Our Spark

A passion for older vehicles, a love of tinkering and mantra of “waste not, want not” was instilled in me from a young age. As a youngster I loved nothing better than helping my father work on the family’s old Chevy and flat head V8’s.

My father was a self employed truck driver in the Rotorua District during the 60’s and 70’s and I often joined Dad on many journeys in his big old trucks. He always instilled in me the importance of cleaning and maintaining your equipment so they lasted the distance. This simple, but often overlooked regime has shaped me into how I treat all of my possessions including vehicles, tools, property and house.

Dad was always dragging home old cars and trucks. I loved the solidness, the shapes, the curves, the chrome bumpers, the large grills, the grace, the space, the smell and the emotions I felt sitting in the drivers seat peering over the steering wheel. I must have been around 10 years old. I’ve been hooked ever since and have tinkered and pottered with vehicles over the years until this day.

Through the years I have completed many restoration projects including my current 1951 Holden FX Coupe Utility imported from Australia in 2005 and lovingly restored over a five year period plus the treasured 1960 Curtiss Flyer, a bright red and white retro caravan completed in 2011.

In the early 80’s I played around with the Morris Minor, Ford Viva & in the 90’s even a Mazda 323 (funnily enough seems to still be a boy racer must have…) In the mid 90’s I inherited a 1948 Ford Anglia & thus started my run with hotrods/modified vehicles. This Pop was tubbed out, had a full internal roll cage & was built by Chris Tynan. An awesome little car that turned heads. In the late 90’s I bought a stock 1990 Holden VN Utility which I tubbed for a full prostreet conversion & added custom coil overs front & back. Weld wheels 15×7 front & 15×15 rear, running Mickey Thompson Sportsman pros. Another head turner & people couldn’t believe what I had done as it was a build ahead of its time. It was an awesome looking speciman.

My next vehicle was the 1956 Holden FJ Utility which I found for sale on the side of the road. I bought it back in 1998 & kept it for close to 11 years. It was my favourite truck – I renovated the motor but not much else & used it like a work horse most days. She had patina  – I didn’t want to fix up any imperfections as this was her story. We even loaded it with 21 cases of wine once for a wedding – that was a sight! I cried when she went to another home…

I’ve always pushed the boundaries with everything I do – always wanted something ‘different’ – never wanted to be ‘run of the mill’ – so I MAKE things happen. I believe I can do this for you too!

Chris Curtis