Plea made for whereabouts of globetrotting Cresta PB ‘Angela’
HOWARD Anderson was taking his car to Invercargill before it was a cool thing to do.
Now 50 years on from a 32,000km journey from London to the Southland city, the former Dunedin man is trying to find his beloved 1964 Vauxhall Cresta PB.
Mr Anderson is calling out to anyone who might know the whereabouts of the old car ‘‘Angela’’ as he wants to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the globespanning trip.
While living in London in the late 1960s he and his wife Ruth, along with a few friends, embarked on a drive from London to New Zealand.
Mr Anderson extensively modified the vehicle and on August 3, 1969, they began their almost fourmonth journey across Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Behind them they towed a Sprite Musketeer caravan.
They roamed countries including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and India.
On the final leg they traversed much of Australia’s landmass and then the length of New Zealand.
In 1971 on a whim he traded in the Cresta PB for a 1969 Vauxhall Victor FD.
Mr Anderson, who now lives in Lower Hutt, would like to hear from anyone who knew of the vehicle’s location.
‘‘If I get the car I’ll put it back to its original state. If not, there are two others I can get my hands on, but that one has some special bits you can’t get anymore.’’
If the car is found, he and his wife may embark on another smaller trip before the end of the year.
The most recent owners of the car he had been able to track down owned it in the 1980s and lived in Bluff.
‘‘I found the phone number for that home and the lady is still there. She can’t remember the car. She could have been driving it, but who knows?’’
His wife was annoyed with him when he traded in the car.
‘‘That was an incredible journey that the car took us through.
‘‘We’ve had a great life since, but I dream about that trip quite often.’’