Our General Lee is finally here! (Auckland, NZ)

[STIG]

Hey guys,

So, it's been a good five (or so) weeks, but it's finally arrived here in New Zealand!  Apologies in advance for the iPhone quality photos.

There first couple of shots are from Sunday, where we sat up on top of the Old Battery at 7:00 am (cliff edge) and watched the container ship with our General Lee on it manoeuvring the islands before coming in to port at Auckland harbour:




...and here's from when we rolled it out of the warehouse this morning:




...and about an hour later after a much needed wash, treating it to a brand new battery:






Cheers 

[DadsCharger00]

Wow! She looks great!  is she what youd hoped for?

[JB400]

Glad you finally got it.  Hope it is everything you wanted and more.  How many times did you fill up the gas tank today?

[STIG]

Cheers mate, yeah, we are very happy with how tidy it is! We had enough inspections done over there to get a fairly good idea of what we were getting, but yeah, it's a solid one... well worth the year or two we waited to find a decent one come up! (not to mention the numerous inspections done on others in that time)  

@Stroker: Only once so far... had to make a trip to the gas station with a couple of 20l cannisters before we drove it away from the warehouse, because she was dead empty... I was expecting the trend to start earlier rather than later anyway 

[1974dodgecharger]

Nice... Good to see chargers overseas it makes it so much cooler over there due to rarity.

[tan top]

looks good      , glad you finaly got one   

[STIG]

Thanks guys, I should be going to sleep soon, but I can't (thinking of all the fun activities in store with the General tomorrow  ). @1974dodgecharger: Yeah, the Chargers themselves are pretty rare, but we really do have a 'very' strong muscle car following down here - you'd be surprised just how much so!

[472 R/T SE]

Now that's pure excitement...taking pix of the ship it's coming in on.  I wonder what distance they get to port before relinquishing control of the vessel to tug boats?

Congrats, the rig's obviously going to happy new owner/s. 

[STIG]

Definitely excited owners!  

Here's a little example from a random photo I took on the day... I actually think the tugs might have met the ship maybe 1 1/2" inches (or so) to the left of where I marked 'Tugs'... if that gives a slightly better idea? I took some photos of the ship with the tugs towing it, but I can't find my camera!

[JB400]

You might as well forget about sleeping.  You're too hiped up already about receiving your car.  The only way your going to sleep is if it's behind the wheel in the garage or from complete exhaustion.

[tan top]

You might as well forget about sleeping.  You're too hiped up already about receiving your car.  The only way your going to sleep is if it's behind the wheel in the garage or from complete exhaustion.

thats true  , did not sleep for a week , when i got mine   , would  just go out in the garage in the middle of the night  stand or sit  & look at it ,    
now  almost 24 years later ,  can   still do that now  , sit & look at it for hours  ( just not the middle of the night  )   ,  the shape is perfect ,  the second generation charger IMO is the most beautiful shaped car ever built  ,  
& when you sit in it &  fire the motor & hear it idling away , put your foot on the brake & slide it into drive ( if you got a auto  )  , the exhaust note changes aww man that sound !!  

[STIG]

I too am having these symptoms... I'm starting to think 'Christine' might have been based on a true story.   

[Cooter]

Awesome. The General will provide you with amny years of enjoyment. Just watch out for Rosco though, I hear his reach goes all the way over there as well.

Over and Out.

[RIDELIKEHELL]

So happy to hear it all worked out and you got your General Stig! Have fun with it 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

[Dino]

Very nice!  Now go burn some rubber.  

[69 OUR/TEA]

Congrats STIG !!!!! Looks like you really got what you were waiting for.BTW,if the avatar pic is from the dealer you bought it from,is that the place in Florida??

[68RT4ME]

That's awesome. Congratulations. Be sure to post pics of your first jump....umm, I mean drive 

[white]

Car looks great , It looks nice in Auckland ,NZ. I would love to take my family there someday when do you have mopar car shows over there.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

That is one clean looking general.     Congrats on the purchase.

[STIG]

.

[STIG]

Thanks guys, we're still beaming!  

@69 OUR/TEA: Yeah mate, that's the one you're thinking of. Heard mixed reviews but after having all those independent inspections done, we were satisfied and now that it's here and everything we'd expected, we couldn't be happier with it  

@white: We have so many automotive events over the course of the year it isn't funny, a lot of muscle car shows across both islands but the best (which over 110,000 people attend in the town of Whangamata each year) is the Beach Hop. Nice little beach town community, well over 1000 registered pre-73 muscle cars (and much more that aren't registered but just stay locally over the course of the event at holiday homes in the area and join in). It starts on a Tuesday and ends on the Sunday (19th-24th of March)... and always a great atmosphere! Most people get into the 50s and 60s theme, there are bands that all day long play old school music, etc. Here's the website link: http://www.beachhop.co.nz/ & here's a little video to get an idea of what it's like (I apologize on behalf of NZ for the corny music and intro - it was filmed in 06' though, so it's a much, much, smaller scale of what the event is now! plus now they go to neighboring towns each day for different show'n'shine events, competitions, etc.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBYPKhPeOOs

[chargerboy69]

The car looks great. . congratulations, she is beautiful. 

Thanks for the pictures, they are great.

[STIG]

Here's a few more shots overlooking Auckland (the second one showing where the tugs boats meet with the ship):




Hmm... tempting... if it didn't have our Charger on it! 

[440mike]

 Congrats!  what a great looking Charger!

[STIG]

Cheers  Here are some more shots taken a few minutes ago:

[bill440rt]

Very cool! 
Must have been a GREAT feeling!

[Homerr]

Did DoH air in New Zealand?  Would any average person know what the car was?

[nh_mopar_fan]

Here's a few more shots overlooking Auckland (the second one showing where the tugs boats meet with the ship):




Hmm... tempting... if it didn't have our Charger on it!  

That is an awesome view. Michael Savage Memorial Park?

We were there last month.

Congrats on the Charger!

While we were there we hit the Hot Rod Nationals show in Whitianga.

[kikgas01]

Awesome. The wait would have killed me!!!!!

[Brightyellow69rtse]

car looks great man! enjoy the hell out if it!

[STIG]

Thanks again guys  

@nh_mopar_far: It's almost directly opposite it haha, Michael Savage Memorial is on the other side of the bay, we're standing up on the Old Battery at Devonport. I apologize for the weather on behalf of Auckland   Oh, you went to Whitianga? I missed that one... was a bit busy leading up to December! Hope you have a good time here nonetheless.

@hommer: I'm not 100%, I believe it did... either way yeah, the vast majority of people recognize the car  

@bill440rt: Yeah, was an awesome feeling alright! The sun's come out now that the General's here, so we're making the most of it  

@kikgas01: It was a very depressing wait  

@brightyellow69rtse: Oh yeah, that's the plan!

[Bob T]

Good to see it arrived safely Stig, well done. Its a mission waiting for it and hoping the filipino captain doesn't park it on the rocks on the way in. Where are you going for compliqnce? North shore or western,both are ok, unfortunately the guy I used is unavailable now. I would thoroughly recommend Glenn at Engine Specialties in Glenfield for a sort and tune when you are ready, very pleased with the carb and dizzy set up on mine now, runs strong. Look forward to seeing it around, or pm me for a catchup maybe if you want.                           Hey White, definetly Beach Hop is worth a look, the whole place becomes a car town for a week, bands playing and the works. We've been to probably 6 of them -,great fun,  am down there now on holiday                                                                          NH Mopar, glad you enjoyed your holiday here and at the hot rod nats, I saw a writeup in NZ Rodder, looked pretty cool and visiting the Millen Leadfoot Ranch would've made the day. Nice one

[autodynamics]

real real sexy!!!!
good luck enjoy it in good health

[clown440]

Nice car Please dont jump any ramps with it We lost enough of them already Congrats

[STIG]

Thanks for the kind words 

@Bob T: I hear ya! That poor Torana... We're out in West Harbour and I've got a compliance guy sorted for Monday, it'll be done real quick, had a good chat with him over the phone and he's the guy to use - recommended highly  Car town is right... if you'd just woken up after 50 years, you probably wouldn't know it by looking out your window! Yeah, definitely keen for a meet up soon - I've been talking to Nick (the other General owner in Auckland) via Facebook, and he wants to do a photo shoot in the near future. I've just got to get the car down to Final Touch ASAP to unleash the rest of that glow I know it has! 

[Ghoste]

The car has a real nice stance to it Stig, I'm sure you will find the wait was worth it.

[JB400]

So, have you been put on probation yet, or are you behaving yourself

[STIG]

The car has a real nice stance to it Stig, I'm sure you will find the wait was worth it.

Sure was 

@Stroker: Not yet, just have to take it through compliance tomorrow morning and she's all road legal... a good 100-odd kilometres later 

[GL#10]

Great work on getting it ,  who was the builder , looks great  .

[STIG]

Cheers mate, I'm not 100% on who built it, sorry! They did a good job though (a bit of a plug for the car)  

[STIG]

Quick question; can anyone tell from the paint which colour code it is?

[JB400]

It's probably one of 3 choices  

Big Bad Orange

Hemi orange

Chevy flame red

I'm going to say it's either Hemi orange or Chevy Flame Red.  Hard to tell the difference on a computer monitor

[STIG]

Ah right! Yeah, I thought once it was here in person I'd be able to tell. It appears I'm not superman after all. 

[Ghoste]

Maybe not, but according to the program "Smallville" you can rest easy knowing your car ar least has a connection.

[STIG]

Maybe not, but according to the program "Smallville" you can rest easy knowing your car ar least has a connection.

Ah, yes. Very awkward moment that clip was lol.

[PtitRaisin]

Beautiful!