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