THE MARLBORO MANN PART 2

Fred Mann was little known unless you lived in Wanganui in the 1970s. Those who remember Fred will quickly talk about his cars, which were all so ahead of their time that they’d hit you between the eyes if you saw them even today. By the dawn of the ’80s, Fred had already built a tough MkII Zephyr, New Zealand’s first two-door post American Graffiti–style 396 big block and four-speed ’55 Chevy, a tough-as-nails 396 big block and four-speed ’62 Chevy Nova hardtop, and a gorgeous 454-powered ’64 Pontiac GTO.

The builds featured stuff that wasn’t seen in New Zealand in those days: tunnel-ram manifolds, special clutches, Muncie gearboxes, tramp rods, and rare parts that all had to be imported from the US under special import licences. And Fred drove them hard. He became notorious for street racing, and doing burnouts — anywhere, anytime. In 1977, when a local judge asked Fred what he had to say about the charge being made against him of doing a huge burnout in the main street of Wanganui, Fred’s response was short and simple; it wasn’t a problem, because he knew how to control the car, because he did burnouts all the time. The judge threw the book at him.

Those who remember Fred Mann will probably also tell you how there were no women left in Wanganui for anyone else because they were all lined up in a queue trying to get to Fred. He was good-looking, smooth, and obviously had something they all wanted. Rumour had it — though we never knew for sure — that he had a little black pocket diary which detailed every one of his countless sexual exploits. Most times, day or night, he would have a beer in one hand and a Marlboro cigarette in the other.

Clearly, Wanganui was never going to be big enough or