My Life In Scat - a year in New Zealand

[Jon]

From Moto-scat Version I:

So, today marks the one year anniversary of me and Mrs_wagon arriving in sunny New Zealand, so I thought it seemed a good idea to sum up the past 12 months in NZ, through the encounters with scat. Just so that it remains even remotely interesting, I'll only make mention of scat stories/anecdotes where there was photographic evidence but be assured that many, many items of vehicular chod have been witnessed sans camera.

Anyway, on to some photos. Apologies for the inevitable reposts in areas, though I'll make sure not to make it too repetitive.

October

We landed in Auckland airport on 24th October as Mr and Mrs_estate (though technically we never actually owned the Cavalier in question, which was first my parents' and is now my brother's). Luckily, I have a cousin who had caught wind of our idea to emigrate, decided it sounded worth a go and then 'beat us' to it by 18 months, so transport from the airport was not an issue. Since we were moving to a rural location and pretty much no-one outside of the major cities walks anywhere, it was essential to get a car. Many hours spent scanning Trademe in the weeks running up to our move saw scant offerings until 2 weeks before, when this turned up (pretend to be surprised):



It ticked the boxes of station wagon practicality and the potential to be economical to run, due to its Nissan LD28 diesel engine conversion some time in the mid 1990s. I also thought it looked pretty straight from the few photos and the price was very appealing (all things being relative). Added to all this, it was for sale only a few minutes drive from my cousin, who went to check it out. Despite being a Land Rover nut (non-checker plate version) and thus being accustomed to slightly agricultural outdated modes of transport, he initially had reservations. Fingernails were being bitten back in Blighty as I awaited his e-mail after the viewing but thankfully it got his seal of approval and a deal was struck. On our arrival, he had driven it 3 ½ hours north, with his pregnant wife and 2 year old daughter following in their Toyota Ipsum (Avensis Verso).



Arriving at the motel we were all staying at that night, I was greeted with the first siting of the Commodore, sitting waiting in the guest car park. I'd dearly love to say that I was champing at the bit to see it all the way through the 2 hour journey south from the airport but honestly I was that jet-lagged I'd totally forgotten about it! Initially, it seemed a little slow on the pick-up and the unassisted steering was a smidge heavier than the Sierra's I'd recently sold but all in all I was a happy chap. Fortunately, images don't give off smells, as the interior was far from fresh and is little better to this day....



Our rented house had the bonus of offering me my first sole access to a garage, even if it was a bit small*:

[Jon]

November

One thing that had bugged me with the Commodore was the stainless steel side skirts, which looked like some sort of half-arsed bodykit, so I took one side off to try and make my mind. Turns out that they're there to stop stonechips from the stripping off the paint from the lower half of the doors and from the sounds of it they're very effective, so I decided to leave them on.



Travelling through the next town along one day, I encountered a scat spot of almost 'mirage' qualities – a UK registered Bristol double decker!



Customary shot of the Commodore just to prove this is NZ:



Fresh off the boat from Auckland, the owner saw me taking photos and came for a chat. Apparently he and his wife had always promised themselves one of these and now their kids had left home, they'd imported one to convert into a motorhome. It had cost him £10000+ to get it over if memory serves, though he reckoned they changed hands for double that in NZ. I didn't ask how many 'trades' of these took place...

Later on in the month and wanting to actually earn a crust, I thought it necessary to tout myself around and say hello to some other crew members, including one guy who lives relatively local. Since I was attempting to re-establish a rather niche career in another country (which is still an ongoing concern, tbh), work was not exactly forthcoming, so I had a fair bit of time on my hands. What better way than to get up to speed with all the different equipment employed over here than to play with it all? The Commodore was pressed into service to demonstrate this rather nifty piece of kit, which is a low budget alternative to low-loaders as a means to for filming cast whilst they 'drive'.





In terms of effective shots, this one has the advantage of lifting the front only a few inches off the ground whilst the rears wheels trail on the road, so no replication of passing traffic with roofs that are too low when shot side-on (a common issue with low-loaders). The one disadvantage is that only a few people can be carried in the tow vehicle and it's surprising just how many crew member's job titles make such activity 'essential', so its use is somewhat limited.



Here's a shot of the trailer flipped over for transport. The tow hitch rotates 360 degrees and the mudguards unclip, so setting up from trailer to dolly takes only a couple of minutes. Note that the tow vehicle is an Aussie farmer-spec 2003 Hilux, with a 3.0 N/A diesel engine and no creature comforts other than opening quarterlights.


Finally, we had a visitor from nearby Rotorua, STUNO from the aforementioned brown site.



His SD1 was even cheaper than my Holden, really is as sweet as it looks and is a 3500 to boot. I enjoyed gawping at its not-quite-round steering wheel and relished the exhaust note as he left, though he almost bottomed out the chin spoiler on the yet-to-be-constructed driveway of our gaff.

Next time, an overview of some motorsport, plus I get to employ the filming dolly for a purpose other than filming....

[Jon]

I enjoyed reading that, looking forward to the next installment.

Does the Commodore have some weird econometer in place of a rev counter? I quite like the idea of a Nissan 2.8 diesel in one, but a turbo would be required.

Yeah, these era Holdens had econometers in place of rev counters, which I suppose was a bit brave as surely the shock of a European-derived model was enough to put some Aussies off a Holden. It grew to be loved but initially the Commodore pre-empted the Sierra in terms of alienating the more traditional customers, hence why the old models carried on beside it for a couple of years. I'd also agree that this car would be 1582 times better with a turbo, as it really does struggle on some of the longer inclines round here. It's very much earmarked as a 'one day' modification but I'll need to learn a little more about the parts required and whether it would then need recertifying, since it's a mechanical modification.

December update along in a while.

[Jon]

The Diary of Com_Wagon aged 13 7/8.

Look forward to more!

December

Excitement in the wagon household was at its peak, as we were about to experience our town's much lauded 'Big Weekend', their annual two days of non-stop adrenalin inducing activity. Up to now things had been pretty quiet, so we patiently awaited the town filling with hordes of visitors to experience the A&P show (don't ask what the P stands for – A is for animals), much like they do with the Great Yorkshire Show we had guessed. WRONG.

Highlights included an old man dragging a bale-laden sled behind some horses:



Pasty man displaying moob whilst cutting wood slowly:



And pig racing for those who think a rats' tail is an acceptable haircut for a child in 2010:



However, Sunday promised the lure of a local drag meet, which again I wrote about on the brown forum (should be easy to find for those interested: search 'Tokoroa Drags 2010'). Since that exists in almost all our tat genealogies, chances are that many images have been seen before but here's some highlights nevertheless:














After a few days coming to our senses post-entertainment, the search continued for a second car. Whilst Mrs_wagon was able to commute to work on foot, it had become apparent that the town we lived in was probably not for us, so we'd need more wheels for commuting purposes when we did move. As I'm sure that many in my situation would do, I wasted no time in 'researching' potential cars, despite us having a fair few weeks left of (free) rent at our current house. Unfortunately, such activity saw me spotting this about 100km south of us:



A Holden JB Camira, essentially an Antipodean equivalent of a series 1 MKII Cavalier. Having seen only one other Camira since arriving (an ultra-uggers late model one, worse than the non-MW radio instrument cluster P6 update) and this one confusingly being registered about a year after JB production ended, I thought it worth a trip out to see. By now the Trademe listing had ended with no bids so I knew I wasn't going to be beating other buyers away with a stick, especially since it had no WOF.





I think that by the amount of photos taken, you'll have come to the conclusion that this was one car I couldn't resist, despite the fact that it was no oil painting. It had been used for the past few months on private land, as a means of allowing a 15 year old girl to get herself along the very very long driveway from home and to the school conveniently located right across the road. I'd arranged to meet the current owner at the end of the driveway and I think that seeing it travelling along the dusty track, leaving a plume of muck hundreds of metres behind it was just a little too 'Hollywood image' to resist. Other than a knocking CV joint on full lock, it seemed OK, stopped very well and was cheap. Plus it had a 5 speed box, something I always missed in our Cav back home.



The interior was quite obviously as unkempt as the outside but nothing was missing and looked like it'd respond well to a good clean. Holden obviously marketed their first ever FWD model at the female market, as the blower speed dial has a rather natty diagram of a lady's locks flowing in the breeze. Much like the Commodore, it also sports 'Radial Tuned Suspension' badges here and there, to really write home the fact that Holden no longer designed cars with crossplies in mind. Not bad on a car launched in 1981....
My work contact in Taupo who I'd made good friends with offered his services in recovering it to his workshop with the filming dolly. A few days later this took place and I almost forgot to pay the owner before leaving. The trip back was around an hour and completely uneventful, so it was parked up to rest until some time after Christmas, as we were still coping nicely with the one car.


Finally, I'll leave you with an image of Mrs_wagon entertaining our 2 year old niece with a white knuckle ride at my cousin's works Christmas do:



She'd obviously queued for a while, as she got a prime spot at the front of the trailer. Fortunately, the drag meet a few weeks previously had set me up for high such speed photography.

[Jon]

JANUARY

Little to report from this month, I'm afraid; I think we were still finding our feet and getting accustomed to stuff. Funnily enough, there was also a permanence to our situation and unlike previous holiday/honeymoon visits where I'd shot the sh*t out of everything, I just didn't have the urge to take my camera with me everywhere. Perhaps it was because we had somewhere more secure to leave valuables (a house rather than a cheap campervan) but mostly it was just the sense that we'd see things again. Naturally, scat spots took a nosedive from their potential level.

Here's a first feeble attempt of the year, during a visit to Taupo at New Year.



Apologies for A) this being my car (yet again) B) it not showing much C) Much 'modern' content. Does show that many people are still quite happy to drive around in 20th Century cars though. So long as they're Japanese.


Shortly afterwards, a trip up to Auckland to say hello to some more potential employers saw me taking a lunch break at a local park and spotting this nice Holden wagon, which I naturally parked next to. Bit of a 20 yarder car but pleasant all the same.





Can't even remember the model of this one, so sos for that, though Aussie model designations for their home market cars can be difficult to get your head around.


Finally, a set of these chintzy hubcaps landed my way, to start their slow journey to Wakefield:



Anyway, once Photobucket gets its act together, February will be analysed.

[Jon]

Excellent Laurel hubcap action!

The Holden Camira JB looks a bit like a Montego at the front, interior looks very Japanese - Isuzu?

Len, the Camira was the Aus version of the GM J-Car, so effectively a MKII Cavalier as we'd know it. In fact, the Cavlier estate was an Australian model which Vauxhall used, having some of the rear panels sent over IIRC. However, I'm pretty sure that there's quite a bit of the Isuzu Aska in the Camira, as early models do certainly look quite similar. NZ even imported Aska sedans as Camiras through one model run, though still got the estate from Australia. Mind boggling stuff which I'm hoping to make sense of and write a little more about at some point.

FEBRUARY

We'd heard a rumour that a local town had a monthly car meet organised by a local club on behalf of the Lions foundation. As usual, little info was available on the internet (a very much underused resource here) but we decided to take a look anyway. Here's a highlight of what we saw:



A Holden model which would make the average Escort Mexico look affordable.



Patinated.





Are the triangular bits aft of the front wheels of the two above some sort of exhaust?



I get the impression this would have been a typical NZ car in the 1980s.



I like it but the white plates (post '86) bug me.





I'd like to know the story behind this, as I reckon it must've been difficult shortening it. Probably 50/50 it's a DEATH TRAP.



Black and white police cars are no more, sadly.



This Falcon was one of my favourites. Shame that the picture doesn't show how ratty the paintjob was on it – I'm guessing it was original. Less is more in this case and I love the period wheels.



Crossing the road, this Chrysler stopped me in its tracks (as did the thing behind it but not in a good way). However, it didn't look to be stopping, which was a shame.



Another nice scruffy one. Still prefer the Falcon though.



Rear of the 'triangle exhaust' thing.



This guy is driving such a winner's car, he's clenching his fist in celebration.



Low Spec Mustang. I'm actually at the point of boredom with these, as they're like MGs in Britain. I shot this one purely because the owner hadn't been tempted to replace the hubcaps for a set of horrible modern wheels, unlike the rest.



Looking a little lost.



Australian model Falcon



Again, worthy of a snap as it's not been ruined.



Someone needs to tell this chap it's no longer 1987. I bet he makes his wife wear one of those really high waisted bikinis and some high heels when they go anywhere in it.



This was just a passer-by who obviously wasn't interested in Americana.



Walking back to the car, we came across the Chrysler again, so I took some more snaps. Look at the front seats!



It's based on a Valiant but I don't know its name. Although I did like it, I must admit that the CJ Valiants are far prettier.

A few days later, I decided to go and see the Camira and check it over before taking it in for a WOF. I had no illusions it'd pass but if I could fix the basics (like the non-opening bootlid), the WOF fail would let me know what else to tackle. Although I thought I'd done pretty well checking it over for rust (it is solid in all the usual Cavalier areas, such as sills, wheel arches, rear screen), I obviously missed the floor:





To many (certainly Macoli) that's probably pretty trivial but it put me right off things for a while. Indeed, I'm only just getting interested in it again now! Fortunately it's based at a well stocked workshop, including a welder. Unfortunately, the owner's pretty poor at welding (the gear was there for others to use) as am I, though we are learning. I'm sure I'll makes updates on this forum when there's something to tell.

Finally, a walk out in the countryside netted a couple of spots from a group of Lotus 7-alike kit car fans. There were about 20, most of which were uninteresting except these two:



This is interesting because there are stricter regulations for importing LHD cars compared to RHD models. Perhaps the guy is foreign and he brought it in via the personal import scheme when emigrating. It certainly seems like the laws are more lax for this. Plus, he does look a bit German.



I'd like to think that this is a result of the old guy spending many hours in his shed. He certainly looks pleased with it.

Five minutes later and in stark contrast, this passes us:



Plenty of commercial scat such as this still earning a keep.

[Jon]

A good read, look forward to more.

Agreed, this is a blinding thread and I'm really looking forward to the rest of it. I know what you mean about Mustangs, I got the same way pretty quickly in California. It was nice seeing how many of them seemed to be in the hands of their original owners though, there's something great about seeing a 70 year old lady piloting a huge Detroit relic like that around the streets of San Francisco...

I bet seeing original owners of Mustangs would really add to the appeal Barrett but honestly, you've seen one Mustang with modern wheels, you've seen 100. That's not to say I wouldn't want one at the right price but only if it wore a set of dustbin lid trims.

MARCH

Seems this was another busy month. The ball started rolling early on, with the official ending of my 20s. In order to counteract this and in some form of youth re-living mid-life crisis (early, I hope), I bought a 205 GTI on the same day:



Technically it's Mrs_wagon's but in all honesty, we do share it when it's not carting her to and from work, so the statement's sort of accurate, if you also brush over the fact that prior to this the 'sportiest' car I owned was a 5 door AX GT. Perhaps this was how I should have spent the motoring years of my twenties, rather than mediocre Fords and a Saab 9000 at age 25. Anyway, it's a 1.9 version, originally bought new in Japan. As mentioned before, it has a Martini badge on the NSF wing which I can't associate with any limited edition models etc. but I've noticed that most other Japanese spec 205s have indicator repeaters at the front of the wings instead of the usual place, so perhaps these aren't the original ones anyway.



It's obviously rather sun bleached but I suppose it means we don't have to worry about any further deterioration to the paintwork. Plus I'm still looking for some rust! Underneath, a pretty major oil leak from one of the cam belt followers had unwittingly managed to preserve most moving parts, so this was rectified when the belt was changed as a precaution. Now it just leaks a little, rather than a lot....


Shortly after, I offered to help drive a truck returning some lighting equipment to Wellington, for use on the Hobbit film. Since it was going from Taupo, it wouldn't have been possible to make it there and back in a day using only one driver, so I volunteered to do the return leg. This meant that for the journey south, I'd have the opportunity to snap anything of interest, having remembered to actually bring my camera along with me. Sadly, it wasn't as fruitful as hoped, though here's some highlights:



The Desert Road section of Highway 1. One of the few roads in the North Island which get shut due to bad weather. This obviously wasn't one of them.



Nothing special here, just an example of what many trucks (not lorries) look like over here. A strange mix of American, Japanese and European, though none of them sound like UK lorries.



I'd inadvertently taken an iconic shot (zoomed in) of the journey along Highway 1, as I've since seen a few postcards and even some painted placemats of this very Bedford. Bet none of them had a bonus Ford Falcon in the background though, in the exact low spec/colour I'd like.



A quick stop-off at a garage to check wheel bolt torque (don't ask why) netted this fastback Rover 800. Is the 'e' model the one with the unique carb engine, or whatever?



Despite being in a residential area I still wasn't quick enough to capture the whole (horror) of this Bedford house bus. Surely a 3-axle version is a bit of overkill for a mobile home?

Images from the return leg now, all taken in Waiouru during a stop for an ice cream. It's a military town in the middle of nowhere and pretty depressing, even compared to the place we were living at the time, which is saying something. Here's a shot of the inviting tavern and visiting scat (taken through the windscreen because I was lazy):



New Zealand's highest mountain, Ruapehu is in the distance. Nice but not as interesting as the Fiat Tipo in the foreground and the Peugeot 405 parked behind it (both still quite common here):



Garage just a former shell of itself.... Funnily enough, these are now in the process of being rebranded to the name 'Z', so I unwittingly shot a little bit of history.



This Kenworth was being employed to remove said piece of history. Early 80s judging by the number plate. Incidentally, there's far less paperwork involved in recording driving hours etc. for heavy vehicles in New Zealand, which is refreshing after a working to UK regs.




A week or so later, I was up in Auckland again visiting more work contacts. The previous time (when sans camera), I'd managed to park next to an incredibly early (1974) Golf, which had been advertised on Trademe just prior to us moving over. Had it not been at the very bottom of the South Island, I'd no doubt have bought it to send back to the UK for a big fat profit but sadly it wasn't to be. Someone else had obviously taken a fancy to it and I was shocked to see it in the metal, 1300km+ from it's previous home! Incredibly though, it sort of happened again:



Despite ticking none of the boxes when looking for our first car on Trademe, this Audi 100 had been tempting me from afar for quite some time, as it seemingly took an age to shift, the price dropping each time it was re-advertised. With such a piss-poor stereo in the Commodore, I'd find myself passing away the time behind the wheel pondering all sorts and spookily had been musing about this exact car on the journey up. Taking this shot actually meant I was a couple of minutes late for an appointment but I thought it was worth it. Sadly, I've never seen it parked on this roadside since.



Stopping at a Pak'n'Save (think ASDA if it were run by Aldi) for a Hirst-style reduced price items lunch, I was awarded the sight of this tidy if relatively lame spec 2.0 Automatic Capri MK III Ghia (with bonus FWD model Holden Gemini in background).



I'm pretty sure that the MK III wasn't sold new in NZ, so this is probably another UK ex-pat import.


Speaking of the UK, my parents arrived from there for a visit late on in the month, bearing gifts of a cam belt kit for the 205 and a 12kg Halfords Professional 200 piece socket set, bought to replace the one which went 'missing' from our shipment of belongings. My dad had turned 65 since we'd last seen him, so we'd all clubbed in to get him some time in a glider, something he used to do before a wife and kids came along. As a pre-event treat though, I took him to see an interesting place I'd seen locally, specialising in old Mercedes:







Confusing. Next to it was a Ponton model, one of many:









Then on to the gliding, which was a great success. Here's the 'flight centre' and tow plane:



I think after all this 'action', April will be a bit of a let down!

[Jon]

Every time I see a post about New Zealand it looks more appealing. The 205 looks like a great little car.

APRIL

With Ma and Pa_wagon visiting, it seemed an opportune time to take a bit of a break, so we pushed the boat out and booked an apartment in the coastal resort of Mount Maunganui, since we're pretty landlocked. However, we were there in less than an hour – akin to taking a day trip but staying there a week! There was a single garage included as storage, so the 205 was tucked away for the duration of the stay and my parents' Daihatsu Sirion hire car used to ferry us around. As modern cars go, I found it pretty appealing and I must admit that Dad's 'small car' driving techniques (Large car = dawdle. Small car = give it some beans) were put into good use and he seemed to relish driving it. Perhaps it was some sort of reminder of his Daihatsu Domino days, though I think it was more to do with the quieter roads tbh.

Anyway, nice as it was, it didn't really compare to this, parked next to it one morning:





A very straight looking Holden Commodore, VH model I think. Earlier sedan versions used an Opel Rekord inspired rear end, the one replacing this model using a more Senator-esque type, with a rear window behind the rear doors. 13 inch (!) wheels point it to being a 1.9 litre 4cyl model, quite unloved here for obvious reasons. I'd love to try one though, as I reckon it'd be OK to live with, being just adequate, rather like my 1.8 CVH Sierra was.


A few days in and clutching at straws in terms of what to do with ourselves since we'd exhausted all of the available off-peak tourist season activities on offer, a scenic train ride to from Waihi to Waikino sounded appealing. We'd have to travel over an hour away to do it but it sounded interesting, nevertheless. In a typical Kiwi manner, something that sounds entertaining often isn't and this was no exception. One old railway carriage and another open one pulled by a small diesel train don't make up the recipe of a good day out, less so when it travels at an average 6mph, so as to pad out the short distance travelled. There had been an attempt to amuse small children by bolting various stuffed animals to signals, bridges and fences etc. but in all honesty the outcome was a little sinister as the teddies were very weather worn. Very reminiscent of dustbin lorries with teddies strapped to the front, as seen during my youth.

The stations themselves were nicely kept but Waihi's appeal was bolstered tenfold with this in the car park:



These Nissan Skylines were sold new in NZ and seem quite popular, though even I must admit that the estate version is not as pretty as the saloon. Judging by its location at the far end of the car park and the fact it was there before we arrived and after we left, I reckon it was one of the volunteers, so will no doubt stay this immaculate for a few years to come. Nice tail lights, too.



I know that Beetles are often paired with red chrome bumpered MGBs in the scat desirability/interest stakes but I think this really is an exception:



Here's how I remember many Beetles of my childhood, albeit a little more battered. I'd like to think it's still plodding along with its original owner. Would also love to know what it tows!:




The following week, it was time to bid farewell to our dreary little town and head (slightly) north to a less-dreary but even smaller town (population about 2000). Thankfully we'd managed to co-incide this with the wagon_seniors still in attendance, to help out with all the packing and provide extra transport. A hire van was considered but they're not exactly two-a-penny round these parts. Horse floats (boxes) are though, one was offered at my favourite price (nowt) and the Commodore has a towbar so this seemed the natural thing to do:



36 year old trailer towed by 31 year old car. Note that the driveway was spotless when we moved in - look at the mess I'd made!



The Commodore had had a tie rod and bottom balljoint replaced for its WOF the day before and on returning home it was only then noted that the mechanic hadn't taken it for a re-alignment! Fortunately the local garage fitted me in on the morning of the move, so it was all systems go once I had all 4 wheels pointing in the right directions. The 205 and the Sirion had their rear seats removed to provide extra load space, which really did make a difference (removals boxes fit in a treat), plus the seat pads made good buffers inside the float. The Sirion was chosen to carry our precious Hornsea pottery collection, as it had the softest suspension by far of the two hatchbacks, plus we'd had a few casualties already during shipping.

A little after lunch time, we set off in convoy. I'd love to say that the journey was a breeze but that would be a bare-faced lie; the Commodore did manage to successfully pull the trailer but not at any great speed – 80km/h was its best effort and 5th gear saw very little use. It also happened to be Good Friday, which meant that traffic was much heavier than usual. This naturally reduced road speeds a little but I was still very conscious of slowing people down on Highway 1. Though Mrs_wagon is usually a bit crap at travelling in convoy, she played a blinder and took the initiative of hanging well back in the 205, keeping the other drivers well away from my rear end ('unagressive' tailgating is a trait of New Zealand driving habits) and allowing me to keep calm. The post-1997 UK driving licence laws which allowed me to drive a rigid vehicle of any weight limit (class C licence taken) but not tow a trailer of any real substance meant that this was my baptism of fire in losing my towing virginity. Must say I was glad to hand it back later that day though. All settled in:



Due to the crap turning circle of the 205 (allied to Mrs_wagon's reversing abilities) and the superior effort of the Holden, they've now switched places in the garage. The Daihatsu left with my parents in it a few days later, along with a set of taxi-spec Laurel hubcaps in their luggage.

[Jon]

MAY / JUNE

I've collaborated the months together, as no scat activities took place in May – indeed, it appears I took 5 photos, so in general it looked to be a rather boring month. June proved much more fruitful, with the coming of a bank holiday weekend. I'd invited an Auckland-based relative and her partner Paul down to stay with us. Paul being a shift-worker, rose early on the Saturday and went to buy a newspaper, returning shortly after with the news that there seemed to be a rally taking place at the bottom of our street. Off we went with the camera to investigate.

When we arrived:



Seems it was a stage of the Targa Rally on NZ, a yearly event which attracts a diverse selection of entrants. Sadly, it seems we missed a lot of interesting scat, judging by the Fiat 125T setting off at the head of the field above. Sadder still was that in order to be competitive (I'm assuming), many cars were seen sporting inappropriate wheels.



Case in point.



And again



?????????????



Thankfully, this Celica bucked the trend and looked much better for it.



I liked the colour scheme of the Commodore and the wheels were passable, if nothing else. I'm pretty sure the grey colour was actually a layer of brake dust, so it was obviously being driven enthusiastically.



Bit of an oddity but of interest as it was V8 powered. Lexus, I'm assuming?



This Lancer would form a great basis for a Motoscat sleeper, as I'm sure it was Evo powered.



A short interlude between the older vehicles and the more modern entrants allowed me to get a zoomed in shot of this Mk III Zephyr, the front of which I'd spotted through the fence of the garden centre.


I reckon the cut-off date in age between the two classes was either 1987 or 1988, judging by the cars. This meant that there was still some of interest later on, as well as some other modern oddities.



I.K.B. coloured chancer; 4 door and lowly engine model for added misery.



Where do I start? No need to, I feel....



Image here purely because it reminded me of the BMW art cars, giving the impression that the owner may be an enthusiast.



Well travelled early Legacy. Seems to have come from Australia for the event, judging by the registration.



Not seen a Clio in quite a while and this is the sole sporty model seen this side of the world. Alfa 33s do still crop up round here but only in this later guise. The previous owner of our 205 apparently has a rare supercharged version which he's in the process of trying to source various parts for.



Interesting choice of rally car. I wonder if it serves a dual purpose as a family steed as well?



This re-creation looked very uncomfortable lined up with late model Skylines, 911s and such like. I think the front spoiler is actually quite well integrated and suits the competitive element of the car.



Not so sure about the digital instruments on walnut. Still, they can't be expected to use analogue dials I suppose.



RALLY CONTROL.



I chatted to the owners of this 106 , a father and son team who were in it just for a laugh; they weren't very competitive but didn't really care. Told them we owned a 205 GTI but they didn't really care about that, either.

Lastly, a couple of spots from the scat-haven of Cambridge, host town to the car meet I'd gone to in February. There's a mix of elderly residents and those with money (the area's famed for its racehorse breeding), so there's usually something of interest. As usual though, the prime stuff goes unspotted as I'm often sans camera.



A brief mid-week visit suitably armed managed to bag a long range shot of this tasty Holden wagon, registered just a few months before mine.



A parting photo for Barrett. Seems a late one too, possibly 1987/88. Who was buying Cordias and Tredias only 23 years ago?

[Jon]

I like to see an early Legacy, they seem to be almost extinct here. The basic spec Cordia is excellent too, odd to see a sporty* coupe* on steel wheels.

Excellent Cordia content, thankyouverymuch!

The rally things look dreadful with those HUGE wheels, the Corona is particularly shocking, but then I suppose Coronas aren't quite as rare in that part of the world. The Pantera looked like a nice early one (hence, without massive arches or silly wings...) before the 'improvements' which is quite heartbreaking. Am I right in thinking the 'stick massive rims on it' ethos is more or less endemic in Australasia?

Sadly Barrett, the huge modern wheel on old crock look = WIN in a lot of people's books; even Triumph 2000/2500s aren't safe! There are a few who try to redress the balance when modifying but they're usually far outnumbered. Another common trait of people with no actual wheel-imagination whatsoever is to put Modular wheels or 'Modgies' on everything, though mostly RWD Starlets (ones which you just know were riding around with their original owners/wheels/exhausts/complete springs until recently). They're a trailer wheel and they look it. As Len perhaps hinted at, Cordias and Tredias tend to be exempt from such Tomfoolery, most probably because they're a bit awkward looking and are saved by being FWD. Still lots of original cars trundling around which are yet to fall in to the hands of enthusiasts though.

Excellent pics, that cream 'patinated' Falcon gave me a deeply warm feeling.

Are the triangular bits aft of the front wheels of the two above some sort of exhaust?

The pipes would have 2 exits - one via silencers at the rear of the car for everyday driving, and one in the front arch for dragging at the weekend. Whichever one wasn't in use would have a cap on (the triangular 3-bolt thing in the photo). Whether those cars are actually tuned or just have the pipes there for effect I don't know



Oh, and greetings to The Forum I do like the cut of its jib.

First and foremost, welcome Dr Gonzo! Glad you like the Falcon, it really was a 'less is more' moment seeing it next to the other American cars, which were still nice but all a bit too similar. Thanks also for the info on the exhausts, I knew someone would know the answer. Righto:

July

Again, bit of a short one, mainly because most of the happenings from this month have already appeared here. To those who may not know, I visited Horopito scrap yard whilst on a skiing holiday (in which I didn't ski). It's a family owned yard, passed through generations with very little past detritus being cleared until recently. There's a half-arsed museum element to it and it's well known as probably NZ's best scrap yard. Here's a couple of choice scat spots:








The rest can be found here:http://www.moto-scat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10


As I say, some of the family we took the holiday with went skiing, though I decided to opt out this year and instead went sledging with my 3 year old niece. Since she'd grow bored rather quickly, it was easy to offload her with the grandparents and take a look around the car park. Unfortunately, this was the only spot:



We'd taken the 205 and it would've been nice to see them parked next to each other. Not sure about the Halfords-spec blue spots but altogether a nice sight and very unexpected. I'm pretty sure there's grit instead of salt laid on the roads here, which is great for preserving steel but not so great for handling once the snow's melted.

back at the ski lodge, this was parked across the road:



I'm sure the badge fools no-one, though I've seen very few Ssang Yongs of this era, so perhaps I'm wrong. Puts me in mind of the window cleaner seen in Leeds who had removed all the chevrons off his Xsara estate and replaced them with Merc badges. The wheeltrims were also replaced with bogo spec 190 dustbin lids.


Back nearer to home and fortunately I'd remembered to take my camera with me to Cambridge, where I netted this lovely Mini parked outside a charity shop:



Unfortunately, I seemed to have had the ISO on some seemingly wild setting, so the image is rather poor. I'm still trying to gain confidence with my spotting abilities, as I do feel very self-conscious - it took about 3 minutes of pretend adjusting of my camera to take this.