Automotive History

Events: oldschool.co.nz Cruise to Leadfoot Ranch, Hahei

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November 6, 2012
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A Celica like none other...

Over the weekend of 3rd-4th November a large and varied group of oldschool.co.nz club members made a pilgrimage to Hahei, on the idyllic Coromandel Peninsula, for a meet-and-greet with none other than Rod Millen, famous championship winning driver in various motorsport disciplines and proprietor of the Leadfoot Ranch.

Convoy enroute to the Coromandel, via State Highway 2.

Leaving bright and early from the convening point at Bombay just outside of Auckland, roughly 20 cars (more…)

: Automotive History, Car Spotting, Events, Inspiration

Retro audio test: Pioneer KX-E35 and GEX-E06

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February 20, 2012
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Continuing the theme of “collect all the ’80s audio gear!” – here is a freshly acquired Lonesome Carboy cassette deck and matching digital tuner being put thru the paces. Pleasantly surprised that the drive motor and belts haven’t completely fallen apart after 27 years.

I can’t find much information about the deck, except that it was apparently a factory upgrade option for the BF Familias and Lasers in Japan for a short time in 1985 before the CDX-P1 compact disc player was introduced, but the tuner is a standard Pioneer off-the-shelf item. This particular one, typically, is locked to Japanese AM/FM frequencies only.

There is a plan in motion for this setup; all shall be revealed in due course.

And it’s all over you, electric blue!

: Automotive History, Inspiration, Retro Videos

Lush threads for the discerning RX-7 owner.

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January 11, 2012
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Ah, the things you find when searching for RX-7 memorabilia on the internerds!

Back in good ol’ 1985, owning a Mazda RX-7 meant Serious Business. So serious, in fact, that the official RX-7 Club of America produced its own line of contemporary clothing, including a very swish John Player Executive jacket for the guys, and a whole range of fashion accessories and publications.

Best worn with Ludicrous Shades, Your Best Pornstache, and Judas Rockin’ Priest blasting out the stereo!

RX-7 Fashion '85! Pastel and big hair galore.

...and rocking jackets with nothing underneath.

with thanks to Foxed.ca – home of the largest collection of out-of-print Mazda manuals.

: Automotive Documentation, Automotive History, Random Retro Snap

Automotive History; ShellSport Series, NZ

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September 3, 2011
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For those interested in the 70′s ShellSport series, there’s a pretty interesting thread on “The Roaring Season” forums about it that I’m sure you will find as amazing to read and look through as I did.  I’ll be keeping tabs on it, for sure!

http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?223-New-Zealand-ShellSport-Saloon-Series-1978-1985

 

Photograph by “PhotoSmith” on The Roaring Season

 

 

: Automotive History

“So anyway, this is the height of lunacy…”

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June 22, 2011
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Combine a 12 volt battery, a GM-4M amp, a KP-707G cassette deck/graphic EQ combo, a speaker I pulled out of my old AW11, and an old tape I had lying around… clearly I had nothing better to do this evening.

The setup will eventually be going into the RX-7 anyway, so it was a useful test if nothing else.

: Authors Cars, Automotive History, Retro Videos
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