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This or that: semi-final showdown — wildcard edition

24 April, 2015

We’d love to know which one of these cars you like the best, so let us know in the comments below, and you’ll go in the draw to win a hardcover copy of our NZV8 Top 100 Cars — The Editor’s Pick book! The winner will be drawn on Wednesday morning New Zealand time, and contacted via Facebook.

2013–2014: ’57 Heaven (Issue No. 107). Back issue available here
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air (Cameron)

For a large number of people, the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is ‘the’ dream car. The example you see here is the pinnacle of that dream — arguably the best presented ‘57 in New Zealand. Designed to look “just like a nice ‘57 with a set of wheels on it,” the Bel Air has more than achieved that — from the deep, black cherry paintwork, perfect chroming, and leather-clad interior, right down to the polished and detailed undercarriage. It’s powered by a 572ci big block crate motor, sitting on a full Art Morrison chassis — nothing but the best has been used on this car, and it sure shows.

2015: One step ahead (Issue No. 120). Back issue available here
1969 Plymouth Road Runner (Johnny Burkart)

It was good enough to grace the cover of our 10th birthday issue, and win the wildcard entry into the semi-finals of this very competition. Johnny Burkart’s 1969 Road Runner screams tough. From the Procharged 550ci Hemi under the hood to the Hoosier shod beadlock rims out back, and slammed stance. Is there a tougher street car in the country? If so, we’d love to see it!

ROTARY CHIC

Kerry Bowman readily describes himself as a dyed-in-the-wool Citroën fan and a keen Citroën Car Club member. His Auckland home holds some of the chic French cars and many parts. He has also owned a number of examples of the marque as daily drivers, but he now drives a Birotor GS. They are rare, even in France, and this is a car which was not supposed to see the light of day outside France’s borders, yet somehow this one escaped the buyback to be one of the few survivors out in the world.
It’s a special car Kerry first saw while overseas in the ’70s, indulging an interest sparked early on by his father’s keenness for Citroëns back home in Tauranga. He was keen to see one ‘in the flesh’.
“I got interested in this Birotor when I bought a GS in Paris in 1972. I got in contact with Citroën Cars in Slough, and they got me an invitation to the Earls Court Motor Show where they had the first Birotor prototype on display. I said to a guy on the stand, ‘I’d like one of these,’ and he said I wouldn’t be allowed to get one. Citroën were building them for their own market to test them, and they were only left-hand drive.”

Tradie’s Choice

Clint Wheeler purchased this 1962 Holden FJ Panelvan as an unfinished project, or as he says “a complete basket case”. Collected as nothing more than a bare shell, the rotisserie-mounted and primed shell travelled the length of the country from the Rangiora garage where it had sat dormant for six years to Clint’s Ruakaka workshop. “Mike, the previous owner, was awesome. He stacked the van and parts nicely. I was pretty excited to get the van up north. We cut the locks and got her out to enjoy the northland sun,” says Clint. “The panelvan also came with boxes of assorted parts, some good, some not so good, but they all helped.”