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Taupō welcomes back the classics

11 May, 2023

A prowl of Jaguars finally got to celebrate 101 years at the Taupo Classic, which also put on some spectacular historic racing

By Quinton Taylor
Photography: Chris Dillon, Matt Smith, Nigel Watts, Michael Fitzpatrick, Graeme Walker, Dean Wright, Chantell Smith 

Historic Muscle Cars and Saloon Cars president Tony Roberts was delighted with the success of the sixth edition of Taupō International Motorsport Park’s Historic Grand Prix held over the weekend of 21–22 January 2023.
No doubt Tony would have been chuffed even without his win in Class A in the SAS Autoparts MSC F5000 Historic GP race driving his McLaren M10A, the feature race for the meeting. Taking top honours was Brett Willis, winner overall in his Lola T332, after finishing second and third in the first two races and winning the feature race.
“The Historic Grand Prix was a cracker,” said Tony. “Eleven cars lined up for the HGP. It was a good event.” Tony says the event was “a hangover” that was kept on when Tony Quinn bought Taupo Raceway but it was combined with another legacy event, the Jaguar centenary celebration postponed in 2022 due to the Covid-19 restrictions, which added massively to the vehicular quality in the paddocks and the turnout on the weekend.

Jaguar enthusiasts from around the country headed to Taupo, including a South Island contingent with Kent Larsen racing the Wiseman/Larsen Jaguar E-Type and Bryan Ashworth having a fabulous run in the flying Daimler SP250 Dart. Bryan won the second race on the programme, the VCC’s Pre-66 Sports and Saloon cars Race 1 ahead of Kent, also triumphing in the second race in this category. Bryan completed a good day out notching up a third in the Jaguar Handicap Race 2, behind winner Robert Moston and Alan Williams.
Finally unleashed for the postponed centenary, the event drew a great turnout of Jaguars. There was plenty to see with a lunchtime track parade of Jaguars, a stunning collection of classic Jaguars in the Legends Marquee including Colin Giltrap’s stunning XKSS and a chance to meet Greg Murphy and other icons of the sport in the Legends Garage.

The Taupo Classic is one of the highlights on the 2023 calendar and one of New Zealand’s leading classic race meetings. It featured eight different race categories in 25 races over the two days. Formula 5000, Historic Formula Ford/Formula Junior & Invited Historic Single-Seaters, Historic Muscle & Saloon Cars, Historic Sports Sedans & Invited Allcomers, Super V8s featuring TA2 and Tranzams, Heritage Touring Cars, Formula Open NZ and Hooters Vintage Race Series Pre-1966 Saloons & Sports cars.

Almost mythical pony

25 July, 2024

The Shelby came to our shores in 2003. It went from the original New Zealand owner to an owner in Auckland. Malcolm just happened to be in the right place with the right amount of money in 2018 and a deal was done. Since then, plenty of people have tried to buy it off him. The odometer reads 92,300 miles. From the condition of the car that seems to be correct and only the first time around.
Malcolm’s car is an automatic. It has the 1966 dashboard, the back seat, the rear quarter windows and the scoops funnelling air to the rear brakes.
He even has the original bill of sale from October 1965 in California.

Becoming fond of Fords part two – happy times with Escorts

17 July, 2024

In part one of this Ford-flavoured trip down memory lane I recalled a sad and instructive episode when I learned my shortcomings as a car tuner, something that tainted my appreciation of Mk2 Ford Escort vans in particular. Prior to that I had a couple of other Ford entanglements of slightly more redeeming merit. There were two Mk1 Escorts I had got my hands on: a 1972 1300 XL belonging to my father and a later, end-of-line, English-assembled 1974 1100, which my partner and I bought from Panmure Motors Ford in Auckland in 1980. Both those cars were the high water mark of my relationship with the Ford Motor Co. I liked the Mk1 Escorts. They were nice, nippy, small cars, particularly the 1300, which handled really well, and had a very precise gearbox for the time.
Images of Jim Richards in the Carney Racing Williment-built Twin Cam Escort and Paul Fahey in the Alan Mann–built Escort FVA often loomed in my imagination when I was driving these Mk1 Escorts — not that I was under any illusion of comparable driving skills, but they had to be having just as much fun as I was steering the basic versions of these projectiles.