Minis celebrate milestone on Kiwi 'Pork Pie' trail
05 Mar 2009
Mini car enthusiasts are planning to celebrate the iconic model’s 50th birthday with a commemorative New Zealand road trip - from one end to the other - based on one of the country’s best known movies.
New Zealanders old enough to remember the Mini first time round will forever associate the car with the 1981 film Goodbye Pork Pie - an early success for Kiwi director Geoff Murphy, and one of the New Zealand film industry’s funniest productions.
The Whangarei Mini Owners Group has organised the fun run over the Easter 2009 holiday to mark their favourite car’s milestone. The route will follow the tracks of the ‘Blondini gang’ from the Northland town of Kaitaia to Invercargill in the south of the South Island.
Classic cars
Currently 38 Mini teams are registered to take part in the 2500km trip which leaves Kaitaia on 9 April. Only three of the Minis are new generation, the remainder are classics.
As the convoy heads south, other Mini owners and Mini car clubs will join in, and organisers expect there could be as many as 60 cars on the road at one time.
One entry has come from a New Zealander living in Brisbane, Australia. Organisers say the Kiwi woman has purchased a Mini through New Zealand online trader TradeMe, and plans to take part with her boss who owns an Australian Mini accessories and parts shop.
Route deviations
While the fun run will endeavour to follow the Goodbye Pork Pie route, some deviations are obliged by the number of people and cars involved.
From Kaitaia in the north, the cars will travel to Lake Taupo then Wellington via National Park and Wanganui in the central North Island.
After crossing Cook Strait by ferry from Wellington to Picton, the convoy will continue to Hokitika, on the South Island’s West Coast, and south to Invercargill via Alexandra in Central Otago, and Dunedin.
Serious fun
The teams are planning social events during the various stop-off points of the six-day trip, including a black tie dinner and awards night with prizes for best and worst driver.
But they also say there's a serious side to the fun run which involves safe driving practice as some legs of the trip will require up to 10 hours behind the wheel.
Each team is also challenged with raising at least $1000 for Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland, and already funds raised have exceeded expectations.
Memory lane
As part of the trip down memory lane, the Mini fun run organisers have requested a Goodbye Pork Pie screening on national television over Easter.
The concept for the Goodbye Pork Pie fun run came from Rod Harris, of Whangarei, who took part in a 1999 rally from London to Italy marking the Mini's 40th anniversary. The rally followed the tyre prints made by Minis in the 1969 film The Italian Job, starring Michael Caine.
With help from other Whangarei Mini Owners Group members, Mr Harris - a teacher taking time out driving tour buses - has arranged support for the rally from the Mini New Zealand division of BMW.
Background information:
Goodbye Pork Pie
Goodbye Pork Pie was released in 1981 and is considered one of New Zealand’s most popular films. Directed by Geoff Murphy, and written by Murphy and Ian Mune, the film was a low budget project that employed just 24 cast and crew.
The story starts in Kaitaia near the top of the North Island when local goon Gerry hires a yellow Mini using a stolen licence and heads for Auckland where he has a chance meeting with John, whose wife has just left him and moved to Invercargill.
In the mini that Gerry names "Pork Pie", the two hit the road to travel the length of the country. Their high speed exploits earn them the name "the Blondini gang". The police take a dim view of their exploits and make it their mission to stop the Blondini boys from reaching their destination, Invercargill.
Mini history
The Mini made its debut as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini Minor in 1959.
The first British Motor Corporation Mini was a very plain and simple car, lacking safety features and comfort. But it could carry four people, was frugal with petrol and was priced at about £650 in New Zealand.
The Mini was not popular at first and it wasn't until the Queen was seen behind the wheel of one that sales began to take off. Later, when the Beatles each bought one, the car became trendy. It never got beyond cult status in the United States where it was withdrawn from the market in 1967 because of low sales.
By the time the classic Mini ended its 41-year production run in 2000, a total of 5,387,862 had been built in 137 variations.
Veteran New Zealand motoring writer Donn Anderson, of Auckland, whose book Mini Down Under is to be published this month, says about 67,000 cars were sold while Minis were assembled in New Zealand between 1960-82.
BMW now produces Mini hatchback, convertible and clubman body variations with engines including a diesel option. Electric Minis are on trial in the USA.
More information:
Star Kiwi directors
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