New Zealand Classic Car 397, January/February 2025

Honda’s game-breaker
Having dominated the world motorcycle championships of the 1960s, Honda had a crucial decision to make in 1969. Would Soichiro Honda heed his engineer’s pivotal advice?
“Very few examples of the early Civic, a car that set Honda onto the path to becoming a giant of the car world, remain road registered in New Zealand.
Retired Tauranga owner of this example, Graham Inglis is thrilled with his classic little Honda Civic, the first of eleven generations built so far by the company. The Civic became a household name.
“It’s quite amazing the number of people who not only wave, but come up to me in the street and tell me how much they like the little Honda and its colour, and then they want to start talking about it. A guy in our vintage car club wants to buy it and he has been pushing me a bit. It’s not for sale,” he laughs.
Graham bought his 1977 Honda Civic from Wellington enthusiast Julian Foster, who was the instigator of its restoration.”
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Event news
Ayrburn Classic – a festival of motoring – 21–23 March 2025
New Zealand’s newest motoring event, the Ayrburn Classic, continues the story of RM Paterson and his penchant for motoring and love of a good time shared with good friends.
Supercheap Auto Americarna 2025 – a celebration of American car culture
1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville – the car he will never sell!
Trevor Beard at Cars Inc Museum in Upper Hutt tells a unique car restoration story, including some smart detection on his part.
Special Industry Feature  – The zen of classic restoration
SKC Restorations co-owner Doug Sturgin says what started as a tech-sector CEO’s classic car indulgence has evolved into a burgeoning international classic car restoration business.
1977 Ford Falcon XC Panel Van – Schools out!
The ’70s was about the conclusion of the Vietnam War, the new decade ushered in by the watershed 1969 Woodstock Festival. A war-weary young generation relaxed to music and everything was ‘cool man!’
Europe Report – Chantilly elegance
Château de Chantilly provided an amazing centuries-old backdrop for its annual September festival celebrating French arts and elegance.
The Games fleet – Holden Kingswoods
The biggest challenge for any international event is funding. The 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, led by Sir Ron Scott (1928-2016) is still the only Commonwealth Games to ever finish with a profit.
Postcard from Australia – Queensland trifecta of car museums
Vaughan Wilson takes a detour from his usual travels in the USA, for a brief sojourn into the Sunshine State and a visit to three car museums in Queensland.
Motor Sport Flashback – The beginning of the end
The Tasman Series had a twelve-year life from 1964 meaning that, sadly, the first two months of 1975 brought down the curtain on what was once the second most important open-wheeler road racing championship in the world – behind only the world championship.
Kits & Pieces – Little blue Austin
This little Austin makes it into this column not because it is a kit but because it is a ‘resto-mod’ assembled from a lot of non-original and more modern ‘pieces’.
An owner’s view – my life in Volkswagens
Jim Wilson is a died-in-the-wool Volkswagen fan, a passion he shares with his wife, Kelly. In his own words, Jim recalls some choice experiences from a large store of them, having owned around 30 of the characterful little Germans.
Shelf Classics –  diecasts meet scratch builts
When Patrick Harlow, New Zealand Classic Car’s Kits and Pieces man, suggested this article, I had a surprise in store, discovering the modeller had helped me with rebuilding my own model collection.
Book review – Half-century, full throttle
by Alfa Romeo Owners Club of New Zealand
Motorman – classics on show in Noosa
Combining classic and special cars with holiday time is not a bad proposition as Donn Anderson found during a recent foray into sunny Queensland. Donn also analyses the recent Webbs auction in Auckland revealing a few surprises.
The Apprentices part 2 – if you don’t ask…
A couple of young lads from Te Anau grabbed their apprenticeships at the well-known restoration company Geraldine Auto Restorations with both hands.
Looking back: Racing Down Under – Part 2 – a kiwi backwater 1950s story
Aotearoa/New Zealand in the 1950s was a basic sort of place. In Part 2, Gerard continues looking back at some outstanding characters with the so-called Kiwi No8 wire mentality who gave some exotic machinery a second wind at the forefront of our own motor racing scene.
Behind the Garage Door – Kiwi know-how, North Carolina wizardry
As they say, ‘it never rains, but it pours’, and right when we were putting Jonathan Paape’s, Magnificent Three-Way Split Corvette story together for New Zealand Classic Car issue 396, David O’Connell sent in a letter with some photos of his quite stunning Chevrolet Corvette C2 Stingray.
Special Travel Feature - Places To Go Part 2
Once around the block - a very small South Island invasion
Patrick and a couple of mates decided a tour of the scenic South Island was well overdue so they set off on a 9-day raid of some of the Island’s best scenic spots, cosseted in three very different American Grand Tourers. Part 2 concludes their South Island invasion.
Price on – The Iconic J40
Not your average J40 pedal car
Many youngsters in the 1950s, myself included, longed for one of these but they were few and far between, primarily because they were expensive.
Taking Care of Pigment – Dunedin Autospectacular 2024
Tattooist sponsor Taking Care of Pigment made for eye-catching naming rights at this year’s annual Dunedin Autospectacular.
Classic car news
MG Classic at Manfeild, Fats gather in Kaikoura, 2024 Southern Muster, 45th Mustang Connection, Mopars in Gore 2024, and more…
To see a fully illustrated content rundown of what’s in this issue 397, head to our NZ classic Car website