PETE ’ S PEOPLE
Alan ’ s first pride and joy was his 1955 BSA Twin A7 , he then moved on to saloon car racing in a sucession of Minis
PRIDE AND JOY Later , my absolute pride and joy was my 1955 BSA Twin A7 , with a duplex tubular frame , swinging arm rear , and telescopic forks , and it was a truly lovely bike to ride . I fancied myself as a bit of a James Dean . This was the model of bike which won the International Six Days Trial in Europe , for ALL makes of motorcycle , and it achieved this same feat for a number of years . It was a top machine in the 1950s era , and rare as hell to find during those austere times here in NZ . My own A7 had been ridden from the UK to Australia , and on to NZ , by its first migrant owner who sold it to me . Later , I did a complete engine rebuild until it was perfectly mint . In fact it was so good that the cops who pulled me over often let me off , after examining the machine in detail . In those days the ‘ bodgeys ’ or the ‘ milk bar cowboys ’ also often stopped me , just to have a listen to the sound of the engine ! In 1962 I got my first car , but I kept the A7 for commuting to work , and over the next ten years I became involved in NZ Saloon Car Racing , and my former experience on bikes meant I was able to transition faster into racing cars . I began with a succession of Mini Coopers and ‘ Cooper S ’ models . The first , called ‘ Tomato ’, was a 997cc Cooper Mk 1 , followed by ‘ Violet ’, a 1964 970cc Cooper S which I
78 KIWI RIDER