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NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2025 issue 401, on sale now

24 August, 2025

Cuda muscle!
The spirit of a generation
The Plymouth Barracuda is renowned for its reputation as a formidable US performance car, designed to compete with Chevrolet and Ford’s performance vehicles. In its third generation, a variant, the ‘Cuda, emerged as one of the most striking muscle cars produced by Plymouth.
Back in September 2019, current owner John Carson tracked down one of the ’Cuda’s former US owners, Ron Heintschel, who provided a little of its history, as Ron recalls.
“So here is what I can remember on the ’72 Cuda. The car was ordered by the first owner, who lived in Medina, Ohio. At the time, it was a matching numbers car. The car was then sold to a neighbour and then to a guy in Pioneer, Ohio, the dates I cannot remember.”
Ron purchased the car from its owner in Pioneer, Ohio, in December 1992.
“Restoration began in 1992 and was finished in late May of 1993. The car only had a few spots of rust, just under the battery tray on the inner fender line, and two spots on the insides of the front fenders, under the hood.

NZ Classic Car magazine, July August 2025 issue 400, on sale now

15 June, 2025

Good for the soul, a dose of Hemi Orange – Chrysler’s champion Charger
The Australian-developed Chrysler Charger was a game changer for the company in 1971, as it faced a faltering start introducing its new VH range. The stylish big coupe signalled a massive change of direction and emphasis for Chrysler.
Auckland racing driver Rod Coppins raced successfully in Australia and New Zealand. Rod found success behind the wheel of a couple of Chargers, and it is a special E49 R/T in the custody of Mike Todd for some years, that is our feature car.
A full restoration of this car has been completed at Auto Restorations (AR) in Christchurch. We recently sampled the car, ready to be shipped back to Mike and spoke to AR’s Harry Dawber, leading the team who completed the superb restoration of this rare piece of NZ motor racing history.
I mentioned that Chrysler Chargers were never built to this standard as we walked around the gleaming Charger in its Hemi Orange colour scheme.
“We took a lot of time getting those shut lines exactly right. It’s been a great car to work on, and the paint and trim have been very well done by the team here.”

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

13 April, 2025

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.”

NZ Classic Car magazine, March/April 2025 issue 398, on sale now

23 February, 2025

An HQ to die for
Mention the acronym HQ and most people in the northern hemisphere will assume this is an abbreviation for Head Quarters. However, for those born before the mid-’80s in Australia and New Zealand, the same two letters only mean one thing – HQ Holden!
Christchurch enthusiast Ed Beattie has a beautiful collection of Holden and Chevrolet cars. He loves the bowtie and its Aussie cousin and has a stable of beautiful, powerful cars. His collection includes everything from a modern GTSR W507 HSV through the decades to a 1960s Camaro muscle car and much in between.
In the last two Holden Nationals (run biennially in 2021 and 2023), Ed won trophies for the Best Monaro and Best Decade with his amazing 1972 Holden Monaro GTS 350 with manual transmission.
Ed is a perfectionist and loves his cars to reflect precisely how they were on ‘Day 1,’ meaning when the dealer released them to the first customer, including any extras the dealer may have added or changed.

NZ Classic Car magazine, January/February 2025 issue 397, on sale now

8 December, 2024

Having dominated the world motorcycle championships of the 1960s, Honda had a crucial decision to make in 1969. Would Soichiro Honda heed his engineer’s pivotal advice?
“Very few examples of the early Civic, a car that set Honda onto the path to becoming a giant of the car world, remain road registered in New Zealand.
Retired Tauranga owner of this example, Graham Inglis is thrilled with his classic little Honda Civic, the first of eleven generations built so far by the company. The Civic became a household name.
“It’s quite amazing the number of people who not only wave, but come up to me in the street and tell me how much they like the little Honda and its colour, and then they want to start talking about it. A guy in our vintage car club wants to buy it and he has been pushing me a bit. It’s not for sale,” he laughs.
Graham bought his 1977 Honda Civic from Wellington enthusiast Julian Foster, who was the instigator of its restoration.”

NZ Classic Car magazine, November/December 2024 issue 396, on sale now

20 October, 2024

It took 19 years for Steve Radich to achieve his dream of owning a Skyline Hakosuka, but what he ended up with is perfection in an extremely low-kilometre example which is our cover feature in this issue.
Back in 2005, Steve hatched a plan to one day own his dream Skyline: the legendary Hakosuka. Over the next 15 years, the list of Skylines Steve bought and sold went as follows. First was a 1998 Nissan Skyline GT, with two doors too many. It was replaced with a red GTT of the same year, but with the correct number of doors! Finally, in 2020, Steve found himself looking at a white 1999 GTR sitting in his shed.
“I was well down the path of getting to the dream of trading my way to owning a Hakosuka,” he says.”
Don’t forget that this edition also comes with our FREE huge wall poster. This issue features a fully restored 1968 Ford Cortina GT Mark II.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2024 issue 395, on sale now

18 August, 2024

There is nothing like the USA’s classic cars of the 1950s and here is a stunning example of that glorious era of colourful vehicles with lashings of chrome. Our cover story in this issue is on a Kiwi-restored 1958 Buick Century Caballero Estate Wagon. Rare and unique, this mint wagon will make you green with envy.
“Always the innovator in the General Motors line-up, Buick and its Century models featured a shorter, lighter body offering its biggest engine. In 1957 and 1958 Buick produced the striking Century Caballero Estate Wagon. A magnificently restored example of this very rare hardtop wagon survives in New Zealand.”
Also included with this issue 395, is a huge FREE wall poster. Our first poster in a new series features a newly completed, and only one of two in NZ, Mustang-Shelby GT500KR 1000.
Make sure you grab a copy of this edition of Classic Car magazine to get yours.

NZ Classic Car magazine, July/August 2024 issue 394, on sale now

23 June, 2024

Big brash and beautiful
Faced with the possibility of scrapping his cherished 1973 Ford Falcon XA GT 351 Hardtop, David Chase took the plunge, delivering it into skilled hands at Matamata Panelworks. It’s now a stunning classic and 2023 Ellerslie Intermarque Concours Masters Class winner.
This big Aussie brute of a car is our stunning cover car for this issue and the restoration journey of this classic is a fascinating tale with a jaw dropping result.
“Rarely do these Ford Falcon 351 GT hardtops last long in their original state as they are either modified, raced, or rust results in them being scrapped. They are already a rare sight on New Zealand roads and survivors turning up at car shows are well-restored as their values skyrocket past the A$200,000 mark. This is especially the case with David’s car, for a particular reason.
“Surprisingly, it’s an all matching numbers car. Yep, that’s pretty cool. A lot of them lost their motors early on, but mine’s still matching so that’s pretty good and I’m very happy about that.”
With a restoration bill approaching the $200K mark, David is thrilled to see a recent valuation well in excess of the figure.”

NZ Classic Car magazine, May/June 2024 issue 393, on sale now

21 April, 2024

Minis have a passionate following and are adored by millions and millions of classic car lovers worldwide.
Whether it was their first car, a Mini for Mum, road trips with a car filled to bursting with people and luggage, or boy-racing escapades, everyone has a Mini story.
The Mini has the ability to become a member of the family with their cute-as looks and this “yellow one” nicknamed ‘Gertie’ is no different. The Kelly family of Dunedin are dedicated Mini fans from way back and this LE is just one in their collection – albeit something of a favourite.
“The Kellys have more Mini stories than most and this one dates back to June 1978, when Margareta Arthur went to the Dunedin branch of NZMC, City Motors. She bought a brand new Mini 1000LE, trading in a 1976 Mini 1000. She adored her new car, naming it ‘Gertie the Yellow One’. She owned Gertie for the next 18 years before selling it in 1996, when Margareta moved into a rest home. Cathy Cotton was the next owner and Gertie was her first car. She was given a letter from Margareta at the time of sale, asking her to take care of Gertie. Cathy adored Gertie and used it to go to university, including many trips to Central Otago for fruit picking, nearly doubling the odometer in the first year of ownership.”

NZ Classic Car, March/April 2024 issue 392, on sale now

25 February, 2024

With this issue 392, we celebrate 60 years of the Ford Mustang.
We commence with a rare Paul Fahey replica Shelby Mustang owned by another kiwi who we should celebrate, Rodger Cunninghame.
Roger has been strutting his stuff with race cars for 50 years now and it seemed appropriate to celebrate both the milestones in this edition even though Roger is retiring from racing now, the Ford Mustang lives on.
Roger is also a longtime member of The Southland Sports Car Club (SSCC) which is also celebrating a big anniversary, its 75th. It sure is celebration time!
Quinton Taylor writes “In 1956, Rodger joined his father Bruce and his mate, club president Des Kilkelly, helping with building new grandstands at Teretonga and the start of a long association with the club.
“I was just a wee kid working with Dad on that. They had been shifted here from some other local sports club and bought here, and they had to put all the seating back on them.”
Rodger always had a liking for making things go faster and it didn’t take him long to tinker with cars as we looked through a couple of very comprehensive scrapbooks recording many amusing moments on and off the racetrack.”

NZ Classic Car, January/February 2024 issue 391, on sale now

19 December, 2023

Well, love it or hate it, we have to accept the fact that we made this mustard-coloured, Skoda-chassied, fibreglass vehicle and it’s a true Kiwi classic icon now – we are talking about the Trekka.
They were a hard car to like or in any way admire when they came out in the 1960s and to be honest, as kids, we used to point and laugh at them. However, they are our best attempt at a motorcar industry so it’s time to enjoy all there is to know about this truly unique Kiwi-designed farming vehicle. When you see them in the flesh these days, they really have something about them that we can now, actually appreciate and enjoy as the Trekka… is all ours.
It’s time to own it NZ and our cover story this issue is on two beauties, a ute and a station wagon. Enjoy.
“Thanks to Trekka enthusiast Todd Niall, the intriguing tale of this quirky utility vehicle’s singular rise to stardom as New Zealand’s only genuine ‘mass-produced’ car, has been properly told. It’s a story of the founding dynasties of the New Zealand motor industry, political intrigue, and government manoeuvring, recounted in his book The Trekka Dynasty (Iconic Publishing, Auckland). It’s a great read.
For decades, overseas funds were really the only way you could legally bring a new car into New Zealand. That’s because After World War II, the government was becoming increasingly jittery over the worsening balance of exports payments and import licensing was restrictive and competitive.”

NZ Classic Car November/December 2023 issue 390, on sale now

15 October, 2023

When you next chat to one of our Aussie cousins, tell them they can have the rights to the Pavlova, we just want to claim their rare classic Holdens thanks.
Our main feature in this issue of the magazine is on the tale of a car that many Australian classic car lovers were hunting for that just fell into the lap of an ardent Kiwi Holden fan who was living in NSW.
This sought after EJ was offered to Stan Adams in 2010 from a neighbour living just 600m away.
“It was the fabled ‘Mail Car’ that was owned by her mother, which she used for local country mail delivery for years. The car was parked up for 18 years after her mother died. I handed over the $4000 without even opening the doors on a car last registered in April 1991.”
The car was coated in brown dust and the clutch and brake hydraulics were frozen solid.
“People from as far away as Queensland were looking for this car because of its rarity. It was totally unmolested and, yes, there were a few scratches. I decided to leave them as they are; history!”

NZ Classic Car September/October 2023 issue 389, on sale now

21 August, 2023

Wolf in wolf’s clothing
In the September/October 2023 issue 389, we discover there’s much more to this cute 1973 Triumph GT6 British sports car, than meets the eye.
John Burke of Paremata is the owner of our stunning cover car but felt the car was somewhat underpowered and that annoyed him. So he took this pristine example of a 1973 Triumph GT6 and installed a V8 engine from a Triumph sister manufacturer, Rover. The resulting car is a restomod that really ticks a lot of boxes.
“In 1963, Standard-Triumph, as the company was then known, delivered a Mk 4 Spitfire to Michelotti’s studio in Italy and commissioned him to design a GT version. His design, delivered in physical form later that year, was a sleek fastback reminiscent of the E-Type fixed head coupé launched in ’61. It was also not too dissimilar to the Mustang Fastback of 1964, a profile that would become familiar on other American models during the sixties.”

NZ Classic Car July/August 2023 issue 388, on sale now

19 June, 2023

The July/August 2023 issue 388 has a couple of stunning supercars featured and the story of a truly unique restored 1963 Datsun, the first model Datsun sold in NZ.
A quarter of a century before boy racers put their caps on back to front, reclined their seats and drove their cheap Japanese imports through town we saw an altogether different cheap Japanese import here in NZ.
Our cover car this issue was found stored in a shed in Warkworth. A project car, it had spent three decades waiting for the proverbial full nine yards. During that time, a few bits had been attended to: new tyres, new brakes, but not much else. When the new owner took the car he was able to start and even drive the car, although it was trailered back to Auckland. The car has undergone a complete restoration by the owner where he undertook every stage of the restoration himself apart from the engine reconditioning. A stunning classic car is the result of all this effort.

NZ Classic Car May/June 2023 issue 387, is on sale now

24 April, 2023

Our cover story this issue is on the remarkable Imp. The car first came out as a Hillman in the 1950s and, as with many cars of that era, it also morphed into other versions over the years. The Imp featured in this edition of NZ Classic Car is a Sunbeam and is a real stunner. Enjoy this article where you will learn the history of Imp and The Rootes Group and enjoy this pristine example we discovered in the Deep South.
“Our featured Sunbeam Imp is a survivor now in Gore in the care of Russell and Marlene Newland. A member of the Gore Vintage Car Club, Russell bought their car from fellow member Bill Sheddan in 2021. A keen collector of all things Sunbeam, Bill purchased the little gem from retired Christchurch aircraft engineer Robert Tudehope in 2009. Restored by Robert, the Sunbeam is a 1970 Mark II model now being brought back to top condition”