The strong Austin-Healy contingent

The Targa Tour has become a very popular and integral part of Dunlop Targa NZ — Allan looks back at the history of the tour, and checks out the strong Austin-Healey contingent entered for t he 2005 Narva Targa Tour.

The Targa Tour had its genesis in the Targa Tempo category, which was instituted in the very first Targa NZ back in 1995. Designed for pure trials competitors, Targa Tempo entrants were expected to keep within posted speed limits over all stages of the event. This category was introduced by Targa NZ organisers to offer a chance of participation in the event to drivers who didn’t want to alter their classic cars with roll cages, and safety requirements were kept to a minimum.

There may be a whole posse of Porsches on the Dunlop Targa — but the Narva Targa Tour is dominated by Austin-Healeys

For the inaugural 1995 Targa NZ, there were only two teams entered for Targa Tempo — Petra Bates/Phyllis Williams and Keith and Grant Loch. Petra, who has since become a permanent fixture at Targa events, was not driving her trademark yellow Ford Thunderbird, but instead piloted a bright-red ’71 Corvette roadster in the 1995 event. The Lochs entered a ’72 Holden Cheetah — an NZ-made E-type replica.

At the end of the 1995 Targa NZ, Petra won the very first Targa Tempo competition. Targa Tempo — as well as Petra and the Lochs — both returned the following year. With Dunlop now on board as the event’s main sponsor, the Dunlop Targa NZ 1996 once again saw Petra’s Corvette battling against the Loch’s Cheetah — this time around Grant and Keith took the Targa Tempo trophy.

Changing the rules

By 1997, Dunlop Targa organisers realised that the Targa Tempo category wasn’t really attracting fresh competitors, so the category quietly fell by the wayside. But Petra’s Targa adventures didn’t end there — and the 1997 event saw the first appearance of her 1959 Thunderbird on the main Dunlop Targa NZ. However, there was still a small demand from enthusiasts wishing to participate in Dunlop Targa without modifying their cars, or becoming involved in increasingly stringent motor sport safety regulations. With this in mind, the first Targa Tour — the Britz New Zealand Targa Supporter’s Tour, was introduced for the 1998 Dunlop Targa NZ.

This instantly turned out to be more successful than Targa Tempo — attracting 11 entrants ranging from Joe and Lorraine Bruntlett’s 1956 Vauxhall Wyvern to Richard and Graham Munro’s Almac Cobra. Several of these Targa Tourists went on to compete in the main Targa. Clive Newman, who completed the ’98 tour in a ’62 Corvette, returned in a Datsun 260Z, and Greg Winkley (Peugeot 405) would not only hold the honour for being the first Targa Tourist to crash his car, he also returned as a competitor for the main event. Rex Lash, who drove through that first tour in a Commodore GTS, also made a main Targa return, co-driving for George Bunce.

For 1999, the rather long-winded tour title was changed to the Britz New Zealand Targa Tour and, once again, 11 tourists came on board. As in 1998, it became apparent that the tour was fast becoming a proving ground for potential main Targa entrants. In 1999 these included Don and Melissa Bell (touring in a Land Rover Discovery), Rod and Anne Corbett (Morgan +8), and Kelly Archer, who would later fully race prepare the ’73 Rover 3500 he entered in the 1999 Britz Targa Tour. As well, main event competitors were taking advantage of the benefits of the Targa Tour — with several driving teams joining up with the tour in their road cars after they had totalled their competition mounts.

Increasing popularity

With so many entrants for the Britz NZ Targa Tour, it was now necessary to introduce a Targa Tour leader — a task which would fall to several people over the years, including NZCC’s Tim Nevinson, with the current Narva Tour Leader being Dave Walker. By 2002, Narva took over sponsorship of the tour from Britz NZ, and the event-within-an-event had become a hugely popular part of Dunlop Targa NZ.

That’s the beauty of the Narva Targa Tour — no damaging modifications are required to your precious classic car

A mark of this increasing popularity was illustrated when the organisers — bowing to pressure from potential entrants — introduced a Narva Targa Tour to accompany the recent two-day Targa Tauranga. In the past, Dunlop Targa NZ has not bothered with a Targa Tour for its smaller events, keeping it only for the main Dunlop Targa NZ. Today, the Narva Targa Tour has been set at  around 40 entrants, and there’s a lot of jostling and shoving for those places.

2005 Narva Targa Tour

Keeping the event in line with current motor sport regulations, for the first time this year Dunlop Targa NZ has applied licensing rules to the Narva Targa Tour. Entrants are now required to hold a Club Sport license. One of the reasons for this has been the organisers’ concerns about the ever-increasing performance potential of some of the cars entered for the tour — in recent years these have included various high-performance Porsches, a Bentley Continental GT and a brace of rapid Ferraris.

Although Narva Targa Tour entrants are encouraged to keep within posted speed limits — just like the old Targa Tempo category — the combination of closed road stages and thoroughbred machinery can be a tempting combination for more advanced velocity. However, speed isn’t the only attraction of the Narva Targa Tour, and entrants can pick their own pace during the event, perhaps only opening up the taps on the odd, easy-to-read stage. It’s a recipe for a great event, and as an added bonus you get to tour around the Dunlop Targa with a bunch of like-minded enthusiasts — and get to see all the Targa action from some of the best vantage points.

For 2005, the Narva Targa Tour cars are as diverse as ever, ranging from Michael and David Mahoney’s powerful Mercedes 600SL to Keith and Tyler Dellow’s ’78 Triumph Spitfire, and Richard Cooper’s delectable Dino 246GT.

Austin-Healey Tourists

Although there is a good showing for Porsche on the 2005 Narva Targa Tour, it’s the Austin-Healeys that make up the largest one-marque tourist team, with no less than five entered.
In fact, the whole event is a bit of a flag-waver for the Healey group, as there are also two entered in the main Dunlop Targa NZ: Andrew Fox/Christine Addison in a ’56 100/6, and Andrew Shrimpton/Trevor Corbin in a ’60 3000 MkI.

The Austin-Healeys registered for the Narva Targa Tour are Alan Johnson’s 1955 Austin-Healey 100, Mark A’Court’s 1957 Austin-Healey 100/6, club president Tony Watkins’ 1960 Austin-Healey 3000 MkI, Geoff Beetham’s 1962 Austin-Healey 3000 MkII and Bernie Allen’s 1966 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII. Alas, Mark A’Court couldn’t join us for our photo session, but after talking to the Healey boys it was plainly evident they all intended to have a great time on the tour — especially as they plan to put in some very vocal support for the two Andrews on the Dunlop Targa NZ.

That aspect — supporting other club members — is an important component of the Narva Targa Tour, and one which all classic car clubs should be looking at. Organising an en-masse entry for the tour is a great way for clubs to show their support of a competing member. And at the same time, the tourists get an opportunity to blow out the cobwebs over the special stages, have a thoroughly enjoyable week and get to partake of the famed Dunlop Targa NZ camaraderie.

That’s the beauty of the Narva Targa Tour — no damaging modifications are required to your precious classic car; there’s time to relax and enjoy New Zealand’s wonderful scenery; and, at the same time, you get an opportunity to exercise both yourself and your car over real driving roads. And if that sounds like the perfect prescription for a terrific week away from the pressures of modern life, what are you waiting for? Perhaps its time to be thinking about getting in an entry for 2006.