The next chapter: Caffeine & Classics, now with more classics

27 August, 2018

 


 

The monthly Caffeine & Classics meeting should suffice without an introduction, if you’re in the position to be reading this. It’s a pretty standard formula, and one that the team from Protecta Insurance kicked off over five years ago, becoming a pretty much self-governing event that happens like clockwork — the morning of the last Sunday of each month at Smales Farm Business Park in Auckland is Caffeine & Classics time. 

Of course, like everything that does well — or better than ever intended — the event grew into a bit of a monster, taking over the entire Smales Farm premises, and the relaxed ‘first in, best dressed’ entry began to cause organizers a few headaches. 

Diplomatically, they announced a few changes on social media, to bring the ‘classics’ back to Caffeine & Classics. Essentially, they decided to implement a blanket admission policy, with ‘classic’ cars defined as those at least 30 years old, or newer cars that fit the intention of the meeting — scratch-built, obscure, or exotic. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp, but a handful took the chance to fixate solely on the ‘30 years’ part, decrying the event and promising that it would wither away to nothing as a result of this unacceptable change. 

But it’s easy to be the voice of dissent on an open forum like Facebook. How would things actually go, in light of the drive to make the event a bit less of an automotive free-for-all? 
As it turned out on Sunday, 26 August, things were just fine. The grounds were full without overflowing, and spectators still showed up in droves, despite there being no on-site parking for the public. 

As for the cars? We’ll let this small selection of photos speak for themselves, but at the risk of falling into editorial cliché, there truly was something for everyone. We’ll see you there at the next one — something tells us the monthly Caffeine & Classics isn’t going anywhere. 
 

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.

NZ Classic Car magazine, May/June 2025 issue 399, on sale now

Who would have thought it would become such a worldwide motorsport star when Ford introduced the humble Escort in 1967?
Its popularity, particularly in Mark 1 form, is now of iconic status. Our cover story for this issue is on a 1968 Ford Escort Mark 1, Alan Mann Racing Tribute. We talked with the owner of this very special Escort, finished in tribute also to the owner’s father.
“Most children love speed, and motorsport typically comes courtesy of a parent, and Elliott is no different. His engineer father, Mark, had a love for motorcycles and going fast; however, when children came along, he swapped two wheels for four, in the form of two Ford Escorts.
Little did Mark know it at the time, but the humble Escort was about to weave its way into the family fabric once and for all.
After emigrating from London to New Zealand, Elliott recalled one evening when he was 14 being invited to tag along by his father, helping a friend convert an Escort road car into a racing car. This was the pivotal moment when Elliott remembers the motorsport bug taking over. He knew he had to have his own one.”