READERS’ WRITES
Letters
SEND YOUR LETTERS TO: Mail: Readers’ Writes, New Zealand Classic Car, PO Box 46,020, Herne Bay, Auckland 1147 Email: [email protected]LETTER OF THE MONTH PRIZE IS A
MEGUIAR’S CAR CARE PACK
INCLUDING SOFT WASH GEL, RUBBING
COMPOUND & WET LOOK CLEANER WAX.
Supplied by Meguiar’s New Zealand
http://www.MEGUIARS.co.nzEditor: Several people got in touch
to point out the letter correcting the
description of Ralph Watson’s aero
engine was also wrong. It wasn’t a
‘rotary valve’ engine, as previously
described. Nor was it a ‘radial’
engine as stated in the letter. We
agree with our latest correspondents
who said that it was in fact a ‘rotary
engine’, in which the cylinders
rotate about the crankshaft. We did
our research and even suggested
that the museum correct its own
erroneous ‘rotary valve’ description
on its website. But then, almost
unbelievably, the letter was still
printed without the correction to
‘rotary’! We nearly popped a valve.
At least our caption was right.
Half marks.THE FINAL
WORD ON
ROTARY
ENGINES.
POSSIBLY
I
enjoyed reading Greg Price’s
article in the June issue
[No. 342]. His story of a
Mark I Zephyr convertible
sparked a memory. In 1961
or ’62, my wife and children
were picnicking with our
1938 DX Vauxhall at Prices
Valley between Christchurch
and Akaroa.
In drove two elderly ladies in
a powder blue Mark I Zephyr
convertible in immaculate
condition. This ‘like new’
Zephyr convertible with thehood down was, for our three
daughters (who now own their
own classics), just unbelievable!
From that moment on, Dad had
to own a Zephyr convertible
someday in the future.
That opportunity came up in
the mid ’70s. An acquaintance
car dealer, Steve Diamond,
bought the very car that the
family had drooled over some
14 years earlier.
I was driving a Fiat Bambina
at the time, and Steve offered
me an unbelievable deal — aclean swap! It was so tempting,
but, as the convertible would
have been parked up all day
in the sun, I turned the offer
down. Oh, what a fool was I.
Years later, I rescued a 1956
Mark II Consul convertible
from a car wreckers. I restored
it, [had it] finished in Kingstone
Cream with red vinyl trim by
George Lee, and fitted a few
Mark II Zodiac trim items.
Personalized plate ‘A R ARE 1’.
Where is this car now?
Trevor Stanley-JoblinTRYING TO CATCH THE WIND
Ford Consul and Zephyr MkI
convertible 1954–’56 UK-market
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