Display cars worth $250,000

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32708, 10 September 1971, Page 12

Display cars worth $250,000

Rare and unusual cars which are insured for more than $250,000 will be on display at Canterbury Court when the International Auto Sports Show opens there on September 22. The show will also include displays of the latest cars by most of the major distributors in New Zealand, and it will be the biggest motor show held in New Zealand since the Second World War. The man behind the snow, which has already toured Australia, is Mr J. Abbott, of Melbourne. Mr Abbott, who is aged 38, has been involved with motoring and motorsport since 1954, when he took part in his first inotorrace at Silverstone, in England. He drove a Ford 10 Special. He still drives in races and hill-climbs, and his cars include a single-seater Brabham and a Ferrari. Special cars at the Christchurch show will include the Lamborghini Marzal “see through” show car, which is valued at $75,000, and, since it was first shown in 1968,

has continued to be regarded as one of the most significant show cars made; no fewer than five different Ferraris, including a Pininfarina prototype regarded as the forerunner of the next Ferrari road car, and an American Dodge Daytona stock car which produces 600 b.h.p. and has a top speed of more than 220 m.p.h. The Dodge is said to be one of the few cars in the world which will exceed 100 m.p.h. in first gear. On an American banked track, it recently set the world’s fastest lap record at an average of more than 200 m.p.h. Mr Abbott said yesterday that about six new family cars would be shown f or the

first time in New Zealand at the show: they would include the Vauxhall Firbnza coupe, the Mitsubishi Colt, the Avenger TC, and the Valiant Charger coupe. A feature new to New Zealand would be that several companies planned to have demonstration cars on hand ready to give test-drives to any potential customers, Mr Abbott said. Mr Abbott started his motor shows about four years ago, holding the first ones in Melbourne and Sydney—where they met with considerable success. He found that the cost of obtaining exotic cars for the shows was so high that it was necessary to run a series

of shows with each “batch” of cars, and since that time he has held shows throughout Australia, and he hopes to take future shows to Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia as well.

He is already arranging to obtain more unusual and exotic road and “dream” cars for another series of shows next year, and these cars will also be brought to New Zealand. Shows have already been booked for Auckland and Wellington, but at present there is some doubt about the availability of a site in Christchurch.

Mr Abbott picks cars for his shows by touring the European and United States motor shows each year. He then approaches manufacturers and coach-builders to arrange hire or loan of the vehicles.

He had found that most manufacturers and companies were very co-operative when it came to making cars available, Mr Abbott said. So far, however, Japanese companies had been reluctant to make any of their prototypes or show vehicles available.