Rare MGCGTs here as part of tour
TO see one MGCGT car in Dunedin is rare.
To see half a dozen at one time in the city is an event which may never happen again.
They were in Dunedin yesterday as part of the Magical Grand Cruising Tour of New Zealand, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the car’s manufacturing.
Tour organiser and New Zealand MGC Register secretary and historian Ian Grant said 9002 of the Britishbuilt threelitre sixcylinder cars were produced between 1967 and 1969, but only 31 were sent to New Zealand.
‘‘We had six MGCGTs doing the southern tour, but overall, since I left home last Sunday, we have caught up with around 13 others along the way.’’
Mr Grant said the tour started from his hometown of Matamata on November 4, and made its way down the North Island to Wellington, visiting various vintage car clubs along the way.
He then parted ways with the North Island tour group and crossed Cook Strait to join another group of MGCGT owners for a tour of the South Island, which has visited the West Coast, Christchurch, Cromwell, Invercargill, the Catlins and now Dunedin.
‘‘It’s been a marvellous way to see the country. Really, really good.
‘‘It’s been a pretty good tour, but I’ve had the car on the flatbed truck twice because I’ve had a couple of little problems.’’
He said ‘‘these things happen’’ in cars when they got older, and he was pleased to say the car had been on the road more often than on the back of a truck.
‘‘The unfortunate part of the trip was the 300milelong car wash I had coming out of Westport, through the Buller Gorge and down to Christchurch.
‘‘I was in the convertible. The softtop didn’t leak, thank goodness.’’
Mr Grant is now heading back to Matamata.
It’s been a marvellous way to see the country.