Wheel Love

I love cars and am absolutely of the Holden persuasion as opposed to Ford. I was probably brainwashed by Mum when I was a child. I got it because I was looking for a car to do the Variety Bash charity car rally.

I looked at ‘out there’ cars like Hummers and things, but when I saw this car I just had to have it.

It makes me smile when I look at it. It’s full of character and has a real kiwiana feel to it. For me it was the perfect fit for The Bash and for helping Kiwi kids. I’ve had the car for nine or ten years now. Occasionally it enters my mind – am I going to do another Variety Bash? – and I think about selling. But then I’ll go for a drive and there’s just no way. I love it.

I’ve been riding electric bikes for eight years and bought this one two years ago. It’s a SmartMotion eUrban bike and a great solution for commuting; I use it every day to get to work.

I live on Auckland’s North Shore and ride two kilometres along Bayswater peninsula, take it onto the ferry and peddle into the city. I clip my border terrier Etta into a harness in the basket and take her for rides with me sometimes.

It’s convenient and enjoyable; I really look forward to getting on my bike.

I love muscle cars. I also have a Mustang that I keep in LA, but there’s something about the Dodge. It’s the purest of them all. It’s almost like the designers stopped changing the styling back in the mid-70s but electronically and mechanically it’s all up-to-date. 
There’s a real romance to the Dodge. It's a car that makes people turn their heads.
I often drive it to Hawke’s Bay and along my favourite route: the Forgotten World Highway from Taumarunui to Stratford. 
There’s something really special about a road trip – it’s the route that’s the destination, rather than the destination itself.

The 8 Series is a beautiful design. Timeless. You don’t see many of them around, so when I drive it people aren’t sure what it is. They think it’s a new car.

"I try to do as much of the work on it myself as I possibly can. I belong to the BMW Car Club and participate in the online community Bimmer Sport. The people there have a wealth of knowledge to tap into. With an older car that’s hugely important because it’d be very expensive to keep on the road otherwise.

This model came out when I was about 16. When I first saw one I was completely blown away. It didn’t look like anything else. I thought it would be really cool to own one, but they were a huge amount of money. Now they don’t cost that much, so I can."

I’ve always loved the idea of riding a scooter. I decided I’d buy one and get professional lessons. I went every weekend for seven weeks to learn, starting with the basics and then drilling into safety. It meant I formed great habits right off and didn’t go cowboy on the road. It was the best thing I ever did.

I love zipping around; the whole idea of the freedom and the wind in your face. It’s a lot of fun. When I’m on the bike I feel really alert and energised. Every time I hop on it, I love it.

You know how people take shortcuts? I take the scenic route everywhere.

"I really like the shape; it’s such a classic. It’s very stylish and basic. It doesn’t need all the modern bells and whistles, like cup holders or heated seats.

My father built it from a really simple Graham McRae fiberglass shell in 1996. These originally came with a 1500 or 1600 engine, but Dad put a Porsche 2.0 litre 914 engine in, so it just purrs along.

Dad gave it to me when I was in my early 20s. It’s a very special car. It was one of my wedding cars when I got married. We don’t do many miles in it. We have a son, Thomas, and dogs and things, so it’s harder to get away. Thomas is two, so he’s not driving yet, but he loves to clamber about in it and lick the windows.

When we do go away his grandparents get to look after him. They’re special trips for Mummy and Daddy!"

Dean’s restored 1964 VW Kombi won the AA’s Coolest Car Competition on Facebook

"I bought the Kombi in Sydney in 2007, as a shell. My partner Lisa and I shipped it back to New Zealand with our household stuff. I looked at it for four years before stripping it all down and starting. It took about a year and a half to get it to what it is now. I did most of it myself, apart from the panel and paint.

"We haven’t taken our daughter Matilda camping in it, but we go away on weekends in it. There’s no bed, but it does have a table in the back. It’s quite amazing the number of people it attracts. We get lots of waves and toots. It’s pretty good."

"The car makes me smile every time I get in it – I just love the way it looks. It's like she's got a little face with eyelashes, and a wee smile on the front.

You can't import these cars anymore because they don't have airbags, so there aren't too many around. Whenever I see another one – and it's usually with a girl driving – I always give them a little wave."

Photo by Mark Smith

"I bought the Mercedes 14 years ago just to play around with, but I have been driving it every day for the last seven years. It is so much more fun than the rusty Daihatsu I had before that. The sea green is not a standard colour – it would have been a special request, and the white steering wheel was an optional extra in the 1960s. You see fewer of them around these days. I always start waving ecstatically when I do spot one.

I bought the Heinkel scooter unseen off TradeMe four years ago. I painted it green myself. For the first two years I pushed it more than I drove it. It took over a year to get the starter motor going as no-one had the expertise to fix it."

Photo by Mark Smith

"When I was growing up in Dunedin and Christchurch in the early 70s, I used to see these English motor cars being driven around and I can remember thinking how stunning they were, in the old English tradition. They were well-built, they were grand, they were reliable, they were solid.

As a boy, I thought the Humber Super Snipe was magnificent with its cherry or walnut dashboards, its picnic trays, its good quality leather seats and all the luxury features. At that time, something sparked and I thought, 'I just have to have one'.

I drive mine a lot. I believe in an everyday classic, and this car fits the bill. I took it down to Raglan recently and it performed just like a modern car."

Photo by Mark Smith

"This car was my first ever TradeMe purchase. I'd been away from new Zealand for quite a long time so when I came home I was looking for a car that had a Kiwi old school feeling. I'm an architect so I'm into beautiful things. When I saw this car I knew she was the one. It's my regular drive, not jusr for special occasions. But I like to think that you don't so much own a car like this as be its custodian."

Photo by Mark Smith

"My father bought the car back in 1989 in London and we drove it back to Berlin, where we were living at the time. We bought it with us to New Zealand when we emigrated in 1993. It has always been yellow, but we restored it and repainted it when we got to New Zealand.

It was my dad's dream car, which has been passed down to me as a kind of family heirloom. I get a lot of joy from driving it and remembering him."

Photo by Jessie Casson

"My wife and I went to New York back in 1995. I bought the car from a guy on Long Island and we spent two and a half months driving 8,000 miles across the USA.

I hadn't intended on keeping the car, but we grew so attatched. It's a lovely car to drive, but it's really the time we spent in it that makes it so special. So I shipped it back to New Zealand.

When we got home we bought a rundown ex-halfway house in New Zealand that had a garage with access directly from the street. The car is too long to fit in a regular garage, so when we were doing renovations we added an extra garage door inside the house to fit the car in. It makes a great centrepiece for parties."

Photo by Alistair Guthrie

"I have a love-hate relationship with it. I constantly worry about getting it scratched. It's a stress. I liken it to a child – you spend a whole lot of time with it, but get no thanks.

"Normally, if a young person has a lump of money they go overseas. Instead I went "Let's take a year off work and restore my car!" It became a bit of a joke with my friends, but I didn't want it to take forever."

Photo by Simeon Patience

"I went on my OE to Europe for three years and left Rose in the Te Puke Vintage Auto Barn. They gave the car a display position in the front row because it's in such good condition. When I heard the museum was going to close down I knew it was time to come home."

Photo by Alistair Guthrie

“I’ve always been a fan of the rocket-ship shaped American cars. From about 1957-1960 the Chrysler products came out with big fins on the backs of them, and they’re quite striking.

"We take the car out in the weekends to the lakefront and when all the tourists see it they mass around the car like bees to honey and have their photos taken with it.

"We’re also doing up an old period caravan. We’re going to paint it the same colour as the Dodge and tow it behind when we go to classic car events like the Whangamata Beach Hop.”

Ngaire’s not just a caravan; she is part of our family. She’s a real attention-seeker – older people stand and smile, little kids point, all the WoF guys want to be the one to give her an inspection. With draughty windows and no insulation or heating, she’s like a deep freeze for 10 ½ months of the year, and her tiny wheels make us wince at the sight of pot-holes. But, with a maximum towing speed of 80km/h, she immediately slows us into holiday mode.

"In all honesty, I bought this car for my husky-cross, Meg. She's a big dog and she needs a big car, so anything smaller wasn't going to be practical. Even in this one her ears touch the roof!

"It's a bit out there to pick a car for your dog, but I love it too. The colour is great, and even though it's big, it's a breeze to park and to nip around in. It suits us both perfectly."

The Lotus Seven is a great little car. I've admired them ever since they were built, but as a youngster I couldn't afford one. I bought this car as a failed project. I got it in a few hundred pieces and spent about three years putting it together, doing a whole rebuild.

I get a lot of looks everywhere I go. People stop and ask about it all the time. I've had people ask if they can have their photo taken in it. When you've built it yourself it's quite a good feeling when people go 'Wow!' It's a head turner; it's a conversation starter; it's good fun. Even when I'm not driving it, it's good fun.

"My bicycle was generously donated by a mysterious stranger, in an unkempt and rusty state. I raised it from ruin myself – changing the handlebars so I don't have to stoop my back into oblivion, de-rusting the frame, and trialling second-hand bells to find one with the right ting! "The only original part is the sexy 1970s racing frame, hand-bent by Carlton in Britain. This honey gets ridden all over town, to and from my apartment, weaving the back streets to best avoid traffic.

"It also starred in one of my Watercolours music videos for a song called Under."

I am passionate about all things Italian – film, opera, food, clothes – and I love Italian cars, especially red ones, as they go much faster! The throaty growl of the Alfa Romeo engine has been the soundtrack to my travelling life for over a decade. My Alfa Romeo MiTo was named after the Italian cities that it came from – being designed in Milan and built in Torino. I am not sure Milan's fashionable influence entirely won out, with the pronounced bull nose, but it is still a very cute car and fantastic fun to drive.

Photo by Mark Smith

"I saw it on Trade Me and I worried that it might leak or have trouble getting warrants because it's old, but I really wanted it. It wasn't exactly sensible, but I'm very pleased I bought it. It's so much fun. When I bought it I hadn't driven a manual for a while, so my parents came to help and they fought over who got to drive it home. But I am used to it now and I love it. It's my dream car."

Photo by Mark Smith

"I've always been a fan of the rocket-ship shaped American cars. From about 1957-1960 the Chrysler products came out with big fins on them, and they're quite striking. We take the car out in the weekends to the lakefront and when all the tourists see it they mass around the car like bees to honey and have their photos taken with it. We're also doing up an old period caravan. We're going to paint it the same colour as the Dodge and tow it behind when we go to classic car events like the Whangamata Beach Hop."

Photo by Trefor Ward