themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car 35“I’ve always been a bit of a worrier, and, back then, I was a real stress merchant,
especially before the start of an open-wheeler race. I actually had a real sense
of relief when the chequered flag dropped at the end and everyone was safe”By then, Donn had joined the small
band of journalists following the entire
Tasman Series. “I’d been covering all the
New Zealand races for a few years but
my first trip to the Australian rounds
was in 1966. In addition to Motorman, I
was soon covering the Tasman races for
Motoring News in Britain, as well as the
Associated Press in London, and that had
its challenges,” he says. “It would have
been easy these days but there weren’t
even fax machines then, so, to meet their
very tight deadlines, I would have to
phone England while at the meetings and
spell ‘Rodríguez’ or ‘Rindt’ to someone
not the least bit interested at four in
the morning.”
To England and back
Despite starting Motorman at 12 and
being its editor for 16 years, Donn had
long since relinquished ownership of
the magazine, and that made it easier to
pursue a long-held goal: “I’d always been
an Anglophile, and I could hardly wait to
get to England. Up until then, I’d written
most of every issue of Motorman, and the
arrangement I had with the publisher was
to continue to send back material. As I
was packing my bags for the trip, word
came through that Jimmy [Clark] had
been killed. Rodger had been seriously
considering making a move into open-
wheelers from Minis but immediately
abandoned the idea, saying, ‘If that can
happen to him ....’ I’ve always been a bit
of a worrier, and, back then, I was a real
stress merchant, especially before the start
of an open-wheeler race. I actually had
a real sense of relief when the chequered
flag dropped at the end and everyone
was safe.”
No surprise then that Donn’s own racing
career was in saloons: “I bought the ex–
Jim Mullins Mini Cooper. Dad had done
his best to discourage me and made it
clear: ‘You’re not wired that way,’ and, ‘If
you crash, you’re not parking it at home’.
In my first race, I got rear-ended; the back
was all smashed in and I had to leave it
out on the street until it was fixed.”
For Donn, England was everything heimagined it would be.
“The Motorman association carried
weight and I would get to test cars, so
there was no need to buy one during my
six-month stay.”
Donn was also fulfilling his desire of
getting around the European circuits,
but at that point there were no thoughts
of staying.
“I was contracted to come back
and cover the Tasman Cup for
Motoring News,” he says. “There was
plenty of work back in New Zealand,
and it was reasonably lucrative, but I was
working bloody hard. By the time Lynne
and I were married, I’d head off to work
in the morning, and then come home and
write at night. It was pretty tough for her.”England calls again
By 1973, Donn and Lynne were ready for
a change, and, not surprisingly, England
was the attraction.
“Universal Business Directories had
taken over Motorman but weren’t doing
much with it,” he says. “I told them I was