Over the years we’ve featured some amazing cars in NZV8 magazine, and with our next issue being our 10th Birthday Special, we decided to try and pick some favourites from the archives. Of course with so many cars to choose from it wasn’t easy to get a consensus, but below is what we here in the office voted as our favourite car from the eighth and ninth year of the magazine.
We’d love to know which one of these you like the best though, so let us know in the comments below, and you’ll go in the draw to win a hardcover copy of our NZV8 Top 100 Cars — The Editor’s Pick book! The winner will be drawn on Thursday morning, New Zealand time, and contacted via Facebook.
2013–2014: 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air (Cameron)
NZV8 Issue No. 107. Back issue available here
For a large number of people, the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is the dream car. The example you see here is the pinnacle of that dream — arguably the best-presented ’57 in New Zealand. Designed to look just like a nice ’57 with a set of wheels on it, the Bel Air has more than achieved that — from the deep, black-cherry paintwork, perfect chroming, and leather-clad interior, right down to the polished and detailed undercarriage. It’s powered by a 572ci big block crate motor, sitting on a full Art Morrison chassis — nothing but the best has been used on this car, and it sure shows.
2014–2015: 1967 Ford Mustang Eleanor (Frazer McKenzie)
NZV8 Issue No. 113 back issue available here
The team at Matamata Panelworks spent 2569 hours on the bodywork and fabrication on this amazing Eleanor. That’s the best way to quantify how much work was poured into the car — no panel on the car, except for the cowl, has been left original. There is no fibreglass anywhere; every single exterior modification you see has been handcrafted from steel. The Eleanor runs a 401ci Windsor with wet-nitrous system, through a Tremec TKO600 five-speed manual gearbox, and has been flawlessly crafted and detailed from top to bottom, inside and out.
