Caffeine and Classics to celebrate fifth anniversary

16 February, 2018

Caffeine and Classics is a brunch-style event held on the last Sunday of every month, and open to all types of classic vehicles. Motorcycles, hot rods, muscle cars, vintage and classic cars are all welcome to come along for a coffee, and to have a look at the wide variety of vehicles that are present.

The event is held from 10am to 12pm at Smales Farm car park, Northcote Rd, Takapuna, beside the motorway, and just 5km north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. There is plenty of easy parking.

Caffeine and Classics has become New Zealand’s biggest monthly meet. With numbers ranging from 350 to over 1000 vehicles every month, it is a great place for like-minded enthusiasts to get together.

For the fifth anniversary celebrations on February 25 there will be a free gift upon entry of a high visibility, reflective safety triangle (approx. value of $20) for the first 500 vehicles, kindly supplied by Dura Seal. The organizers of Caffeine & Classics support safe motoring, and believe that all cars should carry a safety triangle to alert traffic of an accident or broken down vehicle, and what better way to achieve this than to give one away. Thanks Dura Seal!
So come and join in. All car and bike enthusiasts are welcome.

For more information visit facebook.com/caffeineandclassics.

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.

Caffeine and Classics to celebrate fifth anniversary

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