By Ben Selby Anyone who has watched the classic 1992 comedy “Wayne’s World” will know this automotive oddity straight away. Who could forget that iconic scene where Wayne and the gang are rocking out to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody while cruising late at night in none other than Wayne’s blue flamed adored AMC Pacer? The AMC Pacer has long been considered …
The Corvette is the definitive all-American sports car. Having been in continuous production since 1953, very few people, petrolheads or not, haven’t heard of Chevrolet’s wild child. While countless variants have come and gone, the second-generation Corvette, is for many people, the Corvette’s finest hour. The roots of the second-generation car, the C2, can be traced back to the late …
By Ben Selby What does Adolf Hitler, Formula One team founder Ken Tyrrell, Lady Penelope from “Thunderbirds” and Mike Wazowski from Pixar’s “Monsters Inc” all have in common? They all owned or drove in cars which featured six wheels. This trend of six wheeled motoring was some which had a great influence on British automotive designer Robert Jankel. Jankel was …
Who doesn’t love a good spot for a picnic? Yes, we are rapidly approaching the winter months but on occasion there will be some warm sun filled days where a picnic amongst some picturesque surroundings would be more than ideal. Especially at the wheel of a classic car. One of these settings would without a doubt be Ashley Gorge. With …
By Ben Selby The chorus in the TV advert went something like this. “You’ve never seen, anything, like this before!” The General Motors marketing department went all out to showcase their latest and most technologically advanced production sports car ever. They even went as far to say it was the most advanced production car on the planet. It was also …
By Ben Selby When most think of a vehicle with the name “Bread Van” naturally the image of, well, a van filled with bread, pastries, cakes and other goodies from a local bakery spring to mind. Mention Bread Van to a Ferrari fan and they will think of only one vehicle. A 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, chassis number 2819GT. …
If you love a good classic car barnfind story, then get comfortable, for this is a good one. The subject of this story is the Palmen collection and it is probably one of, if not, the most significant barn finds of all time. The story surrounds an Ad Palmen, a Dutch gentleman who began collecting cars which started with a …
We recently celebrated our Events Manager, Sally’s 60th birthday in the museum. She had an 18 piece band, called ‘Sideline Swing’, beautiful platters of savoury and sweets, flowers on the tables, a bar and even hot towels to complete the evening. Eighty five guests danced the night away, enjoying the fabulous music, surrounded by 50 classic cars. If you’d like to …
By Ben Selby One of the most famous driving roads in New Zealand has to be the Crown Range. In the right car on the right day, it offers a real piece of driving heaven. From Queenstown to the famous Cardrona Hotel, its just magic. Here is the way from Queenstown to Cardrona via one of the most stunning roads …
By Ben Selby The Beatles. Peter Sellers. Britt Ekland. Enzo Ferrari. James Garner. Steve McQueen. Twiggy. Mick Jagger. What do all these famous people have in common? They all owned Mini Coopers. In particular, the original Mini Cooper. The car which John Cooper and his Cooper Racing Team transformed from the Alec Issigonis designed economical urban runabout, into a rally …
By Ben Selby There have been many occasions when two car manufacturers, sometimes from different parts of the world, will come together to create something truly special. You only need look at the Ford GT40, De Tomaso Pantera, McLaren F1 and Pagani Zonda to get the drift. However, one car in particular sadly didn’t make that list. The idea of …
