Fancy a classic car? You could have one next week

12 October, 2018

 


 

Never mind waiting for inspiration to strike, mulling over the marques, or deciding on the decade.

You could short circuit the whole process by popping along to this year’s biggest and possibly most eclectic car auction in Christchurch this weekend.

Thirty cars from one collection are going under the hammer this Saturday 13 October and with so many desirable cars being offered at once the old laws of supply and demand might make some of them bargains.

The collector’s tastes were nothing if not broad. The offering includes an Auburn Speedster, a Stutz saloon from the 20s, and a pair of Wolseley 1300s.

American roadsters dominate but coupes and four-door saloons also make the grade. All the big names are there – three Lincolns, three Packards, three Cadillacs, and the odd Dodge and Buick. There’s another Jag, making three in total, two Rolls-Royce’s and a Ferrari. There’s an MGTF, a Standard 8 and a Model T Ford. The vast majority are roadworthy but a brace of Mk 1 Jags are a little forlorn.


18506407-9494912_orig.jpg

Classic or vintage? Choose your decade: Every decade from the 20s to the 80s is represented with several cars. 1920s 4; 1930s 7, 1940s 3, 1950s 4 1960s 4, 1970s 6 and 1980s 2.

The cars are on view at Castle Park Museum, Leithfield, on Thursday and Friday and the auction takes place at 2pm at 1 Detroit Place, Christchurch. For more pictures, google McVicar Classic Auction.

NZ Classic Car magazine, July/August 2026 issue 406, on sale now

Rebirth of a brilliant Grand Tourer –1973 Datsun 240Z
How often do we long for that ultimate dream sports car, and that dream comes true? This is about one of the most influential Japanese cars of all time, a car that changed the sports car market.
This is about much more than the restoration of an iconic classic sports car, the 240Z. It’s about the culmination of a dream over many years and the friendships made. It’s about the people who helped and the professionals whose approach ensured that the dream became a reality, an attitude typical of the industry we call ‘classic restoration experts’.
It is no surprise that the outcome after a lengthy search by Conrad Van der Geest for the right Datsun 240Z culminated in a trophy for the best Japanese car at this year’s Caroline Bay Beach, Rock N’ Hop at Timaru.
Originally a roadworthy car in running order, it was left-hand-drive and had been driven for several years by its Timaru owner, as Conrad explains.
“A neighbour, Dave Barron, knew I was looking for one and introduced me to the owner. I had seen the car being driven around Timaru. It was unusual for one of these coming originally from California, so it was a really clean car instead of rusty, as they are prone to rust. The story goes that the grandfather passed it onto his grandson, who decided to sell it, and that’s when it came over here.”
Every issue comes with our FREE huge wall poster; this issue, it’s our cover car for this edition, a 1973 Datsun 240Z

The butterfly effect

The man on the mountain bike pedalled over, taking it all in. Gazing in wonderment at this small Japanese coupe with butterfly doors, he said, “Wow, I have never seen one of these before. What is it?” When I told him it was a Toyota, he nearly fell off his bike.
The Toyota Sera is unique amongst ’90s Japanese coupes. The Sera, which is Italian for ‘evening’, can trace its roots back to Toyota’s AXV-II concept car. Launched as part of a trio of Toyota concept cars at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, it shared its underpinnings with the P70 Toyota Starlet. The similarities ended there, thanks to the AXV-II’s low-slung and rounded coupe styling with butterfly doors. These doors were held upright by gas struts when fully open. Glass covered the upper section of the doors and the rear hatchback.
These features, much to everyone’s surprise, were carried over to the production Sera in 1990. Toyota marketed the Sera, which means ‘will be’ in Spanish and ‘princess’ in Hebrew, as a funky alternative to the much-loved MR2.