out and about in my taxi

[r.welfare]

That Rootes-fest reminds me that there's a bloke in Hull who collects old Humbers, and has a wedding fleet all liveried up the same - IIRC, he has had an open night at his garages, and he had a load of them on display at the local Humber centenary a few years back. I'll try and dig out more info ...

He's featured in Practical Classics in one of the early 2000s issues under the "Danny Dares" stories, where Danny Hopkins chauffered one at a wedding. Can't remember the date of the mag offhand, but yeah, the guy has something like two dozen Humber Imperials or summat.That Cortina is superb, STUNO. I recall reading that a Ford dealer in NZ offered a turbo'd 2.0 which had pretty stunning performance for the day, 0-100kph in around 8 seconds. BMW diesels can manage that these days!

[michiel]

Nice garage, do I spot an 80s Skoda inside?

[STUNO]

Nice garage, do I spot an 80s Skoda inside?

Yes, I think it is too

[STUNO]

That Cortina is superb, STUNO. I recall reading that a Ford dealer in NZ offered a turbo'd 2.0 which had pretty stunning performance for the day, 0-100kph in around 8 seconds.

I have not heard of these. Will try to find out something about them. The Cortina above was occupied by the owner so I didnt get any more photos before it went.

[Volksy]

Blimey! I used to get spares from that VW Specialist for my '66 Bug, Looks like he's had a big clearout, i'll try and find and scan the photies I took whilst there a few years back.

[STUNO]

volksy. I was supposed to go to Whakatane today and was going to find a school bus to photograph ! Didnt happen. That VW man has been there for years, I will be interested to see what has changed.

[Volksy]

Well the Garage still looks exactly the same, although the yard used to be cram packed with stuff, loads of split busses and oval bugs, I remember the fella who owned it was a nice fella, got loads of bits for my bug off him.I used to work at Harts Holden dealers in Whakatane, and in Go Global restaurant. But did some logging work out at Kawerau (sp?) Mill.Loved it!

[r.welfare]

That Cortina is superb, STUNO. I recall reading that a Ford dealer in NZ offered a turbo'd 2.0 which had pretty stunning performance for the day, 0-100kph in around 8 seconds.

I have not heard of these. Will try to find out something about them. The Cortina above was occupied by the owner so I didnt get any more photos before it went.

According to "Wheels" July 1982:"John Andrew, the largest Ford Dealership in New Zealand, and one of the biggest in Australasia, is marketing a two-litre turbo Cortina off the showroom floor. They came up with their own conversion (Australian kits put too much stress on the engines in Andrews' view) which uses a mix of imported and local components, and costs NZ$3,475 for a manual Cortina."Interestingly they did note that a standard 2.0 Cortina was the fastest 2-litre on the NZ market at the time, "a world away from the emissions-strangled Australian 2-litre Cortina"!

[STUNO]

A look around the internet, at Cortina clubs and John Andrew Ford website and not a thing so far. JAF site had a history page which compressed the history of the company to one sentence to cover a 101 year old ford dealer ! Obviously only interested in the next sale. I will keep a look out, but I wonder if it was only a good idea that didnt sell.Also trying to get photos of..Dyane, 2cv and a Peugeot 404 that float about town. saw all 3 today within a few minutes, but not able to photo them.

[STUNO]

Wots r.welfare (esq) doing with Wheels from 1982???? For those who dont know what it is heres my Nov 1969 copy. Just to prove that mines older than yours Fascinating reading now.

 

prices from the lists....

Cit DS21 Pallas A$6189

Fiat 125 $3058

Ford Galaxie 6.5L $6450

Merc 300 6.3 $19,165

mini 1100 $1780 (I bought one in 1970)

porsche 911 $9500

Rover 2000 $4675

3.5 coupe $7570

trump 2.5 pi $3850

Volvo 122s $3706

Volvo 164 $5799

I suppose that makes the Merc a very expensive car!

Road test of Mazda R100 is the old Aussie style road test. 10,000 miles in a few week across and up and down the country, That really tested them as roads were bloody terrible, if it could break or fall off it did every time.Photo below gives an idea of the journey.The result of the hammering,not a rattle or squeak anywhere, fuel starvation caused by damage to fuel lines, a wheel out of balance and a loose exhaust. That was the start of the invasion, you couldnt break them

Thats my lot for now!

[michiel]

Nice! I've got a few dozen Australian car mags from the late 60s, blame eBay and the fact that they tested quite a few Japanese cars back then...

[r.welfare]

Heh, I bought a dozen copies of 1982-84 era Wheels from the Motor Museum in Fremantle when I was on honeymoon over Christmas 2006. Fantastic standard of journalism.Actually, I've just won another 4 (dating from 1975-78 ) from Australian eBay, looking forward to receiving them. Plenty to interest us shiters and also the OJC boys, I think.Hopefully, Economy Airmail will be quicker than the surface mail I had to use to get my Fremantle mags home (cheaper than excess baggage allowance!) - they took 4 months to arrive!

[STUNO]

I get my old mags etc from 2nd hand bookshops, most thonk they are not worth anything so just about give them away !

Took my new flashy camera out today, took one photo ,no probs, them tried to get a WW2 dukw from the rear, yes driving down the street!!! NO PHOTO and camera stuffed , so all you are getting is a google photo for those who havent seen one, plus a wintery pic of my old 323 in the central North Island.

OH and this just fancied my tickle

[mk2_craig]

tried to get a WW2 dukw from the rear, yes driving down the street!!! NO PHOTO and camera stuffed , so all you are getting is a google photo for those who havent seen one

Believe it or not you can catch a ride on one in London - see http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/ - Presumably congestion charge exempt cos (A) they're probably still petrol and ( THEY USE THE RIVER THAMESI heard something a while back about how these had only recently been decommissioned, supposedly spent 50+ years in a US Army storage facility somewhere in France.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Nice garage, do I spot an 80s Skoda inside?

Yes, I think it is too

Well, they are rear engined I believe!

 

Well done paying the tax man Stuno

[STUNO]

Camera problem turned out to be dud new batteries. So back out with good ones. Yesterdays spots were a Yugo and a Proton Saga. I think the Proton will be about so I can get it , wait for the pictures

[STUNO]

Todays haul of shite

DAEWOO ESPERO,is there any truth in the story of these being Vauxhall based?

MAZDA 929

PROTON SAGA..Malaysian Mitsi

Slightly shaky

30s PLYMOUTH still with its dealer plates

[STUNO]

This arrived by E-mail a few mins ago.

The crew have been installing bollards to stop parking in

that area, how long before they realise

[Jazzy Jeff]

I have a confession, I love Original Proton's!! Sadly I think there will be about 3 left on the road here by the end of the year the way scrap prices are going.

[retrogeezer]

DAEWOO ESPERO,is there any truth in the story of these being Vauxhall based?

Cavalier underneath I believe......not as obvious as the Nexia/Astra though.

[Volksy]

I find it incredible that someone in NZ bought a Daewoo, I ran Whatatanes Daewoo dealer for a couple of months, in that time only one person came into the dealers and then to look at a second hand Mitsubishi Galant we had in!All the shite trade ins were unsucessfully peddled from the Daewoo lot, (the group also sold Holden from a separate site), a couple of my favs were a Hyundai Stellar running on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and a tank of a Skyline saloon. The town, which is pretty small, had about 8 car dealers, mainly selling JDM imports, so really who would buy a 'New' Daewoo with rubbish spec over a year old import.There deffo Chavalier based, check the door handles, and all the switchgear and clocks were straight lifted, Its based on the ubiqitus J'car floorpan. Shitey wiki fact :- The Espero was renamed to Aranos in some Spanish-speaking countries (not in Chile, for instance.), since the word Espero means 'I wait' in Spanish. Such a name was deemed inadequate.

[STUNO]

Thanks for the Daewoo info.I had heard that for years but was never sure.Daewoo has grown from the early days and now has some "specialist "dealers.There are a suprising number of Esperos around still.Proton was sold by Mitsi dealers without much success

[Richard]

Is the Daewoo name still on the go in NZ then? They've been badged as Chevrolet here since 2005.

[STUNO]

Is the Daewoo name still on the go in NZ then? They've been badged as Chevrolet here since 2005.

yes and they seem to be selling!

[Ross_K]

Nasty little pieces of crap those Protons.I had one briefly, and managed to sell it on for 20 quid more than I paid for it. I can safely say that was the only positive thing that came out of owning it.

[STUNO]

OOPS! I was looking for Daewoo dealers on the net, and found a pressrelease from Holden NZ which announces the wind down of Daewoo and removal from the market. OH DEAR

[Mash]

This arrived by E-mail a few mins ago.

The crew have been installing bollards to stop parking in

that area, how long before they realise

LMAO!

 

By the way, what size engine will that Marina pick up have? They only ever came with the 1275 in the UK I believe. Any bigger over there???

[Mr Lobster]

Sorry to spoil but that ^ is photoshopped. Saw it on 'tinterweb a few years back.One of them bollards isn't real.

[STUNO]

Doncha just hate photoshop when others use it

[MrRegieRitmo]

What were those Protons called over here....?