ANZAC Day ride.

No disrespect to the ANZACs, but Monday was the last day of rego before I put my bike to bed for the winter, so a ride was in order. Basically I rode to Taihape and back. About 400kms.

Spotted this 1952 Austin A125 Sheerline in the car park at the northern end of the Manawatu Gorge.
I was fortunate to get this photo of it alone, as it was actually ..........

.....sharing the park with several hundred other cars, but was parked at the end of the row.

I stayed off the main road as much as possible, going through Cheltenham, Kimbolton and Rangiwahia and emerging out on SH 1 for lunch under the wing of the DC3 at Mangaweka.

After lunch I rode up to Taihape and back and turned off just south of Utiku and followed the road through to join up with the road I went north on, just east of Mangaweka.
This short section of road, I have never been on before and was impressed with the scenery, enhanced by the autumn colours.

Back on the Mangaweka to Cheltenham road again and heading home.
With now over 180,000kms on the clock the BMW is still purring along as well as the day I bought it in 1986.

Passing through Woodville I had to stop to take on a little bit of what this MAN rig was delivering.

More From Sunday.

I intended adding these to the first Model Expo post, but for some reason the site wouldn't let me add them where I wanted them.

Another weathered truck. This time a Cat powered White Road Commander in European guise.

As well as weathered trucks there was, of course, the shiny examples.
This one an exact replica of an NZ truck, a Mack Superliner, complete with RHD and rego plates.

One of Mike Uhlenberg's Peterbilts is copied accurately including hazardous goods diamond and rego stickers on the windscreen.

After the expo, Mary and I travelled into Wellington, where it was a beautiful sunny day.....

.....for lunch at Plum on Cuba Street.

Last Weekend (Sunday).

Last weekend was a 3 day weekend, with ANZAC Day on Monday. Sunday I went to the Model Expo in Upper Hutt. Here is what I snapped.

Trucks are what I went to see and this radio controlled Scania with Mainfreight B-train was superb in entertaining small boys and large. Diesel engine sound, air horn sound, hissing air and lights for everything including hazard flashers.

Of course there were many aircraft too.

Superb DH 88 in bright shiny red.

Grumman Avenger with folded wings could almost be under the lights of a large hangar,
if it wasn't for the paper entry slip under its wheels.

Great diorama with rusty old '57 Chev in workshop.

A nicely weathered GMC in typical American logging truck configuration.....

....and a similarly weathered Peterbilt tipper by the same builder.

European  Scania rig was also well weathered

A Few More from WA.

More of the photos from Steve in WA.

1937 Vauxhall DX Roadster was built at the Fisherman's Bend plant,
which later became the Holden assembly factory, and was sold new in Hobart.

A row of  Daimlers, the nearest probably dating from the late 40s or early 50s. 

Rear view of the same Daimler.

Daimler 10-4 from 1959 had the 6 cylinder ohv motor of 3.5 litres.
A later very similar looking model had the 4.5 litre V8 and was called Majestic Major.

Another rare Vauxhall, a 1933 tourer.

1954 Austin A40 Somerset in very smart two tone colour scheme.

'64 Fairlane in Ambulance form is very unusual.

Mk2 Zephyr is, I think, an Australian model.

Alpine A110 is a car I've heard a lot about, but never seen in the flesh.
Produced by Renault from 1961 to 1977, they had much success in rallying despite their various engines being no larger than 1600cc.

More from WA.

Some more pics from Steve in Perth.

I never seen so many 748cc Renault 4CVs all in one place.

Toyopet Corona 1600S is a rarity.
I saw one of these for sale in Wellington when I first started my apprenticeship in a Toyota garage.
I wanted it, but couldn't afford the asking price at the time.

Jensen's C-V8  was the forerunner to the beautiful Interceptor.
It is an in-your-face style, but I actually quite like it.
The C-V8 is powered by Chrysler's 360ci V8.

Holden HK Premier has whitewalls, spats and venetians.

'55 Chev Bel Air.

Bentley tourer, I'm sure, would be worth more than I will ever be able to afford.

From the Other Side Of The Tasman.

My mate, Steve, in WA recently posted these pics on facebook from Shannon's Whiteman Park Auto Classic in Perth. My apologies if you have already seen them on facebook.

Nice Volkswagen Type 2.
Without windows it would be termed a Transporter.

Just as cool from the front and are they real Porsche 911S wheels or replicas.

Interior looks fairly standard apart from up graded seating.

Bus or motor home based on the Austin K model.

Austin has a long gear lever reaching forward over the engine housing and a big mechanical handbrake lever.

This style of Dodge cab we saw in New Zealand as a ute (pick up) but Australia had them in heavy duty models.

Nice two tone Chev with modern mirrors is from around mid 1940s.

International KB5 from the 1940s.

Austin tow truck is a similar model to what our local Borough Council used in the 1960s.

1948 White Super Power is typical of American trucks of that period.
Long bonnet and small narrow cab.

1950 Austin K2 Loadstar.

Steve informs that Mercedes-Benz buses like this were the backbone of public transport in Perth when he arrived there some 40 years ago.

Very tidy Fiat 662.

Humber military truck.

1946 Dodge has a similar front to Chev and Ford of same period.

1963 Studebaker Champ.

1940s Chevrolet tower truck is in similar livery to bus shown earlier.
I wonder if it was used to service trolley bus lines.