NZ Hot Rod November 2021

Rabbits “That’s the reason there are so many great people shots in the archives and my affection for them during my visits to past events.” Things have been fairly elastic here at hot rod HQ thanks to the dynamics of operating in a pandemic where all the rules change at the drop of a hat. We’ve swerved, twisted, turned, stretched and pulled rabbits out of the hat to stay rock solid and stick to our deadlines. You may have noticed a change in content, and one of those changes is the disappearance of coverage of current hot rod events, and that’s clearly the result of cancellations. This winter’s wet weather and combined COVID lockdowns saw our feature cupboard almost bare, and I must admit to thinking, perhaps we need to skip an…

Wild Honey Winner HI PAUL, Nostalgia is great, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Wild Honey article; I saw it at Autorama in ‘67 and in subsequent years. I have the ‘69 and ‘70 Autorama programmes, and I also have the Australian Hot Rod magazine depicted in the article photos, plus one or two other magazines of that vintage. As well as containing a feature on Wild Honey, that issue also has a feature on TNT owned at that time by Robert Jarvis. Of course, the great Autorama drawcard was Pink Panther, as mentioned in the article and having seen it on display while under construction in Upper Hutt, I was certainly not disappointed seeing it in its finished state. Because I had them out, I then browsed through a couple of the…

• Hot Rod Hero THIS picture appeared in the NZ Herald in 1971, when Pete Lodge broke the National drag outright record at Kerrs Road, Manurewa. It was the day he first ran slicks (M&H), and it was the first time slicks were used in NZ. He set the new mark at 11.35 seconds that day, just undercutting the long-time record holder Brian Trigg in his rail Andromeda, which had been 11.4 for a couple of years, I think. Pete had done a 10.9 before this, but it hadn’t been recognised or not backed up. The NZ Herald photographer staged the photo by bringing in a spectator suitably scantily attired to add interest. Her name was Michelle, I recall from the Newspaper version, which I have in a scrapbook somewhere. Pete…

• Premium Supremacy THIS 1957 Lincoln Premier was purchased from downtown San Francisco, California by Patrick Jenden. Wide whites, electric windows and a touch of patina amplify the fine style of this top-of-the-range classic American V8. It will be through compliance by Christmas and up for sale ready for summer. If you’re looking for something bold, distinct, powerful, loaded, and premium, call Patrick Jenden on 022 499 1645. • Commuter not Computer THIS 1957 Mercury Commuter was purchased out of the Astor Classics Auto Museum, which has 275 cars in it and is located in Anaheim, California. The 4-door hardtop wagon is and powered by a 368ci Turnpike Cruiser MEL engine. It’s owned by David Russell from the Invercargill area and is currently being complied at Roy MacDonald’s in Dunedin. From Craig Stare &…

THIS story actually goes back to 1979 when the original builder Colin Willoughby, then of Auckland, decided to build a Model A hot rod. Being an extremely accomplished engineer, this particular car was the catalyst to kick start his hot rod engineering business, ComTech, which built many top rods over the next few decades before relocating to Rangiora, North Canterbury. Upon talking with friend Dave McDougall, he found out that he too was about to build a box section Model A frame, so Colin suggested that he build two of them simultaneously. Very little was available on reproduction A bodies in those days, but Colin found out that Arnie Parker was about to launch a fibreglass Model A coupe body (1930). Colin needed one with a recessed firewall! Colin wanted to build…

TAKE your hat off to Invercargill photographer Troy Findlay (28) and his young team of mates for organising a car show held under challenging COVID level restrictions. As a result, they added a great event to the calendar while many others cancelled. Troy’s specialty is capturing speedway and car photos, as he explains. “I’ve been around the speedway and car scene since about 2016. Ever since I was a young guy, I just wanted to attend car shows, so I got this idea six months ago to have a car show. I knuckled down and came up with an idea of a Hard Park Takeover.” If Jappas are your fancy, then there was plenty to see, or if it’s V8s, then there was no shortage of cars to enjoy. Instead of getting…