Classic beauty gets new lease on life

Rex Moyle turns heads when he takes his sleek 1956 Buick Special convertible to the golf club and on Sunday drives to Tirau and Rotorua.
"People wave and come up and talk to you," said Mr Moyle, a Tauranga business owner. "The old car goes well, it looks good and it's something different. Driving the car just makes you feel good."
His beautifully restored Buick was one of the feature cars at the Bay Rodders/NSRA Tauranga's Swap Meet and Car Display in the Spring St parking building yesterday.
As far as Mr Moyle knows there are only two Buicks of this type in Australia and New Zealand, shown by the three portholes making up some of the trim on the side.
Mr Moyle flew all the way to St Louis, Missouri, in the United States last July to buy the classic car, after looking for a replacement for his recently sold Chevrolet Impala convertible.
He saw the Buick listed by a St Louis car museum on auction website eBay.
"I didn't want to fall into the trap of buying real bad stuff and I decided to take a look. It was a bit of trip and it took a couple of days to do the deal."
Mr Moyle never did meet the reclusive Buick owner, nor did he know his name. He lived 600km out of St Louis and had a private collection of 430 convertibles - but no one can see them all, not even the museum.
Back in Tauranga, Mr Moyle spent eight months returning the Buick, with three manual gears, to its former shining glory.
Tauranga Quality Upholstery replaced the interior and covered the seats with a cream vinyl finish.
Regal Automative Reconditioners rebuilt the 322 Nailhead V8 engine with triple carburettors.
"It's pretty cool keeping this quality of work in town; there are some clever people here," said Mr Moyle, a building-disputes consultant who runs his own business, Constructive.
The Buick, weighing nearly 2 tonnes, was repainted in the original Cambridge Blue colour, has 1954 Skylark spoke wheels and the rooftop closes with the press of a button - yes, the tops were powered electrically in those days.
Mr Moyle has had an offer of $120,000 for the Buick but he wants to enjoy it for a little while longer.
His biggest thrill was driving American rock band Good Charlotte around the Hamilton track during the V8 Supercars meeting. "I've been playing with old cars for 40 years now. I just love them," said Mr Moyle.
"The designers in those days were given carte blanche. It didn't matter how big it was or how much was spent on it, as long as the car was better than the competitors'."
Mr Moyle also has a 1957 Bel Air, painted white with white leather seats.
More than 120 hot rods, drag cars and classic vehicles were on display at yesterday's Swap Meet, filling up all levels of the parking building.
Bay Rodders president Dean Anderson said the event, held for the 12th time, was getting bigger each year because it was held under cover. "We don't need to worry about the rain calling things off," he said.
Proceeds from the Swap Meeting will go towards a Bay Rodders/NSRA clubhouse in Mount Maunganui.