Kiwi Muscle Car Collections

Right from the outset Kiwi car enthusiasts took to the muscle car concept. With our relatively cheap fuel, open roads and love of fast, noisy V8s, New Zealanders own a disproportionately high number of muscle cars of all makes and models, particularly given our relatively small population. In Kiwi Muscle Car Collections Steve Holmes gets unprecedented access to some rare, exotic, mild and wild high-performance vehicles, and their proud owners.

"For such a small country New Zealand has a staggering number of hugely impressive motoring collections. Whether it's due to the fresh air, the wide open spaces, the cheap fuel, or just a national fixation with tinkering, Kiwis enjoy collecting and hoarding old cars. Steve Holmes presents some incredible collections in these pages, including a few private collections, and the brand-new Highlands National Motorsport Museum"--Publisher website.

The vintage era ¿ 1919 to 1931 ¿ was a brief period of time in our motoring history when only the strong would survive. The First World War was over and many new makes and models were being released but, all too soon, the Wall Street crash lead to a turbulent time for the motor industry and many did not last the distance. Some of the names in this book are still known to us today, such as Ford and Dodge who proved that they had what it took to stay at the top of their game. Others, though, such as Oakland, Erskine and Jewett, were in production for only a short period of time and have been long forgotten by most. Meet the Kiwis who have taken the time to lovingly restore these vintage beauties and, in doing so, know the real joy it is to own some of the great names from our motoring past.

“Just what is a Muscle Car?” Road Test magazine asked in June 1967. The answer: “Exactly what the name implies. It is a product of the American car industry adhering to the hot rodder’s philosophy of taking a small car and putting a BIG engine in it. . . . The Muscle Car is Charles Atlas kicking sand in the face of the 98 horsepower weakling.” Unconcerned with such trivial details as comfort and handling, the vintage American muscle car was built for straight-line speed and quickly became the ride of choice for power-hungry racers and serious gearheads. In a country where performance was measured in brute force, a quarter mile at a time, the muscle car was the perfect machine. In the intervening years, these down-and-dirty, high-performing beauties have earned their place in the automotive pantheon. As prized by collectors and aficionados as they are by denizens of garages and drag strips, classic muscle cars now fetch upwards of a million dollars at auctions and feature in any story of America’s automotive glory days. The icons of muscle car art—including Camaro and Chevelle SS, the Hemi and 440-6 ’Cuda, Challenger, Roadrunner, Super Bee, GTX, Super Bird, Daytona Charger, Super Cobra Jet and Boss Mustang, Talladega Torino, Buick GSX and W30 Oldsmobile 442, and AMX Javelin—are all here, on full display in this lavishly illustrated volume, each described in a detailed essay followed by a gallery of portraits and special gatefold presentations that capture the art of the muscle car at its finest.

"This second volume in the ongoing Classic cars of New Zealand series features a stunning collection of photographic essays illustrating a sensational selection of truly iconic cars - all of them owned by New Zealanders, and all carefully selected from the pages of New Zealand Classic Car magazine." --Back cover.

Get the full history of the American muscle car in The All-American Muscle Car, from it's origin as an act of descent, to where it sits now.

A muscle-car book unlike any other, featuring the rarest vehicles on Earth. In the 1960s, something explosive happened in the automotive world: the United States’ evolving V-8 engine technology was met by 75 million baby boomers, all with an extreme need for speed and all entering the auto market at the same time. The result was the golden era of factory muscle cars, brutish machines that were unlike any the world had ever seen or will likely ever see again—they truly embodied the “sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll” generation. But for some, even a factory muscle car wasn’t enough. Detroit automakers responded, secretly building outrageous muscle cars behind their superiors’ backs and ultimately creating some of the most powerful vehicles ever sold to the public. In Top Muscle, author Darwin Holmstrom chronicles the ultimate collection of these super-rare high-performance beasts. Captured by the lens of renowned auto photographer Randy Leffingwell, these cars represent the absolute zenith of the most valuable collector cars in existence, with fascinating histories that illuminate the wildest age in American automotive history. The Brothers Collection features over 600 cars, including such rarities as:- The very first Chevelle Z16 ever built, which was also the very first muscle car that Chevrolet ever built- The very first Chevelle SS454 LS6 off the assembly line- The only 1969 Mach I Mustang ever built with a factory sunroof- The very first A12 (440-6) Roadrunner ever built- The very last Hemi ’Cuda convertible Plymouth producedvOne of the eight convertible Trans Am Ram Air III Firebirds that Pontiac built in 1969