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chris amon

Lunch with … Roger Bailey

Roger’s story is a classic illustration of what hard work, honesty to the point of brutal frankness, a ‘can-do’ approach, and a racer’s brain can get you in this sport of car racing. Roger, or ‘Boost’ as he’s known up and down the pitlanes of America, was who Kenny Smith turned to when he was dragging a reluctant teenager around the different pit garages at Laguna Seca.
“Scott [Dixon] kept complaining that it was too hot and he just wanted to go back to the hotel pool. I had to tell him that I was trying to secure his future — we weren’t getting much of a look in until we saw Roger who knew everyone and set about introducing Scott as New Zealand’s next big thing.

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

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.