36 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com
heading to Europe and that I wasn’t sure for
how long. By then we’d become close friends
with Eoin Young and his wife Sandra, so
we stayed with them initially while I tried
to break into the British motoring clique. I
ended up as a press officer for the Society of
Motor Manufacturers and Traders [SMMT]
in London, which was a great way to learn
the motor industry and work with the car
companies. However, I well remember the
first event I was officially invited to: the
British launch of Austin Allegro. I walked in
and then it hit me — all these people and I
didn’t know a single soul. I’ve never been a
pushy sort of person, and I thought, what are
you going to do now? There was one other
person by himself, but he was standing facing
a wall with his face almost hard against thewallpaper. It was, of course, the eccentric
LJK Setright, one of the world’s most famous
motoring writers.”
In early 1974, Donn had an offer he
couldn’t refuse: “Eoin Young said, ‘I’ve got
too much work.’ He was hugely supportive,
so I started doing some of his syndicated
writing assignments in addition to my
own work. I used to ghostwrite some of
Denny Hulme’s columns for Autosport and
syndicated media. Most people would be
unaware that some of Eoin’s articles in those
days were actually written by me. Many
were for the Continental, South African,
and US magazines.
“Eoin also had me involved with some of
the PR [public relations] work he was doing
for the Tyrrell Formula 1 team, and withtheir sponsors Elf and Ford. That meant
part-time working with highly professional
people like Jackie Stewart, while meeting
with drivers Jody Scheckter and Patrick
Depailler. It was great being involved in
motor racing again. I hadn’t realized how
much I’d missed it.”Move into PR
The Andersons returned to New Zealand
in late 1975, and Donn admits to “not
knowing exactly what to do”. But, he says, “I
took a job with Nissan as their national sales
manager that later rolled in a public relations
and advertising role. In later years, several of
the New Zealand motor-vehicle franchises
commissioned me to compose press releases
relating to new-product launches”.Left: Practice day for the 1966 NZ Grand Prix meeting at
Pukekohe, and Dauntsey Teagle invites Donn to prove that his
modified racer is actually a sports car (photo: Jack Inwood)
Right: Donn Anderson interviews Andrew Cowan 1972Left: A youthful Eoin Young arrives from England and is met by Donn
at the Whenuapai airport in December 1963 (photo: Jack Inwood)
Below: Donn with Jack Inwood’s near-new Fiat 1500 and the
Graeme Lawrence–Brabham racing trailer outside the Christchurch
Lyttelton Tunnel traffic command building in January 1964, a year
after the opening. This building was damaged and closed following
the 2011 earthquake (photo: Jack Inwood)Above: Jackie Stewart gives Donn
Anderson the low-down on proper
driving at a Ford gathering at
Manfeild in 1989