Bangers and Ash: the 22nd annual Targa New Zealand

19 September, 2016

It’s hard to believe it’s that time again. New Zealand Classic Car magazine is once again proud to be associated with the 22nd annual Targa New Zealand event.

This year’s Targa will kick off from Taupo for the first leg then head south to Ohakune for the night. The second leg will head further south, finishing in Palmerston North after six gruelling special stages, and resume the following day to head eastwards to Havelock North on leg three. The final day, leg four, will be confined to the Hawke’s Bay region, with the event finally finishing once again in Havelock North.

This Targa’s 640km of special stages and almost 1100km of touring stages are sure to be hotly contested by the competitors, and will test man and machine alike.

A full and comprehensive official Targa programme, providing all the event details — including a complete driver directory, route maps, and route schedule — is included in the October 2016 issue. This will allow you to pick out a decent vantage point to watch some of the best drivers in the business, such as Clark Proctor, Tony Quinn, Glenn Inkster, and Leigh Hopper — to name a few — as they display their driving prowess on some of the country’s most testing and treacherous tarmac stages.

In addition, we feature Chris Alexander’s stunning Ford Cortina MkI. Chris is definitely no stranger to sitting behind the wheel of a rally car, and he’s competed — rather successfully, I might add — in many gravel and tarmac events. He has also built a number of rally cars, primarily Ford Escorts, and this is his first Ford Cortina, a build that was inspired by Alan Mann, who gained a reputation for building fast Fords wearing striking red and gold livery back in the 1960s.

Looking at this car leaves absolutely no doubt that Chris is a consummate perfectionist in everything he attempts, and it was built especially with this Targa event in mind, but he has been dealt a cruel blow. Chris was recently diagnosed with cancer, and, unfortunately, had to withdraw from competing this time around while he receives treatment and undergoes surgery. His prognosis is positive, thanks to early detection, and he is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of his beautifully prepared Cortina next year.

On behalf of New Zealand Classic Car magazine and our readers, we wish Chris a speedy recovery.

Want to find out more about the Targa New Zealand drivers, the cars, the events, and the maps? Grab a copy of the October 2016 issue of New Zealand Classic Car (Issue No. 310), which features the 2016 Targa New Zealand programme!

Grab a print copy of the mag now!

6 September, 2024

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

30 August, 2024

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.”