DAILY-DRIVER / NEXT MONTH
An Anglia van and a 1970 Falcon ute keep Betty Boop company in this family business fleet so it’s always a choice among classics for daily driving
Invercargill couple Brenda [Bren] Mathers and Scott Flynn love the car culture in the deep south. Bren likens it to Napier, where she grew up, went to school, and bucked the trend by becoming probably New Zealand’s first fully trade-qualified female motor trimmer — but that’s another story.
Bren moved to Invercargill a few years ago and partnered up with Scott and the two now operate an upholstery business in the city so their fleet is a mobile advertisement of their wares. Both are members of the Southland Chevrolet Club and they are involved in the annual Southern Grilles & Gasoline Car Show run by the club.
“It’s amazing how many vehicles there are down here,” says Bren. “When I lived in Auckland there were lots of hot rods but you never saw them unless there was a car show whereas down here people drive them every day. It’s a cool thing! You can drive down the main street of Invercargill and you can see three or four different cars driving past.”
The Southland Chevrolet Club often takes residents from rest homes out for a Sunday drive — a perfect scenario for the couple’s Betty Boop–themed 1948 Morris 8 Series E sedan, which won the ‘Best British’ award at the Grilles & Gasoline Car Show in February.
Ben and Scott had reupholstered this otherwise unrestored car imagining trips out for ‘high teas’.
“We did a job for a guy and he said we could have it for doing the job for him,” Bren says. “It’s all original and we added graphics from Vital Signs and did the interior and painted the wheels. It really is one of a kind and it started first pop.”