KEY POINTS:
When fast-rising young Auckland racing driver Andrew Waite needed his Formula Ford towed to and from Christchurch for the recent Festival meeting, he didn't have to ask.
"That's my job," says his grandfather Colin, an active 78-year-old who has had a lifelong involvement in the local motorsport scene.
"I'm the roadie."
Some roadie he is, too. Since starting spannering as an apprentice just after World War II, the recently retired Pt Chevalier man has built, serviced, raced and/or co-driven hundreds of cars, first with legendary Auckland speedway stars like Roly Crowther and later with the late Laurie Evans, father of Porsche racer and New Zealand land speed record holder Owen, and grandfather of Owen's kart and now single-seater car-racing sons Simon and Mitchell.
Laurie and Colin were boyhood friends who shared the same passion for four wheels and they went on to spend much of their adult lives working and playing together.
Lifelong members of the Northern Sports Car Club, the pair was part of the thriving Gold Star car trial scene through the early 1960s before moving with the likes of the Woolf family into rallying.
Laurie and Colin had cars of their own before deciding to team up with Skoda importer Motor Holdings for a crack at the Heatway Rally, with Laurie driving and Colin navigating.
Colin was also active behind the scenes, acting as clerk of the course at Pukekohe for 10 years.
Since handing over the family business to son Gary and daughter-in-law Caron, he has immersed himself in the classic racing scene, buying, developing and racing a Hillman Imp-powered Cooper 500 and a rare Italian-built Stanguellini Formula Junior car.
So it should come as no surprise that he and wife Joyce would end up towing Andrew's car to meetings. Not just to Pukekohe either.
"We've towed it to Christchurch and Invercargill in the south and to Taupo and Manfield here in the north," laughs Colin.
"We travel all over the country and we love it. It keeps us young."
It also helps Gary and Caron as they juggle the responsibilities of the family panelbeating business, Colin Waite Ltd in Morningside, with their 18-year-old son's burgeoning motor-racing career.
From humble beginnings at the Mt Wellington Kart Club's kart track at the tender age of eight, that career has blossomed to the point where Andrew heads into the opening round of the 2007/08 MTA New Zealand Formula Ford championship at Pukekohe this weekend as one of the favourites.
Fair enough too, says his grandfather, who has seen his grandson win island and national titles in karts and claim coveted Rookie of The Year awards in his debut years in the Formula First and Formula Ford classes.
And as well as winning the Rookie of The Year title last season, the then 17-year-old also finished second in the overall MTA Formula Ford class points standings.