A Kiwi motor racing ace is selling his Palmerston North home after 53 happy years living there.
Brian Ax bought 209 Victoria Avenue, in Hokowhitu, in 1971, when he brought bride-to-be Robyn home from her native Australia.
The couple have done major upgrades over the years, including adding two bedrooms, a sauna and plunge pool, and a dance studio (both are keen ballroom dancers).
Ax even bought the house next door so he could add a grass tennis court to his back garden.
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The Kiwi’s motor racing career began when he was a teenager. At the age of 17, he bought a 1959 Austin A40 Farina saloon car and took it onto the racing track in 1962. By 1965, it was New Zealand’s fastest 1100cc saloon car.
In those early days, Ax raced with famed racing legend Bruce McLaren at the Levin Motor Racing Circuit, although he admits that his A40 wasn’t in the same league as McLaren’s factory-built Mini Cooper.
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Ax “retired” from racing in the late 1960s and sold his cars. He recounted to OneRoof that in 1990 he got a call out of the blue from Taupo, where his A40 Farina was about to be sent to the landfill. “A gentleman in Taupo rang up and said, ‘Hey Brian, I’ve got your car.’ He gave it to me.”
The A40, which Ax still owns but is now selling, had been in a major accident. Ax brought it back to life and modified it. “It would be the fastest A40 in the world [now] because I’ve stretched it to 1585cc and it’s 155 horsepower.”
Ax also bought and raced an Elfin Mallala in New Zealand and Australia. The car had once been driven by Formula One world championship winner Jimmy Clark. “We drove [the Elfin] in the Dutton Rally in ‘94 between Melbourne and Adelaide,” he said.
The property has a classic look. Photo / Supplied
Ax's car collection. Photo / Supplied
Ax’s racing career has brought him into the orbit of many famous people, including Chris Amon, Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart, but he has also found fame with his inventions.
These include double taps for his tap dancing shoes, a coffee tamping machine, the first fibreglass hockey stick in New Zealand, and a golf putter that’s been used by, among others, Kel Nagle, Greg Norman, Tom Crow and former US President Bill Clinton.
The golf putter was typical of Ax’s approach to problems. “My first round of golf was at the Rangitikei Golf Club and I lost six balls. I thought, ‘I can improve my putting’. So, I played around, and being a design engineer, I came up with this design. It was unique, and I got the New Zealand Design Mark Award. It got approved by the USPGA.”
Ax’s most recent invention is the Briax Work Soap, designed to clean the dirtiest of grime from hands. Having retired, Ax is leaving it to one of his sons to market the product.
Ax with Stirling Moss. Photo / Supplied
Unsurprisingly, Ax has had a few nicknames in his life. As a racing driver, he was known by most competitors as Chopper, thanks to his surname. On the dance floor, he and Robyn were given the monikers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
However, it’s now time for Chopper, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and four classic cars to retire to the Bay of Plenty. “We're going to Tauranga,” said Ax.
“It’s sad, but it is a better climate [and] there is a better connection with cars up there.”
Ax is taking two vintage Porsche cars with him and two other collectible vehicles. “I want to use the cars. They’re not for a museum.”
