Welcome to Issue 50
This is a very special edition for the Classic Driver team as we celebrate our 50th issue. Begun as a labour of love by founder Allan Dick as an adjunct to his Driver magazine, somewhere to share his passion for the cars and the racing of his past, today it is still a labour of love for the small and dedicated team who work tirelessly to keep you entertained and informed every two months.
Wes Davies took the plunge and bought both Classic Driver and NZToday from Allan when he decided to slow down the hectic pace he was operating at, but it is impossible to keep a good man down. One only needs to visit the newly opened National Motorsport museum at Highlands Park on the outskirts of Cromwell to see that Allan’s idea of a slower pace is somewhat different to that of the rest of us. Given the role of creating a museum from scratch he has expended the same amount of passion he did when starting Classic Driver, while Wes has assembled a group equally as focused on the Classic Driver cause.
In the office, Kelee Zammit has to keep Wes in line, look after subscription queries for both magazines and be the general Ms. Fix-it, accommodating such inconveniences as me ringing her at 4.30pm asking her to find me a bed in a far-flung town for that night, as my day has taken an unexpected turn and I am up to plan C.
Alan Wilkie has the job of laying out and putting the magazine together, trying to work out when he should listen to Wes or me, or when he should ignore both of us and get on with it. I don’t know how he does it for artistic creativity has never been my strong point – if I had to do this part of the magazine it would be about as visually captivating as the phone book! Without these two, who stay very much behind the scenes, there would be no Classic Driver for any of us to enjoy.
To celebrate our 50th edition we have chosen to feature two very important names. What could be more appropriate for a New Zealand-based publication than to celebrate the McLaren half century, especially when we have one of the founders of the team as columnist and contributor, our own Eoin Young (arguably New Zealand’s most internationally-read author and historian) to tell the story of the beginning of one of the most successful teams in Formula One history, not to mention Can-Am and the makers of two of the best road cars of all time, the F1 and now the MP4/12C.
Then there is Porsche’s 911. More than one manufacturer has tried to claim a multi-decade production run for a model, but a closer look reveals that while the name may be the same the car has been replaced several times over the years. The completely new design takes the name of the predecessor but shares no more than the badge from it. The 911 is different. 50 years of continuous evolution has not changed the basic layout of the world’s most instantly recognisable sports car. It has defied the laws of physics and the efforts of its own creators to euthanize it and still it sits at the top of the heap when it comes to being one of the icons of the world of sports and supercars.
My chat with Hugo Bedford, while not in line with 50th birthday theme, was one of the most interesting mornings I have had while working for Classic Driver. The motor industry as Hugo knew it is something which bears no resemblance to today’s industry. There are people out there who have no idea that once, car assembly was one of our biggest industries. Next time I am in Auckland I will be going back for more!
It is said that when you find a job you love you will never work another day in your life. It feels like that and I look forward to repeating the message when we send out issue 100, a mere 8 years away based on our current output. I can’t wait!