Car Spotting

P. North Retrospective

2
August 3, 2009
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With this weekend just been being the oldschool Palmy Swap “Meat” weekend (an oldschool.co.nz forum event using the Palmerston North Swap Meet as a loose excuse to get drunk and rowdy), I thought seeing as I didn’t make it this time I’d show some photos of the cars from last year, when I did attend.  Hopefully Alex will put up a post of this years event either later tonight or later this week.  If he doesn’t do such things I may well stab him in the eye with a pushrod.

I used to have most these photos as an entry on the oldschool.co.nz blog which sadly died a horrible death after some hosting issues. SO, if you’ve seen them before, that will be where, well…  either that or oldschool itself.  AAAANNYHOOO, on with the show;

Arrival in Wellington from Invercargill, I was picked up from the AirPort by Pies and Seedy Al.  Wellington was host to some fine automobile spotting, all things considered.  Not all managed to be snapped and some were just horrific, but that’s what you get for taking photos out of a moving car and a lack of preparation.

Holden Monaro GTS

Holden Monaro GTS

Spied on the motorway on the way out to see this next beast, which was at the time owned my Pies, it has since found a new owner.

Toyota Corona MarkII MX41

Toyota Corona MarkII Hardtop

Then on the way back from the lockup, this was encountered;  Thankfully the picture looks sweet.

Mitsubishi Galant Colt

Mitsubishi Galant Colt

Of course this was not the end of the spotting, there were many more retro and classic vehicles lining the streets of various parts of Wellington and the Hutt.

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: Car Spotting, External Projects

Nissan – Feel the Spirit

0
July 27, 2009
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I forget where I got these photos from, other than the internet somewhere in one of my many various voyages of automotive discovery. If you know where they’re from, I’ll gladly make reference to them so they can receive the credit. I should be more vigilant in my voyages really. Ah well.

Anyway, here’s a collection of pictures taken of the Nissan stand at what was either a specifically Nissan show or something greater, I’m unsure. Either way it’s a collection of their cars used in motorsport across the generations. Pretty impressive showing I think and definitely worth being posted for all to see. We’ll start with the classics;

1958 Datsun 210 Bluebird Rally Car

Datsun 210 Bluebird Rally Car

As is after use in the Australian Mobil-Gas Rally of 1958 where it obviously encountered at least some drama judging by the front right wing.  Jump a few years forward and onto something a little faster…

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: Automotive History, Car Spotting, Events

Uber random garage find: ’81 DR30 Skyline RS sedan

10
July 26, 2009
by

…it’s almost like a barn find, but not quite.

The background: my friend’s father (who’s a bit of a tinkerer) recently did a bit of maintenance work on a vehicle for a lady he knew, and she happened to mention that it was probably time for her to retire said vehicle in order to get something slightly more modern. To cut a long story short, it turns out her car is a 1981 DR30 Skyline RS sedan with the FJ20E naturally aspirated engine – she’s the 2nd NZ owner and has owned it for a number of years blissfully unaware of any “significance” it may have had!

DR30 Skyline sedan (by decypher the code)

genuine DR30, it is!

The car: Judging from the manufacture date and build number it’s one of the very first RS models made, as they were released in October 1981. The car itself is a bit rough around the edges but I’m confident it will clean up well with some effort. The important thing is that it still drives well, and the FJ20E is still as smooth and perky as one might expect for a twin cam 4-valver (although it’s no match for the turbo version). To me, it was surreal seeing another genuine DR30 on the ground here in NZ, and cool yet strange to see one that’s been here living a very honest life for the last 20-odd years and hasn’t been destroyed yet.

Anyway, enjoy a selection of photos after the jump, and if anyone happens to be interested in purchasing this DR30, give us a yell and arrangements can be made on your behalf – I’m fairly sure its current owner would appreciate it going to a worthy home.

Alert readers will note the absence of the tell-tale 3 slat front grille in the following photos; the only plausible explanation is that sometime in the past it was stolen or broken and thus replaced with a regular HR30 honeycomb (because DR30 grilles aren’t exactly common here). It sure helps disguise the fact that this is the real deal from far away, as only the badging remains (and the paint scheme, if you know what to look for).

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: Authors Cars, Car Spotting, Cars for Sale, Random Retro Snap

Buy some cars from trademe.co.nz

1
July 23, 2009
by

There’s some pretty sweet ones available;

1967 Prince Skyline GT-A

1967 Prince Skyline GT-A

1980 Datsun 720 Wellside

1980 Datsun 720 Wellside

1985 Nissan Maxima VG20ET Hardtop

1985 Nissan Maxima VG20ET Hardtop

PLUS MUCH MUCH (more…)

: Car Spotting

2006 Vero Vintage Car Rally, Pt. IV

3
July 22, 2009
by

Part IV of this brings it to an end, this final day involved the majority of the cars being parked in some sports grounds for the public to oggle at.  It was a good day, sadly I didn’t have the time to take photos of everything that was there but I did take as many as I could in the time I had.  I think there’s a pretty decent selection to have a squiz at.  One of my favourite, if not my favourite of the whole she-bang, I didn’t stumble upon until the show/display and that was this car…

1935 Aubern Speedster

1935 Auburn Speedster

The information on carjam.co.nz would indicate that this is in fact a Custom-built, so it’s either a replica or there was some strange dealings done in getting it onto the road.  Whatever the case, be it replica or not, it’s an amazing machine.  What’s not to like?  It’s a truly amazing machine, the whole sculpted body is just craftsmanship perfected, I’d own one in a heartbeat if I could, here’s some more shots and some of what else was on display including the link to the flickr Gallery with 95 images… (more…)

: Automotive History, Car Spotting, Events, External Projects, Random Retro Snap
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