Auckland Monthly Run - Hunua Gorge

5 April 1998

It was a crisp Autumn morning start at the usual Mt Eden meeting point. After some of our regular attendants declared their unavailability I feared a low turnout but I wasn’t to be disappointed. Eight MR2s arrived. A lone SW-20 Turbo driven by Paul and seven AW-11s, two superchargers in the hands of Tony and Peter and the remainder NAs driven by Matt, Brendan, Scott, Murray and myself.

We talked at Mt Eden for sometime as all the introductions were made and engine covers were lifted to weed out the true enthusiasts. Murrays dedication however was never in doubt as he’d made the trip from Hamilton.

Matt and I had a bit in common as we both had NZ new AW-11s but things got spooky real quick when we found out that we’d both previously owned green & gold imported MR2s... both with HKS exhaust systems... and that our current cars were delivered to their first owners within a week of each other way back in 1985. Actually just to bore you all a little longer, we think our two cars were part of the first shipment of MR2s to NZ. Kind of like the original settlers... to boldly go where no MR2 has gone before... cool eh?

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Back to the trip report. It was almost 12:00 before we started the days touring. Stage one was down the southern motorway and along SH2 to Lyons Rd. As some needed petrol and there were a few opinions on the best way to get on the motorway the cars were well spaced but everyone found their way eventually. Scott and co-driver Stu tested out their speed-cut on the Bombay hills but they were mysteriously late arriving at Lyons Rd... no explanation was offered.

The regroup at Lyons Rd enabled Murray to reattach his muffler with fencing wire before stage two began (the scrutineers deemed this modification to be non-performance enhancing and therefore allowable). This stage took us along some windy country roads and gave a couple of the locals whiplash. We stopped for lunch at a coffee shop in Hunua which is a small town of maybe 50 residents and the arrival of 8 MR2s was a pretty big event... honestly, they took photos to show their grand kids. Peter brought out his comprehensive file of MR2 information and we sat in the sun trading stories of great engine rebuilds. Scott took this opportunity to announce to us that he was think of selling his car... to buy his third MR2.

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The third and final stage of the day took us back to Papakura and included the infamous Hunua gorge but a sedate Honda Civic ensured that our speed would never raise a pulse. At Papakura we all went our separate ways.

Thanks to all who came along. It was great to see so many new faces.

Malcolm Cambridge.