Auckland-based Prestige Doors and Gates has been designing, manufacturing and installing the very best options possible for clients since 1992. However the latest garage door product is something truly special for anyone looking for a garage door to both protect and highlight their vehicles — the plexiglass garage door.

Plexiglass is not only stronger and more durable than glass, it also offers a variety of colour options (including transparent) so you can enjoy viewing your vehicles outside the garage/workshop as well as inside. It also has the additional benefit of allowing in heat and light, but still offering privacy options.

The Prestige team can match your door with its laser-cut aluminium design for your aesthetic preferences, and any full custom design is possible. The aluminium sheet with the plexiglass backing is durable, strong and looks fantastic. 

You can also select from any number of options within the Prestige Doors and Gates range, with multiple flushmount, aluminum, steel, and timber configurations available.

For more information, contact Prestige on 09 638 9474, [email protected], or head to prestigedoors.co.nz.
 

Grand Routier — in the french tradition

10 July, 2025

Sitting in Paddy and Patsy Williams’ Dunedin garage is a stunning example of one of these rare French grand routier sedans. It is a 1949 four-door Lago-Record Factory Berline sedan, to give its full name. Daughter Cath let us know how proud she was of her dad, who had been tinkering away in his garage on this car for so many years.
Without exaggeration, it has been a mammoth task. I first saw this Talbot-Lago in mid 2019. The long-nosed, sweeping, curved four-door saloon, clothed in its misty green metallic paint, was quite breathtaking. There’s more than a little English influence in it, too, harking back to company owner Tony Lago’s involvement in the Clement-Talbot-Darracq era. The long front wings and bonnet, usually multi-louvred, highlighted with artful touches of chrome bling, are typical of the era, but these were indeed luxury length. Interiors provided leather-clad, armchair-style seating and ample legroom, with touches of wood and surprising details such as dainty childproof interior locks — a far cry from today’s lozenge boxes.
Paddy, a retired civil and structural engineer, knows his way around a lathe. He has a well-equipped garage-workshop to assist in any machining tasks along with his other passion for restoring classic motorcycles.

The Great River Road

4 July, 2025

A few years ago my family, knowing my fondness for driving, gave me the book Unforgettable Road Trips: Thirty-Six Drives of a Lifetime by Martin Derrick. Most of the road trips listed take less than a day in places like Scotland, Monaco, and Australia, plus one in New Zealand. Most of these places were too far to go just for a short drive but four of them would take several days. My interest was piqued, and those four drives were added to the bucket list. To date, I have done three of them: ‘Route 66’ (USA 21 days), ‘State Highway 6’ (NZ 10 days) and ‘The Great River Road’ (USA 22 days). You can drive all of them in less time, but you could also fly over them. We wanted a decent immersion in their charms.
The great river referred to is the Mississippi. While the name conjures the deep south, the river actually starts at the bottom of the great lakes, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico about 3800km later. The great road is more of a concept than a specific strip of tarmac, as you can drive down either side of the river on various routes. Regardless of which side you drive, time should be kept aside for detours to places such as Nashville, which is famous for something or other.