Description
By: Todd Niall . 1st Edition, Signed by the author.
Introduction
The Trekka is a reminder that life in New Zealand was once very different.
The only motor vehicle ever to have been designed and mass-produced in New Zealand, the Trekka was the product of increasingly restrictive government regulation and the DIY ingenuity of motor-industry rough diamond Noel Turner.
In 1966, popular cars often sold after being owned for one year at more than their original prices, and waiting lists for popular new cars went on forever.
Into this world came the Trekka - a New Zealand people's car. Affordable, available transportation for the masses.
The Trekka Dynasty is more than a car story. It's a long-forgotten chapter of New Zealand history, interweaving the fortunes of the wheelingand-dealing Turner family, New Zealand's industrial ambitions, and the paranoia of the Cold War era, in which even car manufacturers became "subjects of interest" for spies.
Description
The Trekka Dynasty is more than a car story. It's a long-forgotten chapter of New Zealand history, interweaving the fortunes of the wheeling-and-dealing Turner family, New Zealand's industrial ambitions, and the paranoia of the Cold War era, in which even car manufacturers became "subjects of interest" for spies.
"A fascinating slice of recent history..."
Roger Hall
",..a fantastic rich story. Trekka is a legacy to the New Zealand motor industry and I thought it was an astonishingly interesting read."
Bob Harvey
"This is a well assembled "auto biography," which takes you to a lot of interesting places and introduces you to some amazing characters... it's a good look at Kiwi life and times through the rear-view mirror."
Jim Hopkins
About the Author
The Trekka Dynasty is award-winning radio journalist Todd Niall's first book.
Cars came before journalism for Todd, who once sold spare parts for Peugeots. The Trekka was filed in the back of his mind for twenty-five years, until he thought of it in 2001 as a good subject for a radio documentary. That documentary, "The Trekka's Tale," was the start of an intriguing journey down the avenues of New Zealand history.
Research on the subject took Todd as far afield as Venice, where Michael Stevenson's "This is the Trekka" represented New Zealand at the Biennale art exposition, and the Czech Republic, where he met Josef Kaplan, the "Skoda man."
At the 2004 Qantas Media Awards, Todd received the Bill Toft Award for Radio Journalism (the top overall prize for radio) and the Best Radio Sports Reporter award. He also presented Summer Report on National Radio, which won Best Radio News Programme.
Todd is the Business Editor with Radio New Zealand. He lives in Kumeu with his wife Angelika and teenage children Lukas, Laura, and Julia.
Other Details
