John
& Lyn Pauling’s 54 Mk1 Ragtop
Hi
Here is my Mk1 '54 ragtop, luv it, great for a
little summer cruising and Nostalgia. Shown in the car by the Picton marina (New
Zealand) are a few visitors from across the ditch. (Australia)
Apart from the Mk2 overdrive and colour, it’s fairly
stock, and gets about 28- 30mpg on a trip. A bit heavy on the corners, but on a
straight run, goes well.
I am told it was a Hawkes Bay car originally, with
only a hand full of owners before it was restored a few years
back. The previous owner had tried to modify it by putting in a Nissan auto box
and bucket seats, twin carbs etc etc.
Fortunately he had kept the bits needed to put it back
to original, and its now fairly tidy example of one of the ultimate
kiwiana cars.
The second picture shows my sweet heart of 35 years
holding onto MY car besides a row of these ragtops at the last Z car
convention in Christchurch.
She loves to drive it, and calls it HER car, and try's to
relegate me to the model t!!
She manages the column change OK, but needs a little
coaxing on working the overdrive, and loves the music too!!
The picture below shows a few more local cars, no shortage
of convertibles around here! The green '54 was an ex Nelson car but now
lives in Waikawa amongst a stable of Mk2’s. See you in Masterton next
Easter? With a bit of luck all these cars will be there.
Cheers
John and Lyn Pauling