Wheel Love: a 1959 Austin A35

John McFarlane and his Austin A35. Photo by Trefor Ward.

John McFarlane remembers how excited his mum, Lorna, was when she got the car. She drove it throughout his childhood in Dunedin, taking him, his brother Stuart and sister Cate to and from school.

John took it over after his father, Ivan, passed away. John had the car restored, including paying to have the engine professionally renovated and now drives it around Hamilton most days. 

It runs well, although it has a manual gearbox and no synchromesh, so changing down from second to first gear takes skill. 

John's colleagues used to mock the car and call it 'the grape.’ (He has a wine tour business called NZ Wine Pro). However, John's fiancée has decided that Olive is a more suitable name.

"I've had so many older people tell me, ‘oh, my mother had one or my sister had one.’ The funniest was when an elderly woman said ‘we had one on the farm and could get two good-sized ewes in the back’.”