looking at the rear of that coupe and the way the rear arches suddenly hump up. i would say its the same as my roadster . but im no expert .my photo of the cars side makes it look flatter in the profile than it really is . the front guards have quite an arch to them like the coupe does. too .
I am officially an idiot. Looking more closely at Vercoe's book there is a picture of a coupe Tiki right next to the picture above! The text saying 'two versions' should have been a clue but I thought the picture belonged to the car in the other column - which would have meant it was a Tojeiro Jaguar! Oh dear!
It hasn't got the scalloped side though, which is strange...
that pic of the coupe beside the roadster isnt right . fronts wrong and so are the rear quarters .. the red coupe is correct tho .
Very cool, it was ancient memory! Paul, when did you take those photos in Port? My old house is clear in the background!
The photos from Vercoe side on seem to be 100E hubcaps.
Is the coupe photo supposed to be one of the Tiki, or does it refer to the text above it?
Photos were taken in Feb of this year after the British Car Rally. The wife fell in love with Lyttelton....Originally Posted by Oldfart
I always thought the coupe picture belonged to the text above it but the Tiki caption mentions two versions and the text above relates to the Tojeiro Jaguar which has very different dimensions. I think there was a Tiki coupe and the wrong picture was put in the book. There are a couple of incorrectly labelled cars in the book by all accounts. Still a bloody good effort though.
Definitely a good effort, however as a quotable reference there are too many errors. For me the really sad thing the reprint was done with no corrections even after a number of people I know submitted "corrections" on their own cars. It's a great book, just info needs treating with caution (and more checking) before anyone uses it.
My old holiday house is just to the left - were you in the bay next to Diamond Harbour?
On Church Bay point, the headland showing in that photo.
I have to say, with the greatest of respect, that there are a number of errors and incorrect pictures in Vercoe's book. Maybe this is one of them? Great book though...
Hi Paul
Did you say somewhere on here you had a tiki car or part of ?
I am interested in any and all information
Cheers Joe
if you were after the original new Zealand tiki . as in previous posts .
I have the roadster version of the lyttelton coupe version . body only .
this is not the imported body but the original Dunedin based model .
Next question .. tiki was rear engined .. it has a moulded front with no bonnet. if so was it ford engine to vw trans . ??? its all a mystery to me .
No, front engine on a Ford 10 chassis.
Unless of course there was more than one variety, which I somehow doubt.
Last edited by Oldfart; 08-19-2013 at 03:26 AM.
I have done some research into both these cars and I am pretty sure that Kiwi Gs car is the Anzani Special. Neither the Anzani or the Tiki made it into my book as I was unable to get enough information substantiated before time of print. If there is a second book this car should be in it. Below is a letter that was printed in Classic Driver which will clear up some of the mysteries. In my opinion the Anzani is the car that was created out of plaster see pictures below. I strongly suspect that the Tiki (between 3 and 12 made) is a UK Ashley 750 possibly brought to Bill and Ted by Peter Pallindine (founder of Ashley Cars). He was living in New Zealand around that time and in the process of producing a car called the Falcon in Gisborne and at some stage made a trip to the South Island to sell his body to raise some cash. It is rumoured that the Tiki came out of this car. More information on the Anzani further down
Classic Driver April May 2010
THE TIKI ANDTHE PEASHOOTER
I've been told that there was an article in a previous issue on the W4 fibreglass sports car I'm wondering if you have any copies of the particular magazine available?
I’m interested because my late Uncle Ted George and the late Bill Ashton moulded the Tiki bodies at George and Ashton Ltd in Dunedin and I’m keen to learn a bit more about the background.
I took over my Uncle’s fibreglass business and l used to have a Manila folder of photos of the Tiki. There were also photos of a fibreglass bodied single-seater that looked a bit like a D Type Jag‘ It was powered by a V-Twin lO00cc Anzani motorcycle engine and I‘ve been told this was used in Hill Climbs and also around the Wharf racing circuit. I have been told that this thing used to clean up (when it stayed in tune — it had magneto ignition that was a bit temperamental) the likes of Sybil Lupp in her Jaguar and also John Horton who raced some exotic piece of machinery - and apparently being cleaned up by a homemade special did not go down well there. The lightweight body would have contributed to a very favourable power to weight ratio.
It was raced at Tahuna Park and also held the record at the Bethunes Gully Hillclimb. Ron Ashton raced the Peashooter He IS 84 now and is living in Auckland. It was a single cylinder 500cc Harley Davidson engine with a 4 valve cylinder head and had two stubby exhaust stubby pipes pointing down at the ground and when given a rev. it would spray gravel around (stationery). It ran on methanol.
Getting back to the Tiki my Uncle had an uncompleted one sitting on a Ford Ten Chassis (it was stored in the old bus shed at Macandrew Bay) and around 21 -22 years ago he donated it to Kings High School — as a project to be completed. I understand that Kings later sold the car. No idea who to though.
Apparently this car was originally owned by a chap called Albie Johnston who was the proprietor of the Favourite Service Station.
Bill and Ted read about the new lightweight fibreglass material in Popular Mechanics Magazine (this is back in the early 1950s) and they set about importing the polyester resin from the UK, I understand. Bill was a plasterer and created the shape of the body (probably fibrous plaster) in his garage. Bill had come across fibreglass while serving in the islands during the Second World War – American PT boats were made of fibreglass - but at the time he did not know what it was.
This foray into fibreglassing eventually led Bill and Ted into setting George and Ashton limited, the first commercial fibreglassing business in New Zealand. Because they got in on the ground floor they grew quite large rapidly moulding a large variety of fibreglass products from tubs and vats, tanks, swimming pools, bathroom ware, canoes, DCC rubbish bins and a varied assortment of other things.
They got quite big in the 1970s and sold out to Alex Harvey industries (AHI George and Ashton) and manufactured thousands of insulated shipping containers for the NZ Shipping Corporation.
Brent George, DUNEDIN
Last edited by Patrick.Harlow; 08-26-2013 at 10:49 PM.
i blew up the picture of the original tiki and in behind the car in the bush is another surprise . looks like another sports car body.
Pictures of a Tiki I found in Christchurch.
Letter from John Ashton which has come into my possession. Unfortunately I do not know the date it was written or who John Ashton is.
Dear Jerome
It’s a cold wet day so I will make the effort to write this. The info you sent me is very interesting and helped fill in a few gaps. I have enclosed photos I what I think was the original Tiki. I think three were built for Bill Ashton, on for Ted George and one for Ian McDonald. I spoke to Ian McDonald once and he told me his car was rear engine and powered with a 700cc Royal Enfield engine. You lifted the boot lid, put your foot in and kickstarted it. (Hopefully it was in neutral!) The later ones (such as yours) were quite different – similar to the mistral and normally used Ford 10. You have sparked my interest and I have been doing a bit of chasing around. A friend of mine worked with Bill Ashton on his various cars and has a good knowledge of the Mainly the Anzari and the early Tiki and there is more info to come from him.
I went on another tack today and have made contact with Chris George son of Ted George of George and Ashton who has a Tiki and has done some research on them but is going to get back to me so will keep you updated. Incidentally the early one (Ian McDonalds) I think was in Nelson but unfortunately Ian died about two years ago.
ANZANI:- Was a Cooper 500 type car but very different. It had a single central tub chassis about 4” – 5” dia (I think some 3 wheel Morgans were similar) with front and back suspension (mainly Austin 7) welded on a Cooper type body. It was originally powered by an Anzani Twin MC motor? But never ran very well. Anzani also made small plane motors and it is thought this motor may have been an aircraft one. (They were used on a few Morgans also) The motor is now in Christchurch with Dave Ashton (younger brother of Bill). The Anzani wound up with two Jap motors with a chain drive between the two. They would run in up to 1000cc, take the link chain off and run as 500cc.
I believe the Anzai Special finished its days being turned into a beach buggy at Brighton.
PEASHOOTER:- Was basically a TQ midget (front engine) with a Harley Davidson “Peashooter” motor and quite popular in their day. This car was orignallu driven by Dave Ashton and sometimes Ron? The two older boys (Bill and Ron) were basically motorcyclists and well known on Speedway.
Sorry but this is the bit of a mess but I’m still sorting out my own thoughts. It will be interesting to catch up on Chris George and find out more about them. I think there could have been 10 or more built and being sold as bodies or kits many may not have been completed.
Keep in touch
Regards
John Ashton
Pictures of the car I believe is called the Anzani.
Patrick, the car you show as the Anzani is certainly very like the shell KiwiG has, quite how it fits with the coupe shown in Lyttelton I don't know. You have clearly shown a version of the Tiki with doors as I was sure they had. Good to know I haven't lost all my marbles!
FWIW the PT boats were not made from Glass fibre, but 2 layers of timber with cloth and glue between. The "Mosquitocraft" boats made here after the war and into the 60s were also made this way, and it's very similar to the fabled Mosquito aircraft.
Last edited by Oldfart; 08-27-2013 at 05:46 AM.
Patrick the car you show is certainly the same as mine (anzari) mine has the rear bonnet. its not the one shown tho as mine has never had headlights cut out in the front or a windshield . I will add some more pics .. the red coupe on the roof is the same shape as my car .
Their must have been more than one made .
My bodyshell is knocked about but not hacked up .. repairs havent been made anywhere..
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote