Classic cars spark fond memories
Amelia Gale and her late husband had a blue Morris Minor they used to drive in 40 years ago.
Coming across an identical one at Auckland’s Ellerslie Classic Car Show filled Gale with joy.
‘‘Oh Betsy, to me you are so wonderful,’’ the Hokianga resident sang to it softly.
Betsy met an unfortunate end, however, when she was written-off on Muriwai beach during a family shellfish-collecting trip – landing the whole family in hospital.
But yesterday, that did not dent Gale’s fond memories.
‘‘I was really surprised to see it. It’s lovely,’’ Gale said.
One of the organisers of the event, David Burke-Kennedy, said about 7000 to 8000 people attended the show each year.
‘‘It’s not for everyone but they are enthusiasts . . . they like looking at the nostalgia of the old cars.’’
There were about 700 classic cars on display this year, as well as new cars – some of which were not yet on the market.
‘‘We don’t see the same cars every year,’’ he said.
‘‘It takes almost a year to put a show like this together, with those involved working voluntarily. But the resulting weekend of nostalgia, revisiting cars you grew up with, courted in or drooled over, makes it a classic day in every sense.’’
Simon Crispe’s 1961 Daimler Dart was up for judging as a restored vehicle. It was insured for $70,000 but is not for sale ‘‘and probably won’t ever be’’.
He purchased the red convertible in 1976, and restored it inside and out.
‘‘This is the car that I dated my wife in . . . we then sold it to buy our first house,’’ the 61-year-old said.
‘‘The little car had to go and I never thought I’d see it again. And then 20 years later this exact same car came up for sale.’’
His nephew Jeremy Schoeller had been helping him get it ready over the past few weeks, including intensively polishing it.
‘‘He’s a real car nut,’’ Crispe said.
‘‘It’s great to see a younger generation taking an interest in these old cars, because . . . if young people don’t want to drive them, then they are going to lose their value in 10 or 15 years’ time.’’
Chief judge Stan Edwards has judged at the show for 32 years. This year there were 14 competition cars entered, both ‘‘survivors’’ and restorations.
Vehicles were judged on presentation and originality, with extra points for age.
‘‘We give a lot of points for originality,’’ Edwards said.
One of the star vehicles on display was Parnell resident Garry Boyce‘s one-off 1938 Alfa Romeo 6c 2300b.
The chairman of the event’s organising committee purchased and imported the vehicle from Germany about a year ago.
It was originally the exhibition car for the London Motor Show in 1938. ‘‘The car’s an artwork,’’ he said. ‘‘I consider it to be a piece of rolling sculpture.’’
Boyce would not say how much the Alfa Romeo was worth or how much he paid for it, but a similar car sold at a Californian auction for about $3.5 million in 2008.
– Fairfax NZ