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Fords and more – November 2020 issue on sale now

19 October, 2020

 


NZCC 359

 

From their exotic curved sideglass to their curved everything else the late-50s Alfa Romeo Guilia and Giulietta Sprint Speciales proved automotive exotica weren’t just for the super-rich. Owner of this gorgeous 1962 example, Michael Wyatt, says the lower-powered 1300cc Giulietta is even more special as it really makes the most of this super aerodynamic shape. This month we also feature  one of Ford’s best, the the Mk 11 Capri 2.8i, and we celebrate one of the greatest auto engines of all time, the 6¾-litre V8 in the limited edition 2020 Bentley Mulsanne 6.75, a swansong for 60 years of pace and grace. We also look at a sort of K.I.T.T. car, the Pontiac TransAm, and a car that looks better with each passing year, the Isuzu Piazza.         

Get yours in store now or delivered to your door from magstore.nz – New Zealand Classic Car – Issue 359.

NZ Classic Car magazine, May/June 2026 issue 405, on sale now

26 April, 2026

Reincarnation of the snake
We are captivated by a top-quality sports car
The Shelby NZ build team at Matamata Panelworks has endured a long and challenging journey, culminating with the highly anticipated public unveiling of the 427SC and firing up of its sonorous V8 at the 2026 Ayrburn Classic Festival of Motoring in Queenstown on February 20. This is a New Zealand-built car with loads of character and potential.
The car is now back in Matamata, and I finally have an opportunity to get up close and personal with it. But before then, the question that must be asked is, “Why would ya?”
The first answer is easy, as mentioned in the last issue of New Zealand Classic Car (#404). It was a great way to use up all the surplus Mustang parts acquired while converting brand-new Mustangs into Shelbys. The unused new Mustang parts would be great in any kit car, but the 427SC in front of me cannot be classified as one.
This is not a kit car. The reality is that it is a high-quality, factory-made production car.
Possibly the second answer is because the CEO of Matamata Panelworks, Malcolm Sankey, wanted to build a replica of the car that is a distant relation to the Shelby Mustangs scattered around his showroom floor, a car created long before the first Mustang was even thought of, and the brainchild of Carroll Shelby back in the early ‘60s.

A tradesman’s estate — the Cortina GT Estate

22 April, 2026

The owner of our featured car, Rod Peat, used to rally a Cortina GT back when the words ‘rally’ and ‘trial’ were interchangeable. In times after that he could also be seen beside Mal Clark in various Targa NZ rallies, getting the famous Rover V8 or Lotus Cortina in spirited fashion around and over the various special stages that make up those events. After children, houses, and career, Rod decided it was time to own a GT again.
A search on the various systems available turned up a car Rod and probably most of us didn’t even know existed: a genuine Ford factory Cortina Estate GT.