Corvette Nationals

Here are a few snaps from the Corvette Nationals held in Masterton on the weekend of 18/19 February. There was no official public show so these pics were taken at Copthorne Solway Park Motor Inn, where most of them were staying.

Please excuse the lack of depth in the captions, but I didn't get details of all I photographed.
There was very little difference visually in Corvettes from '58 to'60.
Without louvres in the bonnet this is not a '58, so must be '59 or '60.

I believe this is a '64.

I like the "coke-bottle" bodies from about '68 through to about '83, but the earlier models of this series looked the best. This example must date from around '69.

A later model of the "coke-bottle" series. About 1980 I would say.

The rego plate hints that this is a '63.

With these later models I don't know much about identifying their year.

1971

Interior of a '70s model with manual transmission.

In 2003 Chevrolet commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Corvette. The above model is a Corvette from that year with a body designed to recall some of the styling of the original '53 model. I'm not sure if this is a one-off or whether they were built in small numbers. Either way it is a rarity in NZ.

Interior of the above beast is very.....red!

Here's the rear.

The Last of the Brits and the Ride home.

The British High Commissioner to NZ, Victoria Treadell, was there with her Jaguar XF. That's her standing to the right of the Jag, with her driver in his patriotic waistcoat.

An E-type 2+2 joins the parade at the end of the day.

Another Mk II Jag from the best angle.

A convertible E-type this time.

Bentleys and Rolls Royces all belong to a common club.

This Bentley Turbo has wheels you wouldn't want the wife to scrape a curb with....

........or spill her coffee inside either.

Just another look at that superb Silver Cloud.

It was a beautiful day so I took the long way home by doing a loop around Lake Wairarapa. The lake that gives our region its name. Wairarapa is Maori for "Glistening Water".

Heading to Martinborough, after leaving the shores of the lake, I saw this large herd of Jersey cows all bunched into one field. 

In Martinborough I took a rest in the shade, parked behind this smart 1971 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia.
Many years ago I worked in a VW dealership and regularly serviced one of these, but they were fairly rare then and are even rarer now.

British Car Day (2)

Further pictures from the day at Trentham.

1968 Austin Mini Cooper with fat tyres and big flares.

Interior of the same Cooper has a very special steering wheel.

In the car park. Do you prefer V-twin or boxer twin?

Triumph Bonneville Thruxton.

Ooops There seemed to be a few foreigners present.

The bland interior of Joe Morris's Morris 1800.
Joe has a large collection of driveable cars and bikes.

Twin cam Escort interior looks a bit more like a driver's car.

Some more foreigners: A 1964 Falcon Futura and a 1965 version.

1958 Chev smiles at the little Brit.

MG TB with tacho in front of driver and speedo to scare the passenger.

It doesn't seem long ago that everyone's aunty had one of these.

Hillman Imps were a popular alternative to Minis in NZ.
Minis won in the end. There are more of them still on the road than Imps.

Mini Mokes are very rare now.

Riley Elfs and the similar Wolseley Hornets were also popular alternatives to the Mini.
This one must be noisy, judging by the driver's actions.

The MG 1100 leaves the show.

Although British bikes were also part of the show, this one belongs to a spectator.
Non existant side stand meant that a wall had to suffice.

Vicious guard dog protects these two bikes.

British Car Day 2012 (1)

Last Sunday was this years date for the annual British Car Day at Trentham Park. They seem to manage magnificent weather every year, even when the rest of the week has been crap.

Morris Minors are a popular classic car.

1912 Rolls royce.

It could only be the interior of a Mk II Jaguar.

The Mk II Jag has to be the best styled British sedan of all time.

That lovely rounded nose and shiny chrome wires...what more could a man want?

I'm not sure I like the hot rod look of this Mk 1 Zephyr, but the panel finish and paint job was outstanding.

Interior of the above Zephyr.

The cockpit and power-plant of a D-type Jag replica.

A gold plated leaping jaguar.

This 1964 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud has appeared on my blog before, but its worthy of a repeat showing. To me these were the last of the RRs that looked how an RR should, and in my wife's favourite colour.

Interior of the same Silver Cloud III.




 

The Sunbeam Tiger always sounded a great idea to me when I was a young lad....

....but the idea of having to remove a plug in the firewall under the dashboard to
remove the left rear spark plug is not so hot.

Hillman Minxes of this era were a popular car in NZ. This one, however, is a Humber 80. A badge engineered Minx for the NZ market. I think Australia may have had them too.

The Land Rover Club is never short of members.

You may recognise the Vauxhall facia, but not in a convertible. The Vauxhall Vagabond was an Australian development built in very small numbers.

A fine looking British gentleman's saloon; the 1962 Alvis TD

The Alvis' interior is just as traditional as the exterior.

BMCs 1100/1300 range was a big seller in NZ, though not often seen with "mag" wheels.
This is an MG variant.

The simple lines of a 1928 Austin 12/4.

Equally simple interior.

This original, but certainly not immaculate Sunbeam Tiger was for sale for $63,500. I wonder what one would pay for a near perfect one with the steering wheel on the "correct" side?

Small cars suit bright colours. This 1932 Austin 7 was no exception.