10 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com
Gravel time
In the early ’70s, Colin felt that it was time to get back in
the car with his good friend Laurie Evans, but this time
on gravel. The pair were invited to a board meeting at
Motor Holdings Ltd in Otahuhu, south Auckland. They
were quite excited, as they thought they were going to be
asked to drive VWs, but were only offered Škodas for the
upcoming rally season.
“It was a bit of a shock, but we decided to stick with it,”
Colin says.
The pair competed in many local events, sharing the
driving.
“After a few rallies, it became fairly obvious that Laurie
was faster behind the wheel than me,” Colin tells us, “so he
took up the position behind the wheel on most occasions
while I took up the navigation duties.”In 1971, the Heatway International Motor Rally saw
New Zealand achieve some international status. The
event attracted 15 international entries and several
local-dealer-supported ‘manufacturer’ teams. The
New Zealand Motor Corporation had a team of Minis,
with Scot Andrew Cowan as their lead driver, while
Todd Motors used Hillman Avengers. There were
also a lot of Ford and Holden entries and three locally
supplied Škodas.
The Australian team of Bruce Hodgson and
Mike Mitchell, driving a MkII Lotus Cortina, was always
going to be hard to beat, taking out the win from Kiwis
Ralph Emson and Wayne Jones in a Holden Torana GTR
XU-1. Colin and Laurie took their Škoda S110L to 20th
position in the gruelling event that covered 3000km, with
48 special stages, and ran from Auckland to Wellington“After a few rallies, it became fairly obvious that Laurie was faster behind
the wheel than me,” Colin tells us, “so he took up the position behind the
wheel on most occasions while I took up the navigation duties”