The only vintage car yard

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 38, 10 March 1987, Page 4 (Supplement)

The only vintage car yard

"The live yard with the dead cars", is how Horopito personality Bill Cole sums up his eight hectare property nestled in native bush with Mt. Ruapehu set in the background. The graveyard of wrecks is home to 2500 vehicles dating back as far as 1 896. Says Bill Cole, "We never throw anything away, every piece has a purpose." English, American and German made cars — Zephyrs, Hudson's, Pontiacs, Studebakers, Chryslers, Chevrolet's and De Soto's — some unrecognisable — lie almost covered in grass, "Although a piece may lie idle for twenty years, eventually, it and every other part will be sold." He claims to have the only vintage car yard in New Zealand and says people come from all over the world to get parts from him. The warehouse is a type of 'old carparts supermarket'. It is packed full with speedometers, door-handles, mirrors, windscreen wipers, headlights, petrol caps, radiator caps, hubcaps, clutchplates and coils of every different type, make and model of car imaginable. One magazine once photographed Bill Cole by his rows and rows of coils and added the caption, 'your sure to get a spark out of a coil\ He. adds, "If we have a part, we know where to find it and how to repair it — we're specialists in vintage car restoration." Bill Cole says, "We're living in an age of waste, people are so wasteful. We run this yard with what people are dumping." Some of his cars are bought, some are repossessed, while others are from

other car yards in the district. He has different ways and means of obtaining them. Sixty-nine-year-old Mr Cole was born in Wanganui, and lived in Hunterville, before moving to Horopito in 1930. His love of the yard is obvious and he has many a tale to tell of his years at Horopito. He believes if you don't like doing something, get out and do something you do enjoy. If you fail, keep going and work at it until it becomes a success. 'Work and Win\ a slogan hespotted in 1930at Raetihi School has stuck in his mind to this day.

Bill Cole's 'Smash Palace' yard was the setting for the movie of the same name. Made in the early 1980's it was a success story for New Zealand, and starred Bruno Lawrence, Greer Robson and Australianactress Anna Jemison. A place that breaths atmosphere and presence — it has been used as the setting for numerous feature films and commercials, with yet another due to be shot at the yard shortly. Horopito Motors is a family business says Bill Cole. His daughter, Barbara, plays a major part in the yard's operation and, like her father, she is a keen vintage car restorer.

Between them they house a shed full of polished vintage cars rebuilt, reupholstered and with their motors reconditioned. One isabeautifullyrestored 1930 Model 'A' Ford. Bill Cole boasts that up to 100 people visit his yard daily, and says, "Everyone comes to us. We're a walking wealth of information." Bill Cole and his yard have yet another claim to fame. Ohakea Air Force Base recently contacted him to ask if they could use the yard as target practice. Thankfully they wanted to use flour bombs as the missiles.