British Made Motors

See a gallery of images from Trentham's annual British Car Day.

'Burnished leather and wood interiors get better with age - pity the same can't be said for the gear box though', ruefully observes the owner of a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. He's showing off his pride and joy at Trentham Memorial Park north of Wellington, one of several hundred who have brought along their vehicles to Trentham's annual British Car Day.

Cheek by jowl with the sleek Bentleys, Rolls' and Daimlers is a mob of boisterous Morris Minors, cocking a snook at their classy counterparts, while parked in the shade, old-lady Austin 7s merely snooze. But this event is not limited to the aristos and proles of the British car world, eccentrics are also welcome. A hundred year old traction engine clanks and wheezes its way across the park, proudly displaying its badge of office, a highly polished brass plaque proclaiming 'John Fowler, Leeds'. A specially designed Land Rover fire truck sends a jet of water 30 metres. Until recently, dozens of these 4WDs served rural New Zealand by venturing where orthodox fire-fighting vehicles feared to go.

Spectrum's Jack Perkins cadges a ride and explores why many motorheads buy British.