New Zealand Classic Car 162, June 2004
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The legendary Ford Mustang celebrates its 40th birthday, and we join in with the celebrations this month Ford's Mustang is the very stuff of motoring legend - officially launched on the 17th April 1964, 40 years later the original pony-car is still an exciting production reality. As part of our special 40th anniversary issue we take a look at a Mustang convertible that was actually built on the very day of the Mustang;s US launch, and ask the question 'is this New Zealand's oldest Mustang?
Just to make things even more interesting, we also check out a notchback that was built on 23rd April 1964! Our resident US specialist, Peter Callen, puts pen to paper to list all the highlights of the Mustang's four decade long career – and we back up Peter's erudite words by photographing no less than ten Mustangs – ranging from a '66 convertible to a 2003 Mach 1, with stopovers at the ‘70s Mach 1, the unloved Mustang II, a '79 Pace Car and a 1990 convertible.
But wait, there's more - we wangled a ride on the recent Great Mustang NZ Run; a 5000 kilometres celebratory run from Kaitaia to Bluff. NZCC were the only local car magazine to cover the entire route and this month we report back from this amazing event and print exclusive photographs showing the Mustangs, and their owners, as they travel the length of New Zealand.
For those who like their 'classics' bang up to date, this month we take a look at the new Aston Martin DB9 and also road-test the latest incarnation of Mazda's supremely popular MX-5 sports car - now available in New Zealand in turbocharged form.
This month, Mark Webster checks out a '66 Dodge Monaco and decides whether a big US cruiser can be rightly termed ‘everyday classic.’ And, from everyday cars of the '60s, we turn to everyday cars of the '30s when Penn McKay gets to grips with a beautifully restored 1932 Ford V8 Roadster.
If you like your classic action to be fast, we have plenty to keep you interested: Made famous by Whitney Straight, the 8CM Maserati entered in this year’s Southern Festival of Speed by Peter Giddings is an absolute delight to look at whether it is speeding around a circuit or just resting in the paddock. This month, Eoin Young pieces together the history of this very famous Maserati GP car, outlines Straight's racing career and, just for good measure, subjects the Maserati to a brief road-test at Timaru. Check out Terry Marshall’s superb racing pictures of the 8CM – a real highlight for fans of ‘real’ racing cars.
Dunlop Targa Dash: A one day event around the Franklin/Waikato area, the Dash is rapidly becoming a very popular event – and a superb training ground for drivers keen to tackle the main Dunlop Targa NZ later in the year. Our Targa Dash programme is the only way (outside of entering the event) that you’ll find full route maps and special stage start and finish times. Along with profiles of some of the entrants, this is required reading for all those planning to spectate at this exciting one day event.
We also look at autumn classic racing events, Steve Holmes continues his history of F5000 racing in New Zealand and Michael Clark looks back in time to the era of the famous Bentley Boys. All this and brief looks at the XT Falcon, Morris Marina, and up to date GT News, classic events, news and, of course, all our usual columns and workshop advice.
