Rattle ya dags and get yourself to Fieldays

15 June, 2017

It’s that time of year again where what seems like every ute in the country converges on Mystery Creek in Hamilton for Fieldays. 2017 sees the biggest event yet with hundreds of companies spruiking their wares to the masses of visitors that’ll pass through the gates of Mystery Creek over the coming days.


The scale of the event is immense. 

The scale of the event is immense. 

Unfortunately, I’m afflicted with city slicker-itis which renders most of the products on display useless in my day-to-day life. But like any good Kiwi bloke with an imagination and an internet connection, I can dream of joining the farming fraternity. I can look at pieces of land and half million dollar tractors imagining I know the difference between a post hole borer and a cow.


The Isuzu D-Max demonstrating its 49 degree hill-crawling capabilities.

The Isuzu D-Max demonstrating its 49 degree hill-crawling capabilities.

Of course, I was interested in was the cars, and there are plenty to choose from. Some new manufacturers have gone all out in putting together amazing stands for the event. This is not only an opportunity to show off new models and their current range, but to do get in amongst the community and speak with current and prospective customers.


Toyota are taking their relationship with Swanndri seriously.

Toyota are taking their relationship with Swanndri seriously.


Volkswagen have jumped on the "clothing your car" bandwagon, too. 

Volkswagen have jumped on the “clothing your car” bandwagon, too. 


7,000kg towing capacity on show from the now right hand drive Dodge Ram.

7,000kg towing capacity on show from the now right hand drive Dodge Ram.

I was also impressed by the number of classic and race cars companies were using on their stand, be it a sponsored race car or a tidy old ute


Coresteel Brute taking pride of place

Coresteel Brute taking pride of place


Kombi pickup in stunning condition

Kombi pickup in stunning condition

For the actual farmers among us, there is certain to be some value adds for every part of your operation so we encourage you to head to Mystery Creek and get amongst the action. The event is running until this Saturday so you’d best rattle ya dags!

For more information, visit www.fieldays.co.nz

Design accord

You can’t get much more of an art deco car than a Cord — so much so that new owners, Paul McCarthy and his wife, Sarah Selwood, went ahead and took their Beverly 812 to Napier’s Art Deco Festival this year, even though the festival itself had been cancelled.
“We took delivery of the vehicle 12 days before heading off to Napier. We still drove it all around at the festival,” says Paul.
The utterly distinctive chrome grille wrapping around the Cord’s famous coffin-shaped nose, and the pure, clean lines of the front wing wheel arches, thanks to its retractable headlamps, are the essence of deco. This model, the Beverly, has the finishing touch of the bustle boot that is missing from the Westchester saloon.

Motorman: When New Zealand built the Model T Ford

History has a way of surrounding us, hidden in plain sight. I was one of a group who had been working for years in an editorial office in Augustus Terrace in the Auckland city fringe suburb of Parnell who had no idea that motoring history had been made right around the corner. Our premises actually backed onto a century-old brick building in adjacent Fox Street that had seen the wonder of the age, brand-new Model T Fords, rolling out the front door seven decades earlier.
Today, the building is an award-winning two-level office building, comprehensively refurbished in 2012. Happily, 6 Fox Street honours its one time claim to motoring fame. Next door are eight upmarket loft apartments, also on the site where the Fords were completed. Elsewhere, at 89 Courtenay Place, Wellington, and Sophia Street, Timaru, semi-knocked-down Model Ts were also being put together, completing a motor vehicle that would later become known as the Car of the Century.