Trevor retraces the path his brother took on the way to acquiring his current big-block Camaro
My brother Dennis left high school at the age of 16, to start an apprenticeship as an auto electrician at SV Turnbull and Son in Montreal Street, Christchurch. Within a few months Dennis bought his first car — a 1947 J Model Vauxhall 14/6.
However, his ownership of the Vauxhall was short-lived. At that time I owned a pink and black ’39 Ford coupe, our sister Rosalie’s ‘boyfriend’ Neil Stuart drove a red ’34 V8 five-window coupe, and our elder brother Jim owned a Ford V8-powered powerboat. Dennis also caught the V8 bug, and sold the Vauxhall in favour of a 1937 Ford V8 DeLuxe sedan which he bought from my then-girlfriend Lorraine’s brother.
Dennis was soon lowering the Ford, fitting new longer shackle plates and telescopic shock absorbers, and dropping the body by an incredible 77mm (three inches). That’s a lot for an otherwise stock ’37 V8. With help from Mum and Dad, the interior of the Ford was trimmed in possum skins! Of course, it didn’t end there. The tails were tied to the six foot-high twin aerials. A year or so later the ’37 was swapped for a ’34 three-window coupe.
About nine months later came a sudden and unplanned change. One night, Dennis and a mate were crossing an old wooden bridge over the Avon River on the way to a party in the ’34 coupe when they crashed over the side, wiping out 120 feet of wooden rail and ending up in the river. When daylight came it revealed the true state of the damage — there was no option but to embark on a complete rebuild.
CHANGE OF EMPLOYMENT
By 1965 Dennis had finished his apprenticeship and transferred to the larger auto electric company of Woof and Salvesen. As the coupe was undergoing a major, long-term rebuild, he purchased a little 1951 Renault 750. The Renault was later written off during a major accident with a ’37 Ford V8 — so a ’36 Ford V8 pick-up was purchased as an everyday driver.
It was during the ownership of this Ford V8 that Dennis met his new girlfriend, Janice. However, for economic reasons the V8 pick-up was eventually sold in favour of a 1951 LIP Vauxhall Velox.
In 1971 Dennis transferred to the Hornby branch of Woof & Salvesen, and in the same year he married Janice Anne Mackie. The Velox served well as everyday transport for three years, until a major motor failure ended its run. Next came a 1947 Prefect, which they nicknamed ‘Cuddles’ — possibly because this model Ford was so narrow that passengers sat close at all times. Dennis and Jan obviously have fond memories of how this little 93A 10hp four-cylinder sidevalve motor would give trouble. The block and head needed to be surface ground, and about every two weeks or so Cuddles would ‘blow’ a head gasket. Dennis taught Jan how to remove the head and replace the gasket.
The ongoing rebuild of the ’34 three-window coupe was finally finished in mid 1972. They named it ‘Lollipop’ due to its amazing paint design, with no less than 17 different colours and 32 different shapes with quarter-inch lines all the way through it. Today hot-rodding has come a full circle, with nostalgia rods being built as they were back in the ’50s and ’60s. If Lollipop still existed as built, it would now be back in vogue.
SHOW STOPPER
Dennis estimates the standing quarter-mile time would be around mid 13s on its current street tyres
Dennis and Jan travelled all over New Zealand in Lollipop, taking in several hot-rod shows. One of the best shows they visited was in Dunedin where the coupe won Best Custom hot-rod coupe, Best Custom Paint, Best Flathead, and it also took the Sweepstake prize. “After the show, we had that much prize money that we went to Queenstown for two days and spent it all,” Dennis chuckles. During 1975 Dennis took up a position as foreman at the Lucas head office in Newmarket, Auckland. Just prior to leaving Christchurch he purchased a one-owner ’54 Chevrolet from a young guy who had inherited it from his grandfather.
They still owned Lollipop and left it in Christchurch with Paul Hutson, the painter who had designed and sprayed that famous paint job, with instructions to repaint it ‘Simply Red.’ Six months later they returned to Christchurch to pick up the coupe, and returned to Auckland with it. Lollipop was now rechristened Bloody Mary.
With the rod in Auckland, they displayed the car at various shows in the upper North Island and participated in a lot of rod-runs, making dozens of new friends.
BACK SOUTH
Moving away from the motor trade, in 1977 Dennis and Jan took over the management of the Lake Tekapo Hotel. The Chevrolet was sold, but the rod travelled south with them. After about 18 months down at Tekapo, the rod was advertised and duly sold to a young lady in Kurow for $5000. It was immediately replaced with a mint 1964 Fairlane Compact in blue and white. When they quit the hotel management game and returned to Auckland in 1979, the Fairlane came with them.
Back at Lucas at Newmarket, Dennis purchased a ’38 Tudor and was soon back into the rod scene once more. The Fairlane was sold and replaced with a 1975 big block Pontiac TransAm. Dennis did some research on the car’s history, which uncovered that our second cousin had brought it back from Canada. By now it was 1981, another year of change.
Dennis opened up a sandwich bar in Papakura — Gobby’s Gobble and Go. The Pontiac was signwritten, and proved to be a great moving billboard.
Dennis drag- raced the Pontiac at Meremere for a few years, as well as participating in the local rod and custom scene. One particular year he won the dial-your-own series at Meremere, running a consistent 13.9 seconds.
During a trip to attend the Street Rod Nationals in Ashburton they heard that their old ’34 coupe was for sale. They drove down to Kurow and repurchased Bloody Mary from the lady they had originally sold it to — for the same price of $5000. The Ford was towed back to Auckland behind their Pontiac.
GREAT BARRIER
During the mid ’80s Jan and Dennis moved to Great Barrier Island. At Tryphena Bay they owned Pigeon Lodge, a bed and breakfast establishment. During their ownership the Prime Minister of the time, David Lange, was their guest for a week. Later they owned a fishing charter business, on Great Barrier.
On the Barrier, at least up to recently, there was no sealed roads. As with any small island, naturally there’s a lot of sea air, which does little for the long life of a vehicle body. Consequently the decision was made to sell Bloody Mary. The sale was to a friend, Marie Barbrich, who has since rebuilt the car.
In the 14 years that Jan and Dennis lived on Great Barrier they went through eight vehicles! They all fell apart, rusted out or both — no vehicle lasted more than about 18 months on average.
In 1999 Jan and Dennis decided they had had enough of Great Barrier, and wished to live in the South Island again. The first thing they bought when arriving back on the mainland was a 1971 factory big-block Camaro. Apparently it was pretty rare, and they love it. “We looked at a lot before deciding on this one. It was a little bit rough around the edges, but we could see through that when we bought it. Just a nice genuine big block Camaro.”
FULL CIRCLE
Life has certainly gone the full circle for Jan and Dennis. Back in Christchurch they soon joined up with the Southern Street Rodders, and regularly go to monthly meetings and rod runs.
“Since moving to Christchurch we have continually improved the Camaro to our personal liking, and we will keep improving her. The first thing we did was lower it to just on the legal limit.” Dennis is progressively adding some modern comforts to the Chevrolet. The original seats have just been replaced with Honda Integra items, giving far more comfort and support than the originals, while not looking out of place.
Andy Walker, a fellow club member and auto trimmer, is about to recover them to match the original rear seats. Future improvements include a full repaint to black and, of course, a flame job.
Their Camaro is an ex California car, and is fitted with a nine-inch differential and a late model auto transmission. The motor is 6489cc (396ci) bored to 6588cc (402ci), fitted with a mild Isky cam, and it puts out close on 298kW (400bhp).
Petrol consumption varies from 15.6 to 35.3l/100km (8mpg to 18mpg), depending on how much you use all that performance. Dennis estimates the standing quarter mile time would be around mid 13s on its current street tyres. However, running on street legal slicks, the time could be as low as the mid to high 12s.
Dennis was well known for his announcing at the drags, sometimes breaking out into a ‘Donald Duck’ voice, which never failed to amuse the spectators
In the early days of living in Christchurch, Dennis was a founding member of the Pegasus Bay Drag Club. He was well known for his announcing at the drags, sometimes breaking out into a ‘Donald Duck’ voice, which never failed to amuse the spectators (he rarely does this impersonation now, and then only when prompted). All of his mates from those days are now in their 50s and early 60s. Every couple of months these guys get together for a Sunday morning breakfast, and Dennis and Jan always look forward to the meetings.
These guys are nearly all still into hot-rodding or drag racing. Dennis says, “it’s good to be back into it again, 26 years later”.
OLD MEMORIES
Today Dennis and Jan own and operate a New Brighton cafe, which has become a favourite meeting point for local car clubs. The Annual Henry Ford Memorial Rally has departed here since 2000, and the Classic Motoring Society has also used the venue as the departure point on two occasions. One of the many car photos which adorn the cafe’s walls shows the cover of the July 1974 NZ Hot Rod Magazine. This depicts Jan and Dennis in front of Lollipop on the Waimakariri river bed. Some of the people recognize Jan, but ask her who the guy is beside her? She normally replies, “Oh, that’s my husband Dennis.”
“What happened to you, mate?” one customer asked. Dennis replied, “Too much drugs, sex and rock ’n’ roll. That’s what happened, mate!”
