In 1933, Ron began competing, and soon built a name for himself in New Zealand racing as well. Ron was responsible for bringing some truly exciting racing cars to New Zealand over the years, including an Alfa-Romeo P3 and the first Ferrari to win a Grand Prix, as well as the 1925 Bugatti type 35A currently driving along Taranaki's highways and byways.
Now in the care of Ron's son Terry, the Bugatti first arrived in New Zealand in 1947, and was purchased by Ron in 1950. While the type 35A was an impressive car in its own right, being the touring variant of Bugatti's famous Type 35 range, Ron felt the car, now 25 years old, wasn't as fast or powerful as it needed to be to take on the more modern cars beginning to race.
Engineer Ralph Watson was consulted, and his solution - to swap the Bugatti engine and gearbox for Jaguar ones - was as clever as it seemed simple.
As any mechanic will tell you however, putting larger engines into smaller cars isn't always straightforward as they lose their manoeuvrability. Fortunately for Roy, this wasn't the case when Ralph and he made the change. In stead, the car kept its excellent balance and handling, while increasing the usable horsepower.
While the car, nicknamed the Bug-Jag for obvious reasons, was now incredibly competitive in racing, it was still only meant to be the back-up car, only to be used when the No 1 car, at that time a Ferrari, wasn't available. Ongoing issues with the Ferrari however meant the Bug-Jag got more and more track time, proving itself each and every race.
Further tweaks to the car involved the importing of a C-type cylinder head and D-type pistons, resulting in the car, with Ron driving, taking that sixth place in the 1956 Grand Prix. How fast could it go? Ron and Terry recall a timed speed of 250km/h on the Ryall Bush road circuit in Southland.
A year after the Grand Prix success, a dropped valve during a race near Christchurch led to the Bugatti's retirement. The Jaguar engine was removed and the car sat, engine-less, in the Roycroft garage. A decade or so later, Ron, Terry and Ralph rebuilt its original Bugatti engine and gearbox, restoring it to original specs and getting it back on the road.
After over four decades or being back on the road as both a touring and competition car the Bugatti went back to the workshop in 2012, when Terry removed the Bugatti engine and gearbox again, to replace them once more with the Jaguar parts.
The original Bugatti parts are still in the garage, should Terry feel like taking it back to its factory specs again, but for now, the one of a kind Bug-Jag is back, and driving as beautifully as ever before.
The details:
What: Inglewood Street party
When: Thursday, January 20, 4-8pm
Entry: Free, vaccination passes required
More: Food trucks and live entertainment as well as the chance to have a close look at the range of vintage motor vehicles.
