Some time ago I found an old wiro notebook in a drawer. A scruffy wiro bound notebook with a photo of 2 men in a kayak with a bear on the front cover. In that notebook I found terrible sketches drawn in pencil made while travelling in 1991. One sketch leapt out at me. It was a rough pencil sketch of Mt Ararat from a backpacking trip to eastern Turkey. The sketch really surprised me – it was a very basic pencil sketch, drawn using a .5mm technical pencil on a cheap notepad. The sketch is just black and white… To my surprise the sounds and smells of the day came flooding back. Meeting some Kurdish goat herders and their flock near the base of Mt Ararat, about 10km from the Iranian border on a bright sunny but cool, alpine day. Along with memories of driving across the mountain steppe in an old Renault 19 and the smells of chai and coffee in a Doğubayazıt pasta solunu. It all came back come flooding back! Why did it evoke such vivid memories? I’m not really sure to be honest. Maybe t...
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| The mighty MG 1100 |
It's true. I have a big problem with the Brit & Euro classic car show at Lloyd Elsmore Park on the 2nd of March, 2025.
My problem is that, for the sketcher anyway, particularly one who enjoys drawing classic cars, is that there are so many incredible, sketchable cars on display that a day is nowhere enough time!
I can get 3, 4 or maybe 5 sketches done on the day (sketching flat-out and adding finishing touches at home) but ideally a few days would be better. A chance to look around a bit first would be great, it would give me some time to scope out some 'must-draws' and I'd have more time to chat with the owners and get to know the stories behind the cars and the families that have owned them over the years.
But seriously I'm just having a laugh. I have no problem with the show, whatsoever – it's a fantastic day out. It is true, there is a bit of panic initially about what to draw, but I got stuck in and soon forgot about that. This year I got a great mix of the exotic and the mundane in my sketchbook.
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| A super cute Ghia Ziba Fiat 500 ute! |
First stop was a superb Austin Healy Sprite – with Ashley hard top. These fastback hard tops (sometimes combined with aero noses) changed the profile of the Sprites dramatically. I've been a fan of them since seeing old photos of Stirling Moss and Bruce McLaren racing at Sebring Speed Week as a kid.
Next up was the Fiat Bambina stand, complete with an Italian tri-colour display and this wild Ghia Ziba ute complete with sunroof. I'd like to think the hoards of people stopping by where doing so to look at my sketch but the ute is so unique it was drawing a big crowd.
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| Austin Healey Sprite with Ashley hardtop |
Next up an exotic pair of glistening Lancia Aurelias. Equally beautiful in dark blue and black with their chrome trim dazzling in the bright sunlight. Pretty neat to see 2 of these ground breaking machines in Auckland...
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| Exotic Lancias |
...and finally, the mundane I mentioned earlier, an MG 1100. Although maybe I have a problem with the mundane tag? We used to see thousands of these so called 'land crabs' blatting around New Zealand, they eventually became rusty and smokey 'land crabs' as their years ticked by. But maybe these ground breaking, Pininfarina and Alec Issigonis designed, hydrolastic suspensioned beasts might start to be seen in a different light someday?
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