A REAL KIWI SUPERCAR HERON MJ1 THE STORY OF A NEW ZEALAND SUPERCAR AND THE MAN WHO CREATED IT

Published 2020 by Wilsonscott Publishing Intl Ltd. ISBN 978-1-877427-59-6

Is the Heron a supercar? Author Patrick Harlow asks the question straight off. Some people would write off any suggestion of a four-cylinder car making that grade but the response to that is usually ‘Lotus’.

That’s not to the say the Heron can ride in on the coat-tails of the Lotus Esprit that it closely resembles. First we must address the similarity to the Lotus because there’s no doubt that when contemplating the Heron, you must also give headspace to the Lotus.

Rotorua-based designer and builder Ross Baker was inspired by the design of the Lotus that he had seen only in a glossy magazine but his car is unique. He had even studied the backbone frame of another Lotus but his own car was designed and built around a unique fibreglass monocoque chassis that he had developed and patented himself.

SPRAY SOLUTION

Ross had perfected this idea when designing and building an orchardspraying vehicle for a friend, Bob Gee, whose lifelong influence helped steer Ross towards developing his own cars. The sprayer’s long chassis would flex, threatening to split the fibreglass tank where it was bolted in place. Ross laid stainless-steel mesh into the base of the tank to strengthen it then glued the tank to the chassis, making the tank a structural member.

The car had enormous potential but decisions made by the partners who commercialised the design led to increased costs which took the price beyond the $16K that many of the 33 people who paid a deposit for it at the 1983 Auckland Motor Expo had signed up for.

Unbeknown to Ross, his partners had decided to buy 10 two-litre Fiat engines instead of the 1600cc it had been designed for, which led to untold issues, and they brought in a new spraying method of laying fibreglass. That resulted in varying glass thicknesses, which made fitting every hinge, for example, a unique proposition. The venture folded with a total of 26 cars built but they are highly prized today.

Harlow, who has built his own kit cars, is exactly the right man to tell this story, giving proper weight to all of the vexing and happy challenges that a home-grown car maker can face. But this generously proportioned and cleanly designed book with plenty of relevant photographs is much more than the tale of a car. It details Baker’s talent from school days fixing and modifying cars, through his years building and racing cars for almost every form of local motor sport from his and his brother’s automotive workshop. Even his wife’s Escort got a V8.

FORCED REFLECTION

A severe accident that doctors feared would prevent Baker walking again gave him time to develop his plans for a proper car, after his most ambitious racing sports car design, the Heron Mk4, inspired by the Ford GT40, was outlawed by new sports car rules at the last second.

The forensic examination of the MJ1 is the centrepiece of the book but there was so much more to Ross Baker’s relentless drive to develop anything within reach, before and after the MJ1, that the book becomes a fascinating portrait of a restless inventive mind. At first it seemed this personal dimension was missing in the chronicling of his projects but Baker admits that the crash in a powerboat reminded him to focus more on his family, and his character is revealed through the many anecdotes in the book and his subsequent adventures.

The lives of several of Herons are also captured. Harlow helpfully compares them with other cars of the era, including the Lotus at twice the price, concluding that they were still spectacularly good value. Patrick suggests that the issues were solvable and it was simply a lack of funding for development that really killed the venture. Still, not bad for a few blokes in a shed in Rotorua.

There’s also the satisfying retelling of Ross’s reunion with the Heron Mk4 at Le Mans, where that car is rightly recognised as a stunning contribution to the art.

Both Ross Baker and Patrick Harlow can be proud of their achievements in the evocation of this eventful and productive life well lived.