Originally conceived as a ‘working man’s Thunderbird’, the Ford Mustang would have to be one of the most desired, if not the most desired, American cars on the planet. The first Mustang rolled off Ford’s assembly line back in 1964, and Mustang mania swept through the USA after the fabled pony car went on sale April 17 of that year. Across the USA Ford dealers took a mind boggling 22,000 orders that very first day and, in fact, interest ran so high that in Garland, Texas, the winner among no less than 15 bidders for the same car insisted on sleeping in the dealership overnight, in the car, until his bank cheque was cleared the next day.

The suits at Ford had obviously hit the nail on the head, with Mustang clocking up an amazing world-record sales of 418,812 in its first year on the market, more than four times the expected sales of 100,000. Popularity amongst Ford enthusiasts had indeed reached an all-time high and within three years an estimated 500 Mustang Clubs had formed across the USA alone.
Fast-forward to today and it’s no surprise that the Ford Mustang continues to capture the spirit and look of the original with today’s technology including numerous safety, convenience and comfort features. It’s also no real surprise that prices of US muscle cars have increased in recent years, as global demand by baby boomers purchasing their dream cars continues to grow – especially in countries such as China and Russia – despite recent world-wide economic woes.
What makes the Mustang so attractive is the vast array of performance and body style options that were available at the time, particularly through the muscle car period of the mid-1960s to early ’70s. Ironically though, the Ford Mustang never fell into the category of a true muscle car, which is defined as a high-performance vehicle – generally a mid-size car with a large, powerful engine (more often than not, a V8) and unique trim, intended for maximum acceleration on the street or drag strip, predominantly of American origin, and produced between 1964 and 1971. Muscle cars are distinguishable from sports cars, which are typically smaller two or two-plus-two seaters or GTs, intended for high-speed touring and possibly road racing. High-performance full size or compact cars are excluded from this category, as is the breed of compact sports coupés inspired by the Ford Mustang, typically known as Pony cars, although few would dispute a Boss 429’s credentials – or indeed, a high-performance K-Code such as our featured Mustang – as a muscle car.

Read full story…

With Ferrari’s home town of Maranello snowbound, the internet has come to the rescue for the launch for Ferrari 2012 Formula One Car, the F2012, with the launch taking place in cyberspace for both the media and the public.

In a matter of hours more than five million hits were taken on the Ferrari public and media web sites.

The F2012 is the 58^th car built by Ferrari with the express purpose of taking part in the Formula 1 World Championship. It adopts a well established tradition of being named after its year of manufacture.

With a reduction in the number of days available for track testing before the start of the Championship, which has dropped from fifteen to twelve, preparatory work on the test beds prior to the car’s track debut, has taken on even more importance. The three test sessions – at Jerez de la Frontera and Barcelona – will serve to get a picture of the handling of the F2012 and to adapt it to the Pirelli tyres. Indeed, getting the most out of the tyres has been an area that has seen a lot of work both at the design stage and in how the activities at the track are to be managed. The car is due to undergo a very intensive development programme over the first part of the season, especially on the aerodynamic front.

For those who couldn’t make it to the sensational NZ Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs – here’s a taste of what you missed!

Many thanks to Allan Udy of the Historical Aviation Film Unit for sending us the link to this video – amazing car-to-car footage of motor racing legend, Chris Amon, track-testing an amazing Ferrari 250 GTO replica at Hampton Downs. The car may be a replica, but it’s a genuine Ferrari – so sit back, turn up the volume and watch a master at work accompanied by a V12 soundtrack.

A brief message to all our loyal subscribers – due to a glitch in our distribution system, subscriber copies of the latest, February, edition of NZ Classic Car were posted out rather later than usual. So, if your copy hasn’t arrived yet, be patient – it’s on the way!

We apologise for the delay and can assure everyone that bums have been booted on your behalf!

In keeping with the theme of the recent NZ Festival of Motor Racing celebrating BMW Motorsport, SPR Limited has provided us with an impressive model of a mid-engined BMW M1 to feature this month. It is a 1:43 Spark brand model of the #53 EMKA Productions Ltd/ Michael Cane Racing BMW M1 that raced in the Group 5 class at Le Mans in 1981. Powered by a naturally aspirated 3497cc twin-cam straight-six engine, the M1 was driven by the English pairing of David Hobbs and Steve O’Rourke, along with Irishman Eddie Jordan. It was sponsored by Hawaiian Tropic, SDC Builders and EMKA (Steve O’Rourke’s production company).
This BMW M1 model, along with the rest of the Spark range, are available from specialist hobby shops nationwide. For more information about the Spark,
Bizarre or TrueScale ranges phone John on 09 845 4551, or visit the SPR website at www.spr.co.nz to download the latest catalogue.

Go into the draw to win this Spark brand BMW M1 by answering the following question.

Steve O’Rourke wasn’t simply known as a racing driver. What was his main claim to fame?

To enter this competition, click here.
Competition closes on February 25, 2012.

The first part of this year’s NZFMR – celebrating BMW – takes place this weekend at Hampton Downs. Be there to catch two days of exciting classic car racing – including star turns from celebrated drivers such as Jim Richards, Paul Radisich and Paul Fahey – and, of course, dozens of historic and significant BMW race-cars. It’s an event not to be missed – but if you can’t make it to Hampton Downs this weekend, be sure to get there next weekend for the second part of this unique event.

Want to know more?

http://www.nzfmr.co.nz/

Goodyear’s Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 has been awarded the Gold Medal in the latest Motor magazine tyre test, cementing its position as Australia’s ultimate performance road tyre. The accolade also gives Goodyear a hat-trick of wins in the authoritative test with the original Eagle F1 Asymmetric earning the award the two previous years.

With testing undertaken at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway, V8 Supercar driver, stunt driver and driving instructor, Warren Luff, was behind the wheel of a MY12 Mitsubishi Evolution X MR, putting nine 245/40R18 size high performance road tyres through their paces. The tyres were tested in four separate challenges – Figure Eight Road Circuit, Wet Skidpan, Dry Slalom and Emergency Braking – with scores averaged across three attempts for each.

With Australian weather conditions providing a constant and varied challenge for drivers and tyres alike, performance in the Wet Skidpan is always a key performance indicator. Here the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 was the clear leader in what was the only wet test, with its new silica tread compound and race inspired resin creating better adhesion on the wet surfaces. The Goodyear tyre again clocked the outright fastest average time on the Figure Eight Road Circuit, highlighting the credentials of its new improved tread pattern which allows for a more stable outer tread to aid cornering. The Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 was also equal first place in the Dry Slalom.

Overall, after taking out three of the four categories, MOTOR awarded the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 the Gold Medal, commenting that, “its solid performance across all categories shows its broad capabilities to cope with a diverse range of situations.”

For further information:

http://asymmetric2.goodyear-micro.co.nz/

Only a few weeks away from this year’s NZCC/Ellerslie Intermarque Concours – which is planned to take place on Sunday, 12th February.

Starting with the extremely popular Meguiar’s/MG/Mustang Fun Run on Saturday. 11th February, the show itself is expected to draw out over 600 classic cars from all over New Zealand – many of them competing for team and individual honours in the Intermarque Concours. For more information, visit: www.concours.org.nz

NZ Classic Car will, once again, be taking over the Newmarket Room at Ellerslie and we’re planning a huge display of mouth-watering classic cars – visitors will also get a chance to look at Don Packwood’s fantastic motor sport paintings, plus the chance to buy exclusive prints.

So, safe motoring over the holiday period – and we’ll catch up with you a Ellerslie!