The oddness that is Mitsubishi

What an odd company Mitsubishi has become in New Zealand. Not necessarily odd in a bad way, either. The brand has only two car lines in its passenger range, Colt and Lancer; everything else is four-wheel-drive and wagon-like. These are the new ASX, the Outlander, the Challenger and Pajero. Challenger and ASX both have 2WD variants, as does the Triton that sits over in the commercial camp with the evergreen L300 van. So they can't sell you a large sedan any more, with the demise of the 380, but can do you a Pajero. They have no mid-size sedan, but can do you an Outlander. And you know what, the marketplace seems reasonably warm to the idea. After some rather hard times, Mitsi's doing okay. Which leads to the question: why not do all-wheel-drive versions of the Colt and Lancer and have an all all-paws-driven lineup like Subaru, only much more comprehensive?

See also: This earlier item.

Why it's now time for summer

It's (still) raining outside, all the tracks are muddy as hell and I'm sick of spending twice as long washing under the Jeep as I spent out enjoying myself. Sorting through some older pictures, I came across this one, which kind-of sums up the season (click on the image to see it B-I-G)! I seem to recall these guys needed some help to get out of their hole, south of Auckland.

All you need to know about the Lada

If you should need to know more, here's the link to Wikipedia. Actually, a Lada could perform well – when it was going. Oh, and here's a link to a page of Lada jokes. Sample: What's the difference between a Lada and a golf ball? You can drive a golf ball 200 metres.

Why the Duzgo went

Comedian Billy Connelly brought it to the world's attention during his tour of New Zealand TV series, and it's recently had another re-airing in the Sounds Historical programme on National Radio – which just goes to show that no matter how hard the bureaucrats tried, you can't keep the Dugzo down. The, um, unusual looking vehicle was developed and produced as the ideal off-road farm vehicle, by two brothers trading as the Duzgo Car Company, of Whataroa in Westland. It performed so well on their farm that word got around and and others wanted a copy of their own.

Apart from the bodywork, bent from new steel, everything else was recycled – a bit of Morris here, a bit of Austin there – but the Customs department of the day deemed those that came off the "production line" to be new vehicles and demanded 30 per cent sales tax on the 10 that had been built.

The company lacked the financial resources to pay and closed – with 15 unfilled orders. An eleventh, partly built, was scrapped, possibly because the Customs men suggested it should be finished and sold to help pay their demands. So much for regional incentives, then.
The Duzgo mainly used a single-cylinder Kohler engine producing 12hp and drove through two gearboxes 12 forward speeds and three reverse. Its lightness, knobby motorcycle tyres and having the right gear for any occasion gave it excellent performance in muddy farm conditions. Although some sources describe it as a 4x4, it was rear-drive.
One Duzgo owner, "Possum" Pete Salter, told 4wdNewz: "When it has been stuck, you can put it in first, put a weight on the pedal, get out and push it out, then walk along side and climb back in." You can see his 1978 Duzgo, the eighth built, at Pukekura, 35 minutes south of Hokitika.

Land Rover enthusaiasts go weak-kneed

"I say old chap, it leaked in that very same place back in '48."

I don't even care for really old Land Rovers all that much, but there's something quite captivating about this publicity shot taken earlier this year of engineer Arthur Goddard being taken for a drive in a pre-production model dating back to 1948. Goddard, who has lived in Australia since the 1970s, led a team that developed the pre-production Land Rovers. This one is shown in Packington Ford, an original test route used by the development team.