A lifelong love of vintage cars

In a new regular series, Passionate People, locals share their stories, experiences, and deep connections to the things that bring them joy. This time, Rose Preston talks to Adrienne Matthews about her lifelong love of vintage cars and the community that keeps the passion alive.

Rose Preston can’t help herself. Falling in love with one of the oldest cars ever
imported into New Zealand sparked many decades of enjoyment, enthusiasm and a passion for vintage automobiles. In March she won Best Car in Show at the 2025 Heritage Weekend in Marlborough.

I don’t come from a family that was interested in cars. A car was just a car but my first husband, Murray Low, had old cars from the age of sixteen. Vintage car
enthusiasts could see how keen he was and encouraged him to start restoring his first car, a 1929 Plymouth. In those days, there were lots of kids in the car club and
there were rallies all over the place. When our children came along these became great family outings.

Murray absolutely loved restoration work and the challenge of finding a new car. I’ve lost count of how many cars we’ve had. Favourites were a lovely little 1913 French Delage, a bigger 1931 version and a 1910 Reo. We are so lucky living in New Zealand because exotic cars have come here from all around the world.

Murray tragically died at the age of fifty, leaving the restoration of our Oldsmobile 1903 Model R (the Curved Dash Oldsmobile) unfinished. It was a particularly special model because it was the first one to be mass produced on an assembly line. It was the most popular car sold in America from 1902 to 1905. Somebody in New Zealand ordered one straight after it had been produced in the USA. It was a runabout that seated a driver and passenger. There were very few brought here, and we think it was the first car imported into Napier. The motor was found amongst a collection of farm machinery on the Te Mata Peak station in Havelock North. I was determined to keep it because it was Murray’s passion and the oldest car we had ever had.

Murray managed to restore the body of the car before he passed away. It was made from timber which is why it hadn’t survived but he rebuilt it with Kahikatea, a strong, durable wood. A friend of his, Robert Wood, was restoring one in Christchurch and offered to carry on working on ours. After a few years it was it was returned to me, ready for final upholstery work and painting to be done.

It has many interesting quirks like only one cylinder which equates to five horsepower, and tiller steering where a lever is attached to a rudder. The curved wooden front has brass lamps and there is a storage basket at the back to keep things out of the weather. The buggy style bench is a reminder of the lack of comfort in these very early vehicles.

Eventually, I was fortunate to meet another lovely man through the vintage car scene, Earl Preston, and married him. Murray’s and my car collection had been sold except for the Oldsmobile but suddenly I was in a new but familiar world with a man who had been restoring cars all his life.

We proudly take the Oldsmobile to rallies. It only travels at 30km/hr so we have a lovely trailer to transport it in. People just love to see these really old cars and it always draws a lot of attention wherever it goes.

Marlborough is a great place to live for vintage car enthusiasts because there is so
much interest here. It is a real hub with great craftsmen available too. At any one time there are around twenty to thirty cars being restored. The Marlborough Vintage Car Club is very welcoming and has regular fun events. Their Wednesday morning teas at Bradshaw Park regularly attract around sixty people. There is also an excellent collection of spare parts available. We also have a restored 1968 Mark II Jaguar and take that around the country for tours.

It’s great to see others so passionate about their cars too. There is a lot of camaraderie and the sharing of motoring history which is always interesting. Earl and I have boxes and boxes of photographs of the cars and events we have attended in the past and we sometimes get them out to reminisce over the wonderful times we have had with the large variety of cars in our lives.

The vintage car scene is a wonderful thing to be part of and we hope that more younger people get involved and discover the excitement and fun that can be had.