This company has turned its trailer into a canvas tote bag …

The Pepsi cases are all stacked towards the top of the trailer, leaving the bottom empty …

This one has a driver and cab painted on the rear of the trailer. The translation is casino online ‘On the wrong way’ …

Gone fishing! The aquarium and fish are just pretend of course …

A mobile book store, with a plug for the real book shop …

The “inside” of the trailer looks like it’s been through a fire, hence the ad at the rear for Pringles Hot & Spicy…

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April 9 Top five in North Island

Broadwood Road – Turn off State Highway One at Mangamuka Bridge in the Far North and follow the signs to Broadwood, Herekino and Ahipara at the bottom of Ninety Mile Beach. This is a road for good handling cars through a rugged rural area. About 60km.

Blackmount Road – A cruisey drive on a usually deserted western Southland road, except for the day it’s used for a stage in the Tour of Southland Cycle Race. Start at either Te Anau or Manapouri in the north or Riverton/Tuatapere in the south. Stunning scenery and the best thing is the lack of traffic. Over 110km.

State Highway 35 – The road from Opotiki to Hicks Bay hugs the coast, twisting and turning through one jaw- dropping bay to the next. Apart from January, there is not a lot of traffic. Take a car that will handle the curves and look out for local kids riding horses. About 150km.

April 9 Top five in South Island

The Catlins – The south-eastern corner of the South Island makes a great alternative to Highway 1 between Balclutha and Invercargill, or vice versa. Lots of native bush with several walks to break up the journey. There are some long straights across the eastern Southland plains, but get used to turning the steering wheel over the 172km.

Forgotten World Highway –  Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The alternative route from the King Country to Taranaki or vice versa. Lots of corners and “saddles” to climb and descend. There is still about 10km of gravel through the Tangarakau Gorge. Stop half way through at the “Republic of Whangamomona”. 162km.

The West Coast – Highway 6 is its official name. South of Hokitika, it’s sparsely populated, with the southern Alps on one side, bush often all around and glimpses of the Tasman Sea. Stop at Franz Josef or Fox Glacier. Continue south to Jacksons Bay and then through the Haast Pass to Hawea. Magnificent scenery. 440km.

Gentle Annie – There are several “Gentle Annies” around NZ but this is the Daddy of them all. It starts at Fernhill, inland from Napier and Hastings, and climbs into the scenic Kaimanawa Ranges and on into Taihape. The last few kilometres of the road have only recently been sealed. Not recommended in winter. 141km.

Inland Kaikoura Road – Tired of tourist traffic on the Kaikoura Coast? Turn off Highway 1 just south of Kaikoura and on to Highway 70 for the 85km to Waiau. Plenty of bends to keep driving enthusiasts happy. At Waiau–Culverden rejoin Highway 7 to head for Lewis Pass and the West Coast or Christchurch.

Old Highway 52 – From Waipukurau to Masterton through the back blocks of southern Hawkes Bay and the northern Wairarapa. Blink and you will miss the small rural settlements. This used to be a designated state highway, but because traffic volumes were so light the designation was removed. So were many signposts. Nearly 200km.

Highway 65 – North of the South Island between Fern Flat and Springs Junction. For the most part it is a succession of sweeping curves along the Maruia River Valley. Halfway along is the delightful Frog Flat Junction and the turnoff to the gravel back road to Murchison through the Matakitaki Valley. 75 km.

The post Bucket list: the 10 NZ roads you must drive appeared first on Automotive News NZ.

A modern take on how Bertha and her sons started out in 1888

It was in August, 1888, two years after Benz patented his invention. Bertha slipped out of bed early, gathered up her two boys, Eugen and Richard, and left a note on the kitchen table for the sleeping Karl, saying she was going to visit her mother for a few days. Karl and Bertha lived in Mannheim; her mother was in Pforzheim, about 90km away. Bertha made no mention of how she and the boys would get there. But the 39-year-old was resourceful. She was also independently wealthy and had bankrolled much of the car’s development

Quietly, mother and sons pushed the Model III Patent Motorwagen far enough away from the house so the noise of it starting up wouldn’t wake Karl. (A modern take on them leaving home is pictured above). She cranked up the 1.6-litre single-cylinder engine and phutted off along what was basically a track for coach and horses linking small villages. There were no signposts as such. It was the start of what has been hailed as the first long-distance journey by car. But it wasn’t without incident.

Karl might have been an engineering whizz but he was no visionary. He didn’t even think to fit the car with a fuel tank. The 4.5-litre capacity carburettor was it. There was no cooling system for the 1.8kW (2.5bhp) engine. When it got hot Karl had poured water over it, letting it evaporate and taking with it the engine’s heat. The oil system was crude, too. It was dripped from a container into one end of the engine and what wasn’t burned off by the motion of the single cylinder fell out of the other end through the open crankcase and on to the ground.

An-artists-impression-of-Berth-and-her-boys-stopping-for-fuel-from-a-pharmacy

The engine soon began to overheat and Bertha and her boys were scooping up water from streams and rivers and knocking on doors for more. Even a gradual hill would tax the engine and the boys would get out and push. People along the way helped push, too. Fuel was easier to get. Back then a form of petroleum ether called ligroin was sold over the counter at pharmacies. Bertha’s first stop for fuel was at Wiesloch, at a pharmacy that inadvertently became the world’s first petrol station. The shop is still there today.

If progress was slow anyway it came to a halt when the car broke down. First a fuel line became blocked. Bertha, ever resourceful, unblocked it with a hatpin. Then an exposed ignition wire caused problems. This time Bertha insulated it with a garter from her stockings.  Eventually, she and the boys arrived at her mother’s, an estimated 15 hours, say historians, after leaving Mannheim. Average speed, they say, was around 6km/h. Next morning she sent a telegram to Karl explaining what she had done.

A few days later she returned to Mannheim by another route. She was better equipped this time and the car largely ran without a hitch, although a cobbler had to cover the brake shoes with leather to stop them wearing out. The upshot of the journey, say historians, is that Bertha proved that a woman was every bit as capable as a man of handling the newfangled machines; that the car was a tool and not a toy; and that her husband Karl had created the single most important invention in the history of transport since the wheel.

Bertha Benz

Also, her journey proved the value of durability test runs. Benz fitted the car with a lower gear after that so it could climb hills without passengers having to get out and push. Bertha died in 1944, aged 95. In honour of her 1888 journey is the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Tourists to Mannheim can drive it  – these days it’s signposted.

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Ford is celebrating the 80^th birthday of one of its most iconic vehicles, the Australian ute.

The first carry-all rolled off the assembly line in Melbourne in 1934. Not only was it an Australian invention, but the concept was exported to the world and reinterpreted by other carmakers.

The story of the first Ford ute is a key part of the carmaker’s heritage. Like all good ideas, it was born out of necessity, very much like the first Model T Ford.

In mid-1933 the then managing director of the Ford Motor Company of Australia, Hubert French, received a letter from a farmer’s wife in Victoria’s Gippsland.

She wrote: “My husband and I can’t afford a car and a truck but we need a car to go to church on Sunday and a truck to take the pigs to market on Monday. Can you help?” What the customer wanted was a vehicle with passenger car comfort but could also carry loads.

French passed the letter on to a young design engineer, Lewis Bandt. The 23-year-old was Ford Australia’s only designer. Bandt sketched out his ute on a huge blackboard, giving it a 545kg payload on a wheelbase of 2845mm.

He completed his original design in October, 1933, and quickly produced two prototypes for testing. By January 23, 1934, he had the final drawings and the new Ford ute went into production on February 26, with Bandt christening his design a ‘coupe-utility’. Two of the first were sent to Ford in Canada. The ute  even caught the eye of Henry Ford.

Bandt’s take on the passenger car-based utility was considered revolutionary at the time. Until the early 1930s, many carmakers and vehicle body builders had built wooden or metal ‘utility’ bodies on car chassis. Ford’s Model T was a particular favourite and Ford T “Buckboards” and “Utility Runabouts” were to be found throughout the world.

Where Bandt’s design differed was that he developed his Ford utility as a coupe (two-passenger, steel-paneled, glass-windowed car) with an integrated steel-paneled load carrying section at the rear. What Bandt did was to blend the ‘pick-up’ sides into a coupe body, which provided a cleaner profile and increased the load area behind the cabin.

The Ford ute ran a V8 engine driving the rear wheels via a three-speed manual gearbox. Suspension was leaf springs with shock absorbers at the front and heavy duty semi-elliptic rear springs and shock absorbers at the rear.

The cabin was the same as the four-door Model 40 Ford five-window coupe. But, instead of the rear luggage compartment or ‘dicky seat’, Bandt added a wooden-framed utility section with steel outer panels welded to the coupe body to form a smooth-sided vehicle.

The result was quickly hailed as the ‘must have’ vehicle for rural communities and 22,000 were sold between 1940 and 1954. The first Falcon-branded ute was launched in 1961. Since then Ford Australia has sold more than 455,000 Falcon utes

• Bandt died in 1987, after being involved in an accident driving a restored version of the utility he helped make famous. His original drawings of the 1934 coupe-utility are now archived in Australia. The rebuilt version of the first ute is in a museum near Melbourne.

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A quarter of male drivers admitted that a shapely female turned their heads – but only three per cent of women said a good-looking man took their fancy.

The survey followed the case of a British man who was fined $100 and told to take a driver awareness course after admitting he was distracted by a female pedestrian.

“The girl had a very nice backside and I wanted to check out her face to see if it was as nice as her figure,” said Doug Maclean, 26. “It’s what practically every bloke on the planet would do.”

Police pulled him over and showed him a dashboard camera picture they’d taken of him doing the illegal u-turn with his neck. “They told me that if I agreed (that he wasn’t paying attention to the road), I could have a fixed penalty fine and would have to attend four hours of driving awareness courses,” said McLean.

“Otherwise I would be summonsed and then I’d get points on my licence too. Of course, I took the fixed penalty and the driving course.”

Was the object of his affections really worth the hassle? “The girl was a cracker,” Maclean said. “But it wasn’t worth getting a fine for.”

The survey found the main cause of driver distraction wasn’t shapely women – but disruptive children. Three out of every 10 drivers admitted that squabbling kids in the back seat diverted their attention from the road ahead. So did looking at the view. It was the second most identified problem, followed by changing the radio, and ‘advice’ from back seat passengers.

Road safety charity IAM surveyed 1500 British motorists. Its chief executive Simon Best said: “People who think they can multi-task while driving are kidding themselves. If you take your eyes of the road for just two seconds at 30 miles per hour (50km/h), you’ll travel close to 90 feet (27.5m), effectively blind.”

In the same survey, nine per cent of drivers admitted they have crashed because they were distracted. According to police statistics, mobile phone use and other distractions were a factor in more than 100 deaths on British roads last year.

Distractions:

Children in the car: 33%

Looking at the view: 32%

Changing radio: 28%

Backseat drivers: 26%

Mobile phone calls: 21%

Satellite navigation: 14%

Attractive pedestrians: 14% (men 24%, women 3%)

Billboards, shop fronts: 14%

Phone texts: 9%

Lighting cigarette: 6%

Digital dashboard: 7%

• See Tips and Advice for traveling with children

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Benz F-Cell

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1991 Jaguar XJS

1991 4.0-litre XJS is finished in burgundy, with cream leather interior, and has 61,600 miles (99,790km) on the clock. It was bought new by David Jason Entertainment, before being registered in the star’s real name of David White. The story goes that he never intended to sell the Jag. But as his alter ego used to say, in his best French: “Tel aviv”, or “You can never tell.” The auction house is in Kings Lynn, about 160km north of Peckham, Del Boy’s old stomping ground in south-east London. It is welcoming interest from overseas buyers. Del Boy would approve. He was sharp, that lad. “It’s a well-known fact that 90 per cent of all foreign tourists come from abroad,” he said.

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Silver Arrows

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Its success would usher in a new breed of go-anyhere vehicles for military and civilian use, starting with the Land Rover in 1948.

The Volkswagen Kubelwagen came later, along with the Toyota Landcruiser, Nissan Patrol, Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen … others followed.

General Motors’ Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), initially designed for the US military and used amid much publicity in the Gulf war in the early 1990s, began a whole new trend.

It is pictured above with a rocket launcher. Every wannabe Rambo wanted a Humvee. A civilian Hummer H1 version soon appeared and later the H2 and H3 further fueled demand.

Now the US Army’s Hummer is to be replaced. The front runner is the Oshkosh L-ATV. But Oshkosh has no plans for a civilian version.

Here are a handful of go-anywhere vehicles used by the military that civilians can get their hands on – minus weapons.

Land Rover Defender

Like the WW2 Willys Jeep that would become the Jeep Wrangler, the Land Rover Defender has evolved over its 65-year history, but has never jettisoned an ounce of capability. Available in hard-top, double-cab, pick-up and bare-chassis configurations, the Defender is found around the globe, with some 55,000 units in active military service. Price: From NZ$63,000

Renault Sherpa

Renault Sherpa

It owes its appeal not only to the olive drab versions piloted by French and NATO soldiers, but to the appearances of the civilian model in the Dakar Rally. Available by special order in Russia, Africa and the Middle East, the non-military Sherpa can be had as an unarmoured station wagon or pick-up, or, for war-zone duty, a fully-armoured wagon. Power comes from a 4.76-litre four-cylinder diesel engine. Its 160kW and 790Nm of torque reach all four wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. Price: About NZ$325,000

RUSSIA-MILITARY-INDUSTRY-ROGOZIN

GAZ Tigr

That the military Tigr bears a passing resemblance to the American Humvee is, to the Russian truck’s vociferous fans, nothing more than coincidence. Beneath its expansive hood rumbles a 5.9-litre diesel engine, which meets a six-speed manual transmission and permanent four-wheel-drive. Production of the civilian Tigr – which can soften its brutality with the addition of such creature comforts as leather, air conditioning and a thumping audio system – is hardly a top priority for GAZ. But buying one is not simple. Price: About NZ$135,000

Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 Showcar, Dubai 2013

Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen

The Gelandewagen, or “cross-country vehicle”, has been around in one form or another for more than 30 years. This brick-like six-wheel version comes with a civilian paint job. Like the “standard” G63 AMG, the new G63 AMG 6×6 packs a twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 petrol engine producing 400kW and 750Nm. It’s based on the six-by-six drivetrain from the company’s Zetros truck and has a claimed wading depth of just over 1m. The vehicle is left-hand drive only. Mercedes-Benz says production volume will be “very small”. Price: About NZ$630,000

Paramount Marauder

Paramount Marauder

The 10-tonne South African-built Marauder is a double-skin monocoque design that helps it resist virtually all forms of light-arms fire, as well as the occasional anti-tank mine. It’s available as a 4×4 or 6×6 and its Cummins diesel engine delivers 176kW and 925Nm of torque. TV’s Top Gear tested it against the civilian Hummer H3, eventually putting 3kg of plastic explosive under both vehicles. The H3 was destroyed, the Marauder suffered minor damage. Price: About NZ$585,000

Oshkosh L-ATV

Oshkosh L-ATV

Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense has developed the L-ATV prototype to pick up where the military Humvee has left off. The L-ATV uses a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain that allows the purpose-built vehicle to run near-silent when missions require it. The US government has taken delivery of 22 L-ATV prototypes for testing, but civilian sales do not figure in Oshkosh’s immediate product plans. Price: N/A

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They flagged down a police patrol and a team of cops and men with a digger and shovels soon after uncovered a metallic green Ferrari Dino 246 GTS.

On February 8, 1978, the Los Angeles Times reported that the car appeared to be in “surprisingly good condition.”

Ferrari fans would later note the Dino had been fitted with the optional Campagnolo wheels and Daytona seats.

Investigators found that the car – numberplate 832 LJQ – had been bought in Los Angeles in October, 1974, but reported stolen two months later. It was still on the police stolen list.

How did it end up buried in suburban LA? Long-time residents in the street knew nothing about it. Whoever buried it had obviously expected to claim it later – they’d wrapped it in plastic sheets and rugs.

The car was returned to an insurance company and the case of the buried Ferrari soon fizzled out.

Eight years later, in 1986, AutoWeek reporter Greg Sharp picked up the trail and tale of the Dino.

It was first ordered in 1974 by a dealer in Reno, Nevada, then shipped to one in downtown San Francisco before being shipped again 700km south to Hollywood Sports Cars, one of America’s 46 Ferrari dealers.

The Hollywood outlet was famous for sales to celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Sammy Davis Jr, Pat Boone, William Holden, Jayne Mansfield, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Suzanne Pleshette.

The Dino didn’t have to wait long for a buyer – an LA plumber bought it in October 1974 as a birthday present for his wife.

She drove it for 800km before it was stolen outside the famous Brown Derby restaurant on the night of December 7, 1974 – the couple’s wedding anniversary.

Police suspected insurance fraud (3000 cars a month were being stolen in LA back then) but later declared it officially missing and insurers paid out in 1975.

Fast forward to 1978 when the resurrection of the Dino attracted all sorts of interest. But the LA Times’ opinion that it was in “surprisingly good” condition was way off.

Sharp wrote that the Dino’s 21 layers of paint were freckled with white pox. Rust had eaten holes in the Pininfarina body and interior. He said “dumb ass” thieves stuffed towels between the windows but neglected to roll up the windows all the way.

Erosion had wasted the wheels and chewed the camshaft covers. Both twin exhausts were plugged solid with dirt. Dragging the Dino out of the ground had further damaged it, gouging the roof and smashing the windscreen.

The Dino was beyond repair, so the insurance company put it on public display and invited bids. The plan backfired: the car was returned to the insurers missing almost everything not bolted down, including the oil dip stick.

Later, a young LA mechanic bought it privately from the insurers and the trail of the car again fizzled out – until it cropped up on the California Department of Motor Vehicles register with the personal number plate DUGUP.

Soon after it went into hiding again. Now, more than 35 years after it was found buried, it is still in hiding.

• See ‘Auction house gets NZ$332,000 for Dino Ferrari

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