CLASSIC, VINTAGE AND VETERAN MOTORING FOR 77 YEARS
No. 382 June/July 2023
New Zealand’s Foremost Historical Motoring Magazine $8.95
GEORGE BEGG FESTIVAL CONJURING UP A BIT OF SOUTHERN NOSTALGIA
WE GET BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A
9 418979 000012
‘54 FORD ZEPHYR CONVERTIBLE MARKETPLACE
VEHICLES FOR SALE AND WANTED DRIVING OUR HISTORY
HIN BE
D THE WHE EL
Malcolm & Glenis Edgar’s 1954 Ford Zephyr Mark One Convertible
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES Words and photos Greg Price
When the men at Carbodies Ltd in Coventry were putting these cars together, I bet none of them envisaged that one day, nearly 70 years later, one would be seen hurtling around the back roads of Wanganui in the 2022 Targa Rally!
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Normally when I tackle these Behind the Wheel write-ups, I get to see and photograph the car, drive it for a bit, and interrogate the owner. This time around though, as the owner is located in Auckland, a different format was required, so phone calls and emails became the order of the day. The overriding factor for me was that Malcolm’s car is a Zephyr convertible, and as many readers will know, I’ve got one of those too, hence the increased interest. I’d previously been in contact with Malcolm about the history of his car, as it was yet another to emerge from ‘storage’ after many years (25, in fact) out of the public eye. While the old Post Office Motor Registration records indicate that the bulk of these Zephyr convertibles ‘went off the road’ in the late 1960s – early 1970s, many of those went into storage, or were simply locked away for another day. It would seem that this car was one of them, as the only record I can establish is that Malcom’s car was in or around Timaru in 1964-65 when it was changed to the permanent black and silver plates.
SO, WHO MADE THESE ZEPHYR CONVERTIBLES? The Ford Motor Company in Dagenham, England, turned out the standard Zephyr and Consul sedan models, with Zodiacs being tarted up at Briggs Motor Bodies, and Estate models were converted by E D Abbot, of Farnham. The convertibles were, by and large, manufactured by Carbodies Ltd in Coventry. Essentially, Carbodies Ltd was supplied with a firewall and floor of the Zephyr and Consul sedans and they produced a completed body shell, with longer doors, added floor strengthening, and a convertible top, whereupon the completed bodies were returned to Dagenham for the mechanical bits to be fitted. If you want to know more about that, then check out the excellent book, Carbodies, The Complete Story, by Bill Munro. ISBN 1 86126 127 6 (1998). So, where did this one come from? Getting on a bit in years, and having had a Mark 1 Consul as his first car, Malcolm had lusted after a convertible for a long time, and as you do when you are seeking another project, you go looking on the auction site TradeMe. His patience was eventually rewarded when a convertible was listed which looked quite reasonable in the photos, so after the usual bidding war, he parted company with $15K for what he’d hoped would be ‘an easy restoration’ with seemingly most of the parts required to do the job, however this was far from the truth. Upon delivery, the car was completely dismantled and then shown to several people who had carried out restorations of Ford Zephyrs in the past, yet not one of them believed restoration was an option such was the condition of this car, so it sat in the garage for two more years while he struggled deciding whether the car in fact could be restored and the likely cost. He knew that the project was beyond his limited
talents. Then several members of the Auckland Zephyr & Zodiac Car Club viewed the car in its dismantled state, and again their collective view was to sell the wreck and what parts came with it and go looking for another project. But Malcolm had other ideas.
THE RESTORATION He struck it lucky when he met a local North Shore lad, Chopper Kean, who was working by himself in his workshop in Birkenhead Point – possibly the last place one would expect to find this sort of activity. Chopper built modified street cars - small cars with V8 engines, a huge differential, with wide rear wheels and tires. These cars were suitably strengthened to cope with the modifications and when completed, were properly certified for use on the road with a current Warrant of Fitness. His customers were all young enthusiasts and hardly a match for Malcolm’s 70 years. Chopper crawled all over the Zephyr, and confirmed that the real situation was a lot worse than Malcolm had thought. So the project began with a new chassis. This is interesting because Zephyr convertibles did not have a separate chassis as they were monoque construction, and the ‘chassis’ as such was simply a reinforcing triangle welded to the underneath of the car’s floor, linking the front and rear sub-frames. This reinforcing was necessitated because the prototype introduced at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1951, was simply a sedan with the roof removed, albeit with longer doors, but the lack of strengthening caused the floor pans to crack. It took Carbodies Ltd (who, as mentioned earlier were subcontracted to Dagenham Ford to make the convertibles) nearly two years before they came up with the reinforced chassis brace
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GEORGE BEGG FESTIVAL 30 MARCH – 2 APRIL 2023
Words Stuart Francis Photos courtesy Bill Richardson Transport World
George Begg played a pivotal role in New Zealand’s Golden Age of motor racing, creating 18 very successful racing cars between 1963 and 1974, which competed nationally and internationally.
Jim Murdoch indicating finer points to watch out for to a young enthusiast.
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Bill Richardson Transport World and the Southland Sports Car club, created the George Begg Classic Speedfest back in 2020, to honour the memory of George Begg. The second meeting, now renamed the George Begg Festival, carried on where the previous event left off. Scott O’Donnell (sidebar) and the Transport World team, put a huge amount of time, money and effort into creating a festival atmosphere in the manner of the Goodwood Revival, held in England. A major coup was recruiting Greg Murphy, Paul Radisich, Kayne Scott, John Bowe and Jonny Reid to compete and, supported by an extensive publicity and media campaign, considerably raised the national and international profile of the event. The festival kicked off on Thursday at the Classic Motorcycle Mecca, with “The George Begg Long Lunch” for VIP guests. Followed that evening by the Begg’s Barmy Rally, a mystery scavenger hunt around Southland, with the proceeds going to Cure Kids charity. The evening was wrapped up with a retro disco party Studio GB at the Bill Richardson Transport World. The Begg’s Barmy Rally support of Cure Kids was a nice way to honour George’s love for his family, and the incredible work he did to support other families around New Zealand. Cure Kids ambassador, actor Will Hall, was on hand during the festival to support the children’s events including the vintage pedal car race. The race festival atmosphere started at the entrance with a giant poster of George on the side of the control tower, the welcoming scaffold sign, officials wearing white dust coats, and the circuit and pits dressed, where possible, to look like a period venue. Spectators and competitors were encouraged to attend in period costume, plenty of flat caps, tweed jackets, posh frocks
and period mechanics overalls were on display. There was a light hearted feel about the whole event, with the competitors definitely enjoying the event. The organisers went out of their way to make the event family friendly with live entertainment, including festival headliners The Beat Girls and the Trends on the Track best dressed competition and a retail precinct with a variety of food stalls. A Kids’ Zone with a man-made beach and full of arts, crafts, fun and games for the little ones, and Begg’s Bar (complete with a Pimms cart) for the weary parents! During the lunch breaks there were a series of demonstration laps and events. Greg Murphy took the McLaren F1 M23 for a blast around the circuit. With past stars (who all drove for George Begg): Barry Keen, David Oxton, Jim Murdoch and Leo Leonard, demonstrating four of the seven Begg racing machines. The crowd’s favourite was the FM5 F5000 (#21), the sound of the 5 litre V8s powering up the main straight would make even Greta Thunberg smile. Another on-track highlight was watching some of the country’s fastest drivers trying to race geriatric tractors along the main straight. To remind those that George was really a motorcyclist at heart there was a demonstration of classic racing motorcycles. To celebrate their 75th year Porsche had a number of historic machines and a Le Mans Porsche DMG MORI 919 hybrid, on display in their dedicated pavilion.
Lycoming 22 driven by Sam Smith
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