34 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com
interest, Dad immediately became anti
motor racing. You know, all those years
when Rodger was doing a lot of winning
— races and championships — Dad never
saw him race, and would say, ‘It’s stupid
and dangerous and people get killed’. It
was strange — he was of Scottish ancestry,
so perhaps he thought it was a waste of
money.” In contrast, their mum was a
loyal supporter. “She encouraged both of
us,” says Donn. “She’d drive herself out to
Pukekohe occasionally to watch her eldest
son in action.”Writing at nine, publishing at 12
Donn started writing at an age when most
kids are still learning the alphabet.
“I must have had journalistic instincts
very early on. I was about eight or ninewhen I started writing Sunbeams — it was
mainly for my friends. I started Motorman
when I was 12, and one of my first readers
was Bruce McLaren. We were on holiday at
Muriwai, not far from the McLaren holiday
bach, so I finished it and then dropped a
copy in their letterbox. Bruce was hugely
supportive. That would have been early
1958 — certainly before he left for the
Driver to Europe.”
As well as writing his magazine, Donn was
also illustrating it with drawings. He would
then cycle from the family home in Epsom
to the stock cars at Alexandra Park on a
Saturday night to push his wares on a public
that would hardly have imagined they’d be
reading his words their entire lives.
“I sent a copy of Motorman to the
Grand Prix office and was contacted bysecretary and manager Buzz Perkins to go
and see him,” Donn recalls. “He told me I
could use their Gestetner printing machine
and ‘We’ll pay for the paper’. I was cycling
to the monthly Northern Sports Car Club
and Auckland Car Club evenings, where
the clubs kindly allowed me to sell my
magazine at the door. I was also going
to the newsroom of the Auckland Star
during school holidays from Mount Roskill
Grammar and was offered a job both there
and at The New Zealand Herald as a cadet
reporter. I chose the Herald because the
hours were better; it meant I could still
work on Motorman in mornings before
commencing my shift at 2pm each day.”
Prior to leaving school, Donn was
offered a reward by his parents for passing
School Certificate: “That was January 1962,
and I got the airfare to Christchurch for
the Lady Wigram Trophy. I was already
thinking of leaving school, but when I
visited The Christchurch Star offices to
meet Peter Greenslade [then the doyen of
local motoring writers], he told me to go
back to school. It was good advice. From
Christchurch, I took the train to Teretonga,
so I was pretty hooked by then!”Passion leads to profession
Donn met Jack Inwood in 1963, and he and
the burly, bearded photographer became
a formidable duo in the ever-improving
Motorman.
“Michael Coupe became the publisher
and retained me as editor. Life at the
Herald was very formal,” Donn says. “We
weren’t allowed to walk down Queen Street
without a tie. I was doing general reporting
but some motoring assignments as well. I
recall that crash involving Rod Coppins at
Pukekohe in 1963, when a marshal and an
ambulance officer were fatally hit. I had to
be discreet, but it was important that I was
also reporting the news.”
Donn stayed with the Herald for about
18 months. “The magazine was growing, but by
1968 we were already onto our third publisher.”Left: Chatting with a promising David Oxton
at Pukekohe in the mid ’60s, with
Graeme Lawrence attending to his Brabham in
the background (photo: Jack Inwood)Right: Stuck in mud with a road-test
Volkswagen somewhere north of Auckland in- What to do but read Motorman while
awaiting assistance? (Photo: Jack Inwood)