A Shortage of New Cars in Cambridge

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We came across this piece of correspondence from Ford Dealer Wilkinson & Co Ltd of Cambridge to John Tunnicliff.  Attached was a receipt for a £10 deposit made by Mr Tunnicliff for a Ford Anglia more than six years earlier:

The NZ Labour Government wanted to protect its car assembly industry by introducing import licensing in 1938. Buying a car was no simple matter – the buyer chose a model from a list, then faced a long wait. The car would arrive in bits and be assembled here.  In 1950, with the NZ population approaching two million, there was a shortage of 35,000 new cars.

This was a boon for mechanics who had to keep older cars on the road longer, and were doing a brisk trade.

In the late 1980s the Motor Industry Development Plan led to reduced tariffs on imported vehicles, which were then able to compete with domestically assembled cars. Australian cars were already duty-free under the Closer Economic Relations agreement. This, and a growing flood of second-hand Japanese imports, led to the demise of local assembly by the end of the 1990s.

Karen Payne

Article prepared for Cambridge Historical Society Newsletter of April 2024.

Ref: teara.govt.nz, and Hawkes Bay Today 14/4/2022, CM2344/3