…. Most of the Club members have met Elvira, our beloved black VH beast! Just recently we have discovered a few more facts from her history so we thought we might as well put her history down on paper so far!
When we purchased Elvira we were told about her history of being an ex-Southland MOT Pursuit Car, Ministry of Transport for those who are too young to remember! Craig has since be talking to a dedicated few ex-Police who are collecting these cars from throughout New Zealand and they have managed to confirm more of her history.
In the MOT there were only 33 V8 VH’s in the fleet and most of them were 253s. In Southland there were two 253 VH’s operated by the Rural Division of the MOT, however there was only one 308, yup, Elvira. Her number plate was originally KY6381 and she was based in Lumsden. She was driven by Graeme Mosely, who was the PC accompanying David Bain across the prison gateway at the time of his arrest.
She was sold in March 1989 at 139,000kms to North City Cars in Dunedin where it was de-branded and fitted with Cheviot alloys. It was sold to a couple in Balclutha who owned it until 1992 where it was sold back to North City Cars at 180,000kms. Anthony Brooks then bought her (you will hear the surname again!) and he had it for a year and managed to put another 10,000kms on her. Anthony sold it to Motor City in Dunedin when he left for Australia.
The next owner, was originally from Dunedin, basically left the area and headed for Blenheim and also managed to stop paying his finance at the same time. A reposition order was given and somehow he avoided detection for a couple of years. Russell Brooks, Anthony’s father, who lived in Renwick spotted it one day and as it was his dream vehicle he decided to do some digging. He discovered that the order was out for it so he did a deal with the finance company, he pay the outstanding amount on the finance and it was his, so guess what he did! Yup, paid up and repossessed her and Elvira was his, much to his wife’s disappointment.
While Russell had her for 18 years, he repainted her, decked her out with new Cheviot Californian wheels and the Group 3 Bodykit as well as the sunroof. It was too hot for the bride and bridesmaids when he was doing weddings! Russell discovered a little of her history by tracing her gearbox and engine numbers. Originally she was one of two 308’s built for the Melbourne Police in 1983, she was the only one to survive as her sister car was written off along with the driver and passenger within the first three months of being on the road. One thing Russell did discover when repainting her is 8 previously repaired bullet holes along the passengers side of the vehicle! We imagine she that was too much for the Australian Police and was exported to New Zealand to be registered here in 1984.
After all those years, and listening to his wife call it the Mistress Russell had to unfortunately sell her due to ill health.
Russell was very particular on who was going to purchase her as he didn’t want her chopped up as most were inclined to do and I think he was happy when we said we were going to leave her as she is and then she was ours! However, when we went to pick her up the next weekend he refused to come out of his garage so we had to do the deal with his wife. A very sad day for Russell.
Since we have been Elvira’s caretakers we have given her a new paint job, changed the wheels back to Bathurst style three piece race wheels and tidied up the upholstery where needed but we have left the rest untouched. Unfortunately the motor needed to be rebuilt a couple of years ago, and as it was matching numbers we had the engine rebuilt. Yup, we will not give the final cost as we don’t want to know ourselves! There were some minor modifications to the already hot police spec motor and now she is a huge 320hp. Not huge by today’s standards however a big improvement over the factory figures.
We have taken her past Russell a couple of times when we have been in Renwick and he has come out of the garage to see her! Unfortunately he wasn’t able to sit in her during these visits due to operations, however we took his wife for a ride and she got out smiling! I have a feeling that Russell had a tear in his eye seeing complete like that!
Craig has been talking to members of the original MOT who can supply all the correct equipment to take Elvira back to how she was if he would like to restore back and they will help with everything they can. This might just happen one day and the story will be continued….
Craig and Cherie