NZ Classic Car
No 398 March/April 2025New Zealand’s longest running classic car magazine – celebrated its 300th edition in January 2016, an amazing achievement for a publication which began as a simple idea to put local classic car owners in touch with event organisers, car clubs and trade professionals. NZ Classic Car has been a vital part of the local motoring scene for more than 25 years and features unique and extensive classic motoring coverage. NZCC’s enthusiastic and passionate writers cover the length and breadth of the country ensuring extensive classic motoring coverage. Our coverage of New Zealand’s motoring heritage remains unrivalled, especially in the field of motorsport history, plus we include stunning photography, authoritative features and event reports from throughout the country.
COUNTDOWN TO AYRBURN – BREAKTHROUGH ON TRANSPORT RULES
The Ayrburn Classic Festival of Motoring will be in full swing in March. No other celebration of motoring has a venue in the country like the Ayrburn Classic. Not only can you enjoy some of New Zealand’s best scenery and roads getting there, but also the Ayrburn facilities are first class. Take a look at our big feature on this amazing event and make sure you are there to see some of the best classic and modern cars in the country. It would be great if you entered your classic! We wish Chris and the team of organisers the very best. New Zealand Classic Car is proud to be associated with this prestigious event. FRASER LOTUS 7 REPLICA Be at Ayrburn from 21 to 23 March and buy a ticket…
AN HQ TO DIE FOR
“Growing up in New Zealand in the ’70s and ’80s, everyone had one” Growing up in New Zealand in the ’70s and ’80s, everyone had one, had parents or siblings who had one, dated someone who had one, or had won an HQ in a poker game: they were everywhere! I remember sitting in my high school classroom in 1986, watching videos as part of a defensive driving course. As a car enthusiast, I noted the plethora of Holden HQs in the safety videos. From memory, Holden sponsored the programme by supplying the cars. The instructor pointed out that in the making of one video, the stunt drivers nearly caused an actual accident when one stunt driver aimed at his colleague coming the other way in a red HQ. The…
AYRBURN TO SHOWCASE CLASSICS AND FUTURE CLASSICS
Set against the stunning backdrop of Queenstown’s Ayrburn historic precinct, the inaugural Ayrburn Classic Festival of Motoring (21–23 March 2025) promises to be an unmissable event for car enthusiasts and those seeking a motoring event unlike any other in New Zealand. NEW ENTRY CLASS A new class, Pioneering Vintage (pre-1940), has been added to the car show line-up in recognition of the special nature of these survivors from the early days of motoring history. From these vintage treasures to high-performance supercars, the Ayrburn Classic will bring together a diverse collection of vehicles. ENTRY DEADLINE EXTEND The deadline to enter the car show has been extended to 28 February so there is still time to get your classic into the mix. PUT A FRASER IN YOUR GARAGE! In keeping with the…
A RESTOMOD LIKE NO OTHER
Here is a brain-teaser – and this time something very different for our poster car in this issue of New Zealand Classic Car – especially for all those restomod fans out there: What blasts through a standing quarter-mile in 13 seconds, is quicker than many US muscle cars, and has a top speed of 235kph – or 146mph, for all you US fans? From a time well before Bonneville, the Europeans overcame the engineering limitations of car engine designs in the inter-war period by slotting in slow-revving monster aircraft engines. In this case, it’s a Hispano-Suiza HS-8F V8, bigger than many modern truck engines at 18,470cc! Early models of this engine with slightly less capacity, the HS-8B, were used in single-seater fighters such as the Nieuport and Spad biplanes in…
AMERICA’S HEARTBEAT
“UP TO A THUMPING 395CI (6473CC) V8 CAMARO DELIVERING A RUBBER-MELTING 375BHP (280KW)” After six generations of what has become a memorable range of US muscle cars, followers of the ‘bowtie’ are just as enthusiastic about their Camaros as any Mustang owner. The Camaro, Ford, and Mopar rivalry is as strong as ever, and it has also been a key factor in saving many of these cars from the crusher. The Camaro’s production ended in 2002, and the name was revived in 2010 for a new but familiar shape. The sixth-generation 2015 model, using the General Motors (GM) Alpha platform shared with the Cadillac ATS, was due to end production in late 2024 at GM’s Lansing, Michigan, plant. YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS Tennis star John McEnroe’s memorable outburst is also…
GINO’S RENAISSANCE A family affair
It’s the latter 124 coupé variant that is the focus of this wee tale, as New Zealand has quite the niche following of this sprightly and stylish Italian two-door. The 124 Sport Coupé was styled by Mario Boano, as in the chap behind the Ferrari 250 GT Boano, for instance, hence the name. He clothed the 124 in textbook ’60s coupé lines, which were 14mm shorter than the saloon it was based on. From 1967 to 1975, the 124 Sport Coupé was split into three model eras, the AC (1967 to 1969), the BC (1969 to 1972), and the CC (1972 to 1975). All were powered by a sprightly twin-cam four-cylinder engine designed by Italian engineering icon Aurelio Lampredi. These ranged from 1.4 to 1.8 litres and most came with…
