Man crushed underneath own car

A Western Bay of Plenty man has died after being crushed by a car he was working on.

Graeme Donald Ramsay, 63, had been lying underneath the Nissan Primera at his Omokoroa home yesterday morning when the car fell on him.

Police released the man's name this morning.

''He was under and it slipped off the jacks and crushed him,'' Tauranga police Sergeant Wayne Hunter said.

Mr Hunter said the man's wife found him when she returned from work about 4.30pm and called police.

It appeared the man, a mechanic, had been heading to work when he began on the car, Mr Hunter said.

Mr Ramsay was a classic car enthusiast and also owned a 1955 Ford Thunderbird.

Police believe the accident happened about 8am as the man had failed to show at work.