Classic cars: Regal Aussie beast
50- YEAR- OLD REGAL IS ORIGINAL APART FROM THE WHEELS
Ken Venis says this lovely 1967 VC Valiant Regal is his first classic car, although he did own a Valiant back when he was an apprentice. It was an AP5 “which was only 10 years old then. That was immaculate, too, and I’ve always liked them.”
His grandfather also owned Valiants, and his grandmother taught him to drive in one.
“We lived on the West Coast and she lived in Nelson. I’d spend holidays with her, and we’d drive into Nelson. She’d tape blocks on the brake and accelerator, and put me on a cushion, and I’d drive in — I was 12.”
It must seem like ancient history to today’s kids, but Ken was born and bred in Ikamatua and, back then, if his dad wanted to go to Christchurch on the east coast, the drive wasn’t that simple.
“Dad had a Humber 80. He’d put a sack of coal in and back up the Lewis Pass — reverse was the strongest gear.”
Roll on more than a few years and, having been a self- employed builder all his life, Ken developed arthritis, forcing a job change.
“I had a company vehicle and my other car would just sit here, so I thought, why not sell it and buy a classic?”
He’d long wanted one — a stint working in California, where he went with a cobber to classic car shows, had whet his appetite.
He’d been looking for this model, or the one before, “for a long time. Only seriously for about a year but I kept a casual eye out for about 10 years”.
This was the version that came up first in perfect condition. Ken says he is not mechanically minded and didn’t want to do too much.
He was apprehensive about buying it sight unseen, “The guy seemed pretty honest, sent plenty of photos, so I took the gamble.
“They’ve got the 3.3- litre slant motor, they call them, a six cylinder. Chryslers are the only car that had them, I think they stopped putting them in cars around 1970.”
It is fitted at a slant. “They’re a really strong motor, an auto, threespeed with no power steering, which is different to drive to new vehicles, that’s for sure.”
This car was assembled in Australia and had one owner there, in Willara, New South Wales, who stored it in a shed for about 20 years.
A buyer in Adelaide bought it, cleaned it up and put it on eBay, from where it went to an owner in Tauranga, in 2010.
“So, really, it’s had only had two owners, other than me. It’s just clocked over 100,000 miles ( 160,934km), which is good for 50 years old, and it’s still all original except for the wheels.
He still has the original wheels, with whitewall tyres, but he likes the look of the mags. “The old ones were cross- ply tyres and these handle much better.”
He should know, he and a mate
went to Tauranga from the Far North for the weekend when he collected the car, “And going from Waihi to Whitianga with cross- ply tyres and no power steering — and all those corners …”
Hence the mags, bought from Paihia Tyre Centre. “They were new, I don’t think they’re correct for period, they call them ‘ old school’, or something like that.”
He says the staff drilled the holes to suit the car’s hubs.
This Valiant’s a gorgeous hue against the Bay of Islands backdrop.
“They made Valiants at Todd Motors in the 1960s; the NZ model is a deeper blue,” Ken says. And this shade beautifully sets off the deep blue upholstery.
As the car was built in Australia, it has air con, and it even has a lighter/ charger socket. The radio was fitted later, as were the seatbelts, front only. He bought the boot floor liner, “You can still buy full carpets, boot liners and even a full slant six motor from Hemi Performance, in Australia.”
The Valiant is in great condition. It certainly doesn’t look as if it was parked in a shed for years, or even a garage. It even still carries a tidy window sticker saying the next oil change is due in 1982. Better still, there’s no rust at all. Ken does Pictures / Jacqui Madelin admit he’s a little concerned that where he lives now does not have a garage.
Other than that he’s not precious about his car. When we spoke he’d just been to the dump in it. “The guy said, ‘ nice, but I like Zephyrs’.”
He uses the Valiant about once a week, “If I go on any road trips, I’ll definitely go in that. I’ll probably go to Christchurch in January. I’ve got a couple of mates down there who are Valiant enthusiasts, so I’ll take it down and show it off!”