Ford cars and the passing of Lee Iacocca…the noted designer of the American Mustang, was at the fore-front of the world automobile news this past week.

It reminded me of the reality that almost 100 years  ago…Canada/USA was  exporting Model T cars in a knocked – down fashion to New Zealand.  My father, Bill Whitfield worked for Hally Motors in Temuka, and Model T’s in wooden boxes were shipped to NZ, some of which eventually ended up in the Temuka Railway Station yard, where a manual crank winch ( see photo) was used to unload the boxes off the railway flat – wagons, for unpacking and assembly by garage staff on the spot.

The photo is interesting for the fact that while the location of Hally Motors ( Corner of King and Wood Streets), was not very far from the railway station, it was clearly seen easier to assemble the Ford Cars right there in the Railway yard, than try and remove the box to the Hally premises.

It’s worth noting, given the current stress about the perceived fairness of global trading, that one of the main issues surrounding trade to & from Canada  & the USA now , is simply one of the shipping costs, which even allowing for inflation over the years, places both countries at a disadvantage , compared to say shipping products to and from Asia.