Dream collector

JIM FARMER QC DRIVES A 1992 LANCIA INTEGRALE EVO — AS WELL AS 20 OTHER CLASSIC CARS IN HIS COLLECTION

Jim Farmer says his Lancia Integrale Evo is practically unbeatable on winding country roads. His collection also includes a Ferrari Dino 246GTS.

Driven

noticed you driving a 1992 Lancia Integrale Evo? The Integrale won the World Rally Championship six years running ( 1988- 1993). It has a 2- litre 16- valve turbo motor 0- 100km/ h in 6.3 seconds. It is manual and 4- wheel drive. My car is white and has Martini racing stripes. It is very low mileage. It is practically unbeatable by anything on winding country roads. And it is one of 21 cars? I have loved cars since I was 12 years old and asked to give a talk at the Onehunga Rotary Club. I chose Henry Ford as my topic, and I did a lot of research, including writing to the Ford Motor company in Detroit.

From about 25 years ago, I always owned three or four cars ( and felt guilty) but then I had a liberating moment when I realised I was a car collector. That had the effect of me giving myself permission to buy more.

My oldest car is a 1969 Ford Mustang, but nearly all the cars are Italian and German and are in the decades of 70s, 80s and 90s.

My favourite marques are Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, BMWand Porsche.

The most unusual are probably a 1992 Alfa Zagato SZ, of which only 1000 were built, and a 1991 BMWZ1, which was also limited production and is a two- seater roadster with doors that slide down electronically into the sills. Would you sell any? I’ve sold four ( Ferrari Maranello, Ferrari Dino 246GTS, Alfa GTA, Jaguar XK150S) but I missed them so much I have managed to buy all but the Jaguar back. Where do you keep them? I have four garaging locations and also rely on the fact that at any given time, four or five cars are away being serviced or getting warrants. I sometimes “forget” to pick them up for a while.