Tell us about your 2006 Ford Falcon.
I bought it about two years ago, obviously secondhand, and it’s been very reliable. We imported a UK caravan just over two years ago. We had a Camry, which towed it well, but it was a bit light in the back end. It needed an older-style vehicle to make sure the back didn’t sway around too much. The Ford is an auto and it does extremely well.
We can go out to the Bombay Hills at 90km/h which is the limit for towing vehicles. To date we have driven it as far south as Taupo and as far north as Cape Reinga with the caravan.
Who else drives it?
My wife, Judy, but she has never towed a caravan.
Is this your daily drive?
I use it every day. It does get used as a bit of a workhorse but I don’t get down and dirty. I run the company I created called Unovent. I periodically pick up some components we use. It’s easy to throw them on the back seat. And I also tow a trailer for the bigger components.
How often do you clean it?
Probably not enough but it certainly looks slick when it is clean.
Any other cars in your garage?
We have a Toyota Corolla that Judy drives. We have had that a couple of years now.
First car?
A 1934 Austin 10 that was created before I was born. I was an engineering student at Canterbury University. We found this 1934 Austin that had been owned by a watchmaker and anything that fell off, he would put it back together.
You could see all these different nuts that had come off clocks. That little car used to drive between Christchurch and Takaka in Golden Bay probably six times a year with me and another student. We would trundle along the coast road at 50 miles an hour. You always remember your first car.
Any cars you have regretted selling?
I have had a great career and I was managing director for Honeywell for most of the 1990s. Prior to becoming MD, I was driving a Holden Statesman, which was really nice to drive. Then I got this idea that I would prefer a Honda Legend because it would be big and it looked comfortable. I regretted it as the Holden Statesman was the better car.
Do you prefer manual or automatic?
I think I prefer automatic because I am a member of a lazy school in that it is one less thing to concentrate on. But I can understand why people fall in love with manuals.
Movies on wheels?
I really like Wild Hogs, you know the guys who went off on the motorbikes from one side of America to the other and get in all sorts of trouble.
Favourite racing car driver?
There’s a pair from both sides of the camp: I like Shane Van Gisbergen because of his attitude but I also like Scott McLaughlin. I like to see both of them on the podium.
What do you listen to when you’re driving?
I put on Newstalk ZB. But if it’s music, it will probably be Coast.
What are your thoughts on electric cars?
I am more curious than anything. I don’t drive around in a Ford Falcon consciously thinking that I’m polluting the atmosphere. I don’t know that I am, any more than a diesel vehicle going down the road.
I might use a bit more fuel than a modern car but you need something grunty when you’re towing things like caravans. It’s more of a challenging question: what are they doing about people who wish to tow things? And it’s not just caravans, it’s boats. We’re very much a boating country.
What’s your main gripe about other drivers?
In New Zealand we make a pretty poor job of teaching people to drive and even to drive in such a manner to avoid accidents.
When I was at Honeywell, we were having a spate of accidents so we decided to put everyone through a defensive driving course to avoid accidents caused by idiots. The driving certainly improved.