NZ newsColin HamillSeptember 22, 2022New Zealand

Catch up from NZ ....the long winter comes to an end

NZ newsColin HamillSeptember 22, 2022New Zealand

We are now coming to the end of another long, hard winter down here in Invercargill, and have been out and about a bit in classic cars again when the nice warm days do turn up.

Michelle and I have done a few shorter, "round the block" runs of about 80kms, in the later afternoon and evenings, during the week after she finishes work. These runs quickly created a habit of stopping at Winton on the way home for a large ice cream in the cone.

A couple of weeks ago we took part in the annual Vintage Car Clubs' Daffodil Day Run for the Cancer Society charity. This event is held throughout NZ on the same day, involving thousands of classic and vintage cars. There were a thousand cars taking part in Christchurch alone this year. They started on the run from four different points around the city, all meeting at the finish on a large reserve just outside the city. What car owners and the public love about the Daffodil Day Run, is the tremendous variety of vehicles and makes that attend.

Our local run in Southland was substantially smaller, but still a good turnout at 30-40 vehicles. We always enjoy the Daffodil Day Run, as we often meet up with people we haven't seen for a long time, which is nice. It is also a chance after the run, to get into the Vintage Car Club's substantial parts shed and have a hunt around. This year I managed to find an Austin A50 wheel rim that someone else needed. So a good score for the day.

The A90 Atlantic is almost ready to be shipped to Armidale in NSW. It was decided to do some of the upholstery here and leave the convertible hood reconstruction until the car is in Australia. Accompanying the Atlantic across the ditch, will be its sister car from the same family, a beautiful, original XP Falcon Coupe, with just under 100,000 miles on the clock.

Below are photos of the XP Falcon Coupe, which will shortly accompany the A90 Atlantic in the container to Australia. The family has owned this Falcon for a longer time.