Rotorua Doctors’ Cars, 1960s and 1970s by Ronald Mayes
In those days our tea room in the Rotorua Hospital laboratory overlooked the doctors’ car park. We saw their comings and goings - general practitioners needed reliable cars as they were often called out for home visits and baby deliveries (remember those times?) so most bought new everyday-model cars, but some of the wealthy specialists bought more exotic models which we lusted after. Gynaecologist David Rodwell had a new Ford Zodiac before lashing out on a 1968 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow convertible and a 1970s MercedesBenz 280SE coupe. He spent considerable money on the R-R’s engine overhaul and its repaint from blue to white. Short and stocky anaesthetist Tom Magner had a tight squeeze into his Austin-Healey 3000 convertible, and flamboyant GP and later medical superintendent of the hospital Keith Ridings had a magnificent early 1960s Daimler Majestic Major, complete with a massive antenna mounted on the tail for his two-way radio (no cell phones then). Our pathologist Ron Ensor at first made do with a Mini-Minor to transport his wife and two children about (later he bought a new bright red Triumph 2500S) and Murupara GP and part-time farmer Henry Wilcox had a Vanden Plas Princess 3 Litre! From its appearance it looked like it had a rather hard life on the farm and was eventually replaced with a new first-generation Honda Accord. Police surgeon Meredith (Merry) Moore owned a Chrysler Valiant Charger - even shorter than me he looked rather lost behind that vast bonnet, and one surgeon in the 1980s owned a Jaguar 3.4 Mark II. Few wanted to travel anywhere with him for fear of being stranded when it broke down. And a psychiatrist struggled with an automatic Triumph 2.5PI’s mind of its own: using full-rich to start the engine he would immediately engage F or R and the high revs would mean the car gave a rather severe lurch. Pathologist and VCC member David Taylor owned some interesting cars including a Mercedes-Benz 190 convertible (“Christmas present for his wife Rata”), which one day I spotted over the pit in the hospital garage. There he was, in his white lab coat but with very dirty hands, busy replacing its kingpins. Enthusiastic about Ford’s history and influence on motoring he also owned a Ford Model A roadster and a Ford Model T light truck. Side Curtains June 2022
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