NZ Mistral - Mark II Mistrals

Mark II Mistrals

Below are photos of some of the Mark II Mistrals created by Roger Wilson of Christchurch from 1989. They feature a slightly wider body and flared guards to accommodate wider components. A classic multi tube spaceframe chassis was developed for racing along with a more modern chassis design suitable for road use.

Two Mistral Mark IIs at the track. The front one (360) is the first, track focussed and space framed Mark II raced by Dave Sampson and the one behind the 4.4 litre V8 road car.

Roger Wilson built spaceframe chassis

Above is an advert for the original MarkII "no.360" some years later after having the original Ford Cortina engine replaced with a Nissan SR20

Ron Hazlehurst Mistral Mark II

Ron Hazlehurst Mk II chassis

This Mistral Mk II saw some enthusiastic use in hillclimbs in the hands of it builder Ron Hazelhurst.

Ron Hazlehurst Mk II engine and front suspension

Ron Hazlehurst at speed

This P76 4.4 litre alloy V8 engined Mistral MkII was primarly a well developed road car, but also proved very quick during some some track use. An early owner was Rod Laing in Christchurch before the car moved to the North Island and to the ownership of John Meredith

Mark II Mistrals under construction at Roger Wilson's

Unfinished Mistral project of P. Harlow

Before he passed away, Ian Donald was in the process of building another MarkII Mistral. It was to have a 3.9 litre Rover V8 and five speed Ford Sierra gearbox, a custom built chassis and Mazda MX5 front and rear suspension. I do not have any photos of this car and would be interested to know what happened to the project. This was not Ian's first Mistral, he purchased the Bob Blackburn prototype Mistral in the early 1960's from Peter Taylor of Temuka, who in turn purchased the prototype from Bob Blackburn. Ian recounted the history of this car and provided some photographs which can be found here.

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