Trusty Rusty TREKKA

[John McKechnie]

What issue date of motorman?

[Shano]

I understood the Russians defaulted on payment for the butter ($40 million worth) so the Dairy Board was offered Skoda cars and parts (which became Trekkas) as payment.

[John McKechnie]

So if Italy defaults on debts, what chances of them paying in Ferrari and Masserati ?

[markson]

A copy of the Motorman mag from way back, that had the ads for the Skoda based kit car John. Markson

[markson]

Hi Shano Some of that butter, may just be starting to turn to cream. Markson

[Shano]

So if Italy defaults on debts, what chances of them paying in Ferrari and Masserati ?

We can only hope!

[John McKechnie]

Markson- have you tried Milan. He has a comprehensive library of magazines and has always found an answer to my questions.

[Oldfart]

Just spoken with someone who was making cars in Newmarket around that time, and they have never heard of such a fire. Ironic given how small and incestuous the industry was!

[GeebeeNZ]

And I see that the limited-slip differential on the Trekka was developed by non other than Ray Stone. This was to give the vehicle go-anywhere performance, equal to the capable Land Rover, which Im afraid it fell woefully short of. If as I presume Oldfart hints that Neil Tolichs prefered vehicle for town running is a Trekka, then that is/was the best place for it.

According to Todd Niall's book on the Trekka the Balance Traction diff was developed by Ray Stone at Performance Developments and 500 to 1000 of them were built by Mayo Engineering in Papatoetoe

[GeebeeNZ]

This is the bodyless kit that was advertised. I have taken this from Todds Book. The origional picture I had was in NZ Hot Rod magazine.

[ERC]

You should see the look on Mal (By'Gone) Clark's face when he has to return it to Neil! Priceless. We are often supping coffee in a cafe on the roundabout when Mal/Neil drive slowly past. Neil turned up to my 65th in the Trekka...

[AMCO72]

Talking of swapping Trekkas for dairy produce, it has been done before, and since.

Apparently in the 1920's NZ swapped dairy produce for Ansaldo cars made in Italy. Not many thats for sure, as very few ever came to NZ and even fewer left now.

Also, didnt we swap produce for those dreadful Lada cars and SUV's. What a heap of junk they were. Would sooner have a Trekka anyday. Doubt you will find any being 'restored'.

Politicians certainly do funny things.

[John McKechnie]

Gerald -Ladas survive well on Russian roads in Russian conditions. Japanese cars dont last there .German cars never leave Moscow. Their roads are not designed for going fast. People thrash them here, over there a car is valued and looked after.The Nivas are a great value 4X4. Agree on rust,however the Russian metal is good , but never primed.That is why Fiats , Alfas rust-they used unprimed Russian steel. Look at how long Mir stayed in space for-good ingrediants in the metal.

[Dave Silcock]

And I owned two of them . My first car was a 1924 4 cylinder tourer that had been turned into a saloon and very badly at that. It only had rear wheel brakes , but had OHC and a cross flow head and had an extravagance of machining only just equalled by a Phantom 11 Rolls. The second was a 1923 six cylinder that had four wheel brakes and a twin throat carb. It was a great car and the first car I ever raced. At Teratonga no seat belt no overalls and no helmet. Managed to kept a TA MG honest!! There is a photo of it on here some where.

Seeing this is a Skoda based thread, I must own up to some thing: I have raced a Skoda Octavia TS. When I worked for the Ransley's, Don imported this beast.It was a touring sport and had Tatra V8 pistons twin Jikov carbs [Solex ripoffs] and sporty Barum tyres.I think Ernie fitted Koni shocks as they were agents for them and Weber carbs. Don was racing at Ruapuna and when I sold my first XK120 was without a drive, so I got the call up I could hardly refuse. I was required to engage in some training session on the summit road during my lunch hour, for reasons only known to Don I was required to pick his daughter up from her work and take her with me. I raced it at Ruapuna and Don was delighted I was able to better his lap times. I could not figure ouy why the flaggies pissed them selves laughing as I rounded Rothmans. Apparently the inside back wheel was off the ground and rotating backwards. All i knew was for at least half the corner there was no drive. It could keep up with the usual hotted up A35 or Morris Minor of the day. Now I have owned up.


"Apparently in the 1920's NZ swapped dairy produce for Ansaldo cars made in Italy. Not many thats for sure, as very few ever came to NZ and even fewer left now.

Also, didnt we swap produce for those dreadful Lada cars and SUV's. What a heap of junk they were. Would sooner have a Trekka anyday. Doubt you will find any being 'restored'.

Politicians certainly do funny things.

"

[Shano]

Talking of swapping Trekkas for dairy produce, it has been done before, and since.

Apparently in the 1920's NZ swapped dairy produce for Ansaldo cars made in Italy. Not many thats for sure, as very few ever came to NZ and even fewer left now.

Also, didnt we swap produce for those dreadful Lada cars and SUV's. What a heap of junk they were. Would sooner have a Trekka anyday. Doubt you will find any being 'restored'.

Politicians certainly do funny things.

I don't think the Dairy Board had a lot of choice about accepting the Russian cars for their milk powder debt - it was that or nothing.

Another swap deal I was told about, when I worked for the NZ Dairy Group in Hamilton, was that the old Meremere powerstation was swapped for milk powder after WW2.

[AMCO72]

John, I believe you when you say Ladas survive well in Russian conditions though I dont know why. I would have thought things would be pretty tough on cars there, and not just the weather. I always had a sneaking admiration for Skodas, imagining the unfriendly conditions they had to put up with in their country of origin, even though we/I thought they were a bit odd!!!!

One of the teachers at Cambridge High School bought a Lada car, new, the one based on the old Fiat 125, and he thought it was the bees knees until it started to go wrong with about 6000 miles on the clock. He was a very gentle fellow, who I imagine looked after the car and certainly wouldnt have flogged it in my opinion. It went from being the bees knees to the biggest heap of junk he had ever had, hence my comment in my first post.

I have to say that the car that the Lada replaced was a Triumph Herald, a machine that had a very leaky gearbox, which was topped up on a regular basis, like every afternoon when he left for home.......home being Raglan, a delightfull hilly 50 km drive from Cambridge, which must have tested the Triumph gears, 'lubricated' as they were with cooking oil, a supply of which was in a drum in the boot. When I suggested to him that 'real' oil would probably be cheaper, he said, well what he was using was the reject oil from the cooking vats at the local fish & chipper!!!!!!!! cant beat that I'm afraid.

I think the biggest problem with the Lada, apart from the dodgy motor was the electrics, and I dont think he got to the bottom of the problems. He left the High School not long after this, so dont know what the next vehicle in line was.

[John McKechnie]

Having spent time in Dniepropretrovsk, Odessa,Carparthian Mountains, Crimea, I can tell you that the only vehicle that I was in that broke down -brakes-was a bus from Latvia.When you are in the snow, ice -40c and the Lada starts you are grateful. Air conditioning in 40+ in Crimea was not efficient.
Best sight was a 35 kg blonde girl, extremely tight white transparent pants in 6 inch heels push starting 2 guys in a Zaparozhits-Ukrainian Hillman Imp.-in the snow.
Most roads there are 2 deep ruts in the road.You can set the manual throttle and climb in the back for a sleep or some romantic time and the car literally steers itself.
Maybe the extreme temperatures solved the electrical probs- always trouble when you copy an Italian car.

[fullnoise68]

Just as well this is a historic motorsport website, as this threads storyline is going from bad to worse!

[AMCO72]

What the hell is a.........God I cant even pronounce the name......Hillman Imp?????????

[AMCO72]

Yes fullnoise68...... just like the cars we are discussing!!!!!!