Category: Vehicles

July 24, 2022

1956 La Gloria Imp: NZ Made Valve Radio

Whilst on holiday in the South Island, we came across this 50s Valve Radio, which was a good price. Research showed it was made in Otahuhu by DRECO. This La Gloria Imp was the first model in a line of 18 models up to the late 60s.

Categories Electronics/Retro Caravans Comments: 0

June 27, 2022

Used EV Payback (Part 2, Was it worth it?)

How much to you save buying a used EV, and is it worth it? How long is the payback? This is my actual calculations about four years later and close to 100kkms on the odometer of the 2014 Nissan Leaf I purchased. Cutting to the chase, it was a LOT better than my estimates, and I wish we’d bought two of them.

Categories Electric Vehicles/Home Automation/Opinion Comment: 1

December 17, 2021

2007 Mazda MPV AC Aircon Drain Blockage

Noticed a couple of vehicle issues we thought initially were unrelated, and symptoms were weird, but working though them I eventually figured out what the issue was.

Categories Vehicles Comments: 0

March 30, 2021

Caravans at Beach Hop, 2021

Beach Hop rolled around quickly for 2021 as the last one was just in November. Some awesome new vans on view, and the usual suspects back with there fantastic renovations, displays and creations. I’m looking forward to next year’s Caravans & Classics sponsored light show – it was organised at short notice this year and not a lot of vans…

Categories Photo Gallery/Retro Caravans Comments: 0

November 30, 2020

Lilliputs at Beach Hop 2020

Lilliput Caravans at Beach Hop 2020

Categories Photo Gallery/Retro Caravans Comments: 0

November 27, 2020

Caravans at Beach Hop, 2020

Beach Hop in Whangamata was supposed to be in March this year but was rescheduled to November due to the Pandemic. These photos were mostly taken on the Friday. The winning caravan this year was Kate & Tony Bartlett with their show set-up 50s styled caravan Frankie-Jo and matching vehicle. Runners up were Greg and Kaylie Vine. If you would…

Categories Photo Gallery/Retro Caravans Comments: 0

January 3, 2020

Austin 1300

Our Red Austin 1975 1300

Categories Photo Gallery/Subtle/Vehicles Comments: 0

July 27, 2019

Used EV Payback, Should I buy one? (Part 1, Estimates)

How much do you save buying a used EV, and is it worth it? How long is the payback? This is the story of my original conservative payback estimates for buying a Nissan Leaf, but plot twist… the actuals are much, much better.

Categories Electric Vehicles/Opinion

April 1, 2019

Caravans at Beach Hop, 2019

Beach Hop in Whangamata had around 100 classic, vintage and retro styled caravans this year. Here are a bunch of photos I took. Not my best work.. but I didn’t spend a lot of time taking them, and of course it was pretty overcast. Congratulations to the winner at the Top 10 shootout, Retro Custom Caravan’s 50’s styled Norma Jean….

Categories Photo Gallery/Retro Caravans Comments: 2

January 9, 2019

My car was broken in to… without my remote!

Someone recently sent an email to our local neighbourhood and it went something like this: We live at no 123, and I thought it was worth sending an email as my car was broken into last night on our driveway.  My husband’s car was also broken into on our driveway the other night. Both times, the burglars managed to open…

Categories Security/Technology/Vehicles Comments: 0

November 7, 2018

Electric Vehicle EVtiquette

Subtitle: How not to be a d@%k, when owning and driving an Electric Vehicle. Warning, these are my opinions, and in some cases may be mine alone.  Feel free to weigh in to discussions below, or on the various Facebook EV owners and Nissan Leaf groups.  This is a New Zealand site, so some links/comments may be NZ related only. After…

Categories Electric Vehicles/Opinion Comments: 0

June 24, 2018

How to Stop Your Caravan From Disappearing

Caravan thefts in New Zealand have become a lot more common in the past few years, and every day or so you hear about another one going missing. Caravans are pretty easy to steal by themselves, as they are light weight, usually easily accessible on a driveway… and they sit home alone when people go to work. An often touted…

Categories Retro Caravans/Security Comments: 0

January 17, 2018

Rebel Roundup, Pukekohe 2018

The first year for Retro Caravans, Rebel Roundup is at Pukekohe raceway south of Auckland.

Categories Photo Gallery/Retro Caravans Comments: 0

January 15, 2017

1965 Zephyr Caravan Renovation

These are the before and after photos of our 1965 15″ Zephyr Deluxe Caravan. It was apparently stored in a shed for 20 years so apart from some general decay, some borer and a bunch of broken and missing stuff, the layout and fittings were mostly original. We’ve had it for a couple of years but completed most of the…

Categories DIY Projects/Projects/Retro Caravans Comments: 0

July 3, 2014

Dashcams… and the $80 Mobius

The proliferation of small sports cameras, ‘dash’ cams and security cameras has meant that Youtube abounds with footage of incidents, near misses, ‘oh %$#@’ moments, and just generally people and drivers doing stupid things. Camera technology has improved markedly in the past couple of years, with prices coming down, quality and resolution improving and the merging of use with model…

Categories CCTV/Opinion/Technology/Vehicles Comments: 0

March 21, 2009

Just another day at the track

There were lots of cars there…it was $75 for the day – generally the club keeps costs low and tries to just break even. A number of Aucklanders went the day before and stayed the night locally. We stayed at the African themed hotel in Taupo.

Categories Mazda MX5/Photo Gallery Comments: 0

October 21, 2005

MX5 turns 10… celebrated in Christchurch

I happened to be travelling to Oz around this time for work, so I stopped in Christchurch to help the Christchurch club celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the MX5. It was great to meet the famous (in Mazda Circles) Toshihiko Hirai who was head of the Mazda Roadster program from 1986.

Categories Mazda MX5/Photo Gallery Comments: 0

October 8, 2005

That 2005 MX5 Record Attempt

Remember… back in 2005 we set the Guinness World Record (at the time) for the Largest Parade of Mazda MX-5s? It was also part of the launch of the NC Model, one of which led the parade. Officially, 294 MX5s/Roadsters turned up on the day (we counted more, but hey…)

Categories Mazda MX5/Photo Gallery Comments: 0

March 12, 2005

NC Launch! (and other cars in a car show)

I’m great at planning work trips… and this one I happened to be in Melbourne at the time of the Melbourne car show. This was the regional (and possibly the same time as the other nations) launch of the NC MX5.

Categories Mazda MX5/Photo Gallery Comments: 0

January 18, 2004

It’s Training… not Racing

Who doesn’t love a good track day (or driver training day… as we always try to call them). In my time with the club, I probably went to 5 or 6 at various circuits around NZ. This one was at the Pukekohe circuit.

Categories Mazda MX5/Photo Gallery Comments: 0

December 13, 2003

A Very MX-Mas 2003

Standard Club stuff, go to a place around Xmas, have a picnic. Well that is what it is like in NZ… maybe not in the UK and US. This was a bunch of pics from way back in 2003.

Categories Mazda MX5/Photo Gallery Comments: 0