Russell Greer could have been racing in Melbourne at the Formula 1 meeting at the weekend, but chose instead to bring his classic Stanton Corvette to Ngapara for a hill climb yesterday.
For the first time in about 35 years, the Stanton Corvette's V8 roar echoed around the hills at Ngapara as Mr Greer (65) sought to emulate the run which set a record of 50.52sec in the mid-1970s over the 1.4km short-course hill climb.
However, with sporadic showers yesterday, the weather was against him, the big rear-engined, rear-drive sports car a handful in the wet.
But that did not dim an otherwise successful racing season for Mr Greer and the Stanton Corvette - 23 starts for 21 wins, one second and a did-not-finish.
The Otago Sports Car Club-North Otago Vintage Car Club event, part of the speed championships, attracted 90 entries, with a big field in the classic section.
Mr Greer bought the Stanton Corvette in the early 1970s.
The car was originally built in 1959 by brothers Maurie and Charlie Stanton, and turned into the current sports car for the 1964 season.
In the mid-1970s Mr Greer campaigned it at the Ngapara hill climb, then part of the Gold Star circuit, but he had not been back since.
The hill climb was stopped in 1995.
Mr Greer believed the Corvette still held the record for the short-course run, which was now slightly different since it was resurrected in 2008 as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations by the North Otago Car Club, and run every year since then.
For the past three to four years, Mr Greer has run his Formula 5000 classic at the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix in the sports races.
This year, Mr Greer, of Blenheim, decided to bring the Stanton Corvette back to Ngapara.
When he bought the car it had been put back together "with old bits".
He then set about restoring it to original condition, running a 5.8-litre Chevrolet engine and still using the old chain drive from the original.
In its day, the Stanton Corvette raced at circuits all over New Zealand, taking on some of the best the world had to offer, including a Ferrari 250 LM.
In recent years, the covette has raced in classic events in New Zealand and Australia.
