Small-town dealer has immaculate S12 that you NEED to own

6 June, 2017

It ain’t every day that you stumble across perhaps one of the best examples of Silvia rarity, and it sure as hell ain’t everyday that it’s located at a Chevy dealership in middle of nowhere USA. But here is that exact gem, a first-year-only colour, super-low kilometre, and triple pedal example of ’80s radness — a left-hook 1984 Datsun 200SX Turbo hatch.

While we know the Silvia range well down under, it’s a somewhat unknown and ‘foreign’ term to most of the American public — bar the hardcore Japanese-tin fans that will know of the S13, S14, and maybe S15. I mean, its even still badged as a Datsun …

Perhaps that’s why this particular example hasn’t already become a drift missile and still represents the sophisticated sport coupe-era of the ‘80s. It’s powered by a SOHC CA18ET heart, premiering the ultimate in era technological advances like turbos and the magnificences of multi-port injection.

It has only seen 58,692km of driving duties, which is rather impressive for it’s age, and the seller claims it has been stored indoors for its entire existence. It has also recently undergone a serious amount of maintenance to bring it back to health after sitting for some time.

If you fancy getting your hands on this near-on museum condition piece of automotive goodness, there is still time on the eBay auction — it will set you back approximately $14,705 NZD for buy cost alone at the moment and no doubt will shoot up in the last minutes (then you need to factor in the rest).

Will we see it on our shores? Probably not, still pretty awesome though.

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.

Small-town dealer has immaculate S12 that you NEED to own

Contact us

Sign up to New Zealand Classic Car's newseltter