RobiNZ Personal Blog

Simply the best Citroën 2CV advertisement

Remember seeing this in Car Magazine sometime in the early 80s, brilliant. Read more →

The real Car magazine is back!

I really appreciated Car (magazine U.K.) making their digital copies available to non-digital subscribers while the presses where shut down due to COVID-19. Car Magazine (Android) But after a few months reading it, sort of, on the phone* I was so happy to see this arrive in the mail today: Car Magazine print edition * They only offer Android & iOS digital issues so having a Microsoft Surface Book tablet about the size of the print edition Car didn't help. Read more →

Austin Maxi Vs Fiat 128, no contest

Love this driventowrite.com series comparing the design and life of the Austin Maxi and Fiat 128. Although they were not direct competitors (the 128 is more 1100 sized) the similarities, of both cars and design history, are remarkable. 128 v. Maxi Part 1 : Last Tango of the Titans 128 vs Maxi Part 2 : Function over Form 128 vs Maxi Part 3 : Spring Song 128 vs Maxi Part 4: The Racehorse and the Donkey Continuing our meditation on the Austin Maxi and Fiat 128 Every Day Is Judgement Day. If you drive a front wheel drive car today... Read more →

Really Jeep?

Because Fiat/Abarth is FCA, I am on the mailing list for Jeep. Have to wonder if this image does anything positive for the brand? Lets fuck up a mountain? Read more →

My Fiat Bravo 155 HGT the HubNut star!

Back in mid-January 2020 Ian (HubNut) Seabrook took my 2001 Fiat Bravo 155HGT for a drive. I'm glad to see the verdict was favourable, even though his drive was hampered by an intermittent sensor problem causing it to feel flat on acceleration. Ian must be stronger than me. He pulled the bonnet release lever out of its pivot, never seen do that before, but clipped back in now! Since this was filmed the air conditioning condenser has been repaired so it's even cooler now. The wobbly throttle sensor was being sorted when the COVID-19 virus lock down closed NZ. I... Read more →

The Pencil and the Battery Electric Vehicle

Had a chance, and interesting, coincidence today in my podcast playlist. Pocket Casts has my favourite podcasts set to auto-download and add themselves to ‘Play next’. Two episodes were ready to play when I left for the morning commute. The power of graphite; in pencils First up a new season of The Boring Talks* kicked off with ‘Pencils’: Brian Mackenwells on why we should all appreciate the pencil. Part of it (~0:05:00 onwards) told how a limited source of pure graphite (needed for pencils) in the 16-18th century made the British Cumberland graphite deposit a strategic asset. From its discovery... Read more →

Fiat Bravo HGT heading for classic status?

A recent “Hidden Heroes” article on Honest John got my attention. They think my Fiat Bravo HGT is a future classic and there are only 21 left on the road in the U.K. There were never many HGTs in New Zealand; I was told maybe Thirty total and just a dozen of the later 2001 HGT 155 model I have. According to some recent research (by a fellow Fiat enthusiast) there are now probably only three left on the road. Probably why the 155HGT plate, acquired last January, was still available over a decade after I first considered getting it!... Read more →

A2O Cycle Road Trip 02–Whanganui to Wellington

Awoke to a stunning day, clear blue skies and no wind. Like yesterday it was a leisurely start, self catered breakfast and an unscheduled car wash before getting on the road. I had parked under a tree, which was fine, but the overnight resident birds had left a calling card on AHBART’s roof and windscreen. That was easily sorted, also gave me a chance to clean of all the bugs which met their end on the trip down last night. The blunt nose panel, no grille between the headlights, and white colour make it very obvious cars and insects don’t... Read more →

AHBART 156k

What is it about round numbers? Glanced down just as AHBART rolled over 156,000km on the way to work yesterday, but pulled over to take the photo! Read more →

Just because you are on a crossing, keep watching…

Red lights, cars stopped, green pedestrian and cycle crossing, all good, right? No! It doesn't look so dramatic on the front camera (due to field of view). I let this run a bit longer so you can see the cars queuing across the bike lane trying to enter a gridlocked parking area. The second white one was actually trying to push into a space which wasn't there and looked mad a me for crossing their path! But the rear view better represents what happened at the crossing and how close this near hit was. Read more →