A little green and red car sits in an old Patea farm shed surrounded by walls of colourful road signs. Stepping into the shed is like going back in time - the car is over 100 years old, and the signs are a drive through the history of roads in New Zealand.

This is a special little car. It has been in the same family for over 100 years. The Durracq was bought by local identity James Livingston in 1904. Now it's being renovated by his grandson Livingston Baker and great grandson Jim Baker.

Who was James Livingston?

James Livingston was a founding settler of the Patea district, he first arrived in south Taranaki in 1867.

James fought in the Taranaki Wars but was too modest to apply for the New Zealand War Medal that he was due for coming under fire in the action, so the Veterans Association did so on his behalf. It was awarded in a parade in Hawera in 1914.

James gradually came to own 680 hectares of land at Waipapa. He was a community-minded man, being a founding member of many local organisations including the Egmont Racing Club, the Patea A & P Association, Egmont A & P Association, the Hawera Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, and the first Patea County Council. He was also a noted horticulturist.

From steam to petrol

James had previously owned a steam-driven A.W Reid Locomobile, run by a small primus burner under a tank of water. The car was one of only four in the district, imported and assembled at Stratford by Alexander W. Reid.

When the Darracq arrived the steam car was destroyed. The engine was removed and used by a local farmer to run a pump. The chassis was converted into a trailer to pull behind the new car. "When James Livingston died the trailerit stayed outside the shed," says Livingston Baker. "We kids didn't take much notice of it. One day somebody called and offered my father a pound for it and he sold it."

Modern motoring

The Darracq was bought in 1904 from Napier firm Skeates and Bockaert Ltd.  "My mother and uncle Guy and their half sister Myra, went over to pick it up along with a chauffer from Skeates and Bockaert who showed them how to drive it," says Livingston. "He had been the driver for the royal tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall a couple of years before."

The Darracq was flash and modern compared to the Locomobile. The French car had a 12 horse power, two cylinder motor, with special push-in pedals. It seated four, the back seat passengers entering by the nifty "swing seat tonneau" where the front passenger seat swivelled around allowing entry.

In 1904 a Darracq set a new land speed record of 104.53mph (167km/h) at Ostend in Belgium. The resulting publicity saw Darracqs being sold around the world.

As one of the first petrol driven cars in south Taranaki, the Darracq created quite a stir - but James Livingston was never seen driving his new vehicle. He preferred a horse and gig. "He belonged to a different era," says Livingston. "He never even got used to a telephone. He didn't like either of them."

But his children did. "Mother and my uncle Guy used to do the driving. My mother would have been one of the first lady drivers in the country."

Long term storage

James Livingston was 75 when he died in 1915, the same year Livingston Baker turned two. The funeral was the biggest ever seen in Hawera.

"My father already had a Model T the following year, so the Darracq was put in our shed. I remember it quite well. It came to our place one night. It was never out of the shed. It had a gig in front of it." And there it stayed, hidden behind a jumble of equipment, like a motorised Rip Van Winkel, until 1932 when it was hauled out to drive in the Hawera Jubilee.

Harry Baker used the tyre-less Darracq as a golfcart. Photo: Baker family

The Darracq became a farm runabout -Livingston and his brother Harry used to drive the car over the farm paddocks. Harry even used the car, sans tyres, as a golf cart and to pull a harrow over the paddocks.

Rescue and restoration

The Darracq got pushed out under a tree during World War II and sat, slowly rotting,  until Livingston rescued it in 1948.

The little car was put in a shed but driven out on regular occasions - Christmas parades and gala days. "Us kids used to go to Whenuakura School," says Jim. "The Darracq has done lots of miles going around the sports field taking kids for rides".

Over the years the car got worn - but it was still a popular feature at events - so the family continued taking it around.

But the crunch came during a parade in Hurleyville about 1997. "The radiator was leaking," says Jim, "so I had a guy in the front seat topping it up as we drove along. Then it boiled over and hot water sprayed over me. I thought 'we can't go on.'"

The Darracq during early restoration. Photo: Baker family.

Jim has always had an interest in vintage cars and army vehicles. "Anything with a motor in it pretty much." So the decision was made to restore the Darracq.

They started by stripping the car back to bare-bones. "It was fairly well worn - there hadn't been a lot of maintenance done on it over the years."

The seats were ripped out and the motor reconditioned. Apart from the missing bonnet the car was relatively intact. "We haven't had to worry about sourcing parts because it's been so complete," says Jim. "The only problem we're having now is the radiator because the fins are so rotten. But we've got a chap who says he can fix it."

A long term project

Livingston Baker (left) and son Jim with the Darracq.

Renovations may take a few years yet - there are the seats to recover, the radiator to fix and a new bonnet to find. So far it's cost the family around $10,000 to restore the little car - but they think it's worth it. Eventually it will be used in vintage car rallies and the occasional parade.

"It's a little piece of history," says Livingston. "It's pretty fortuitous that it's been in the family for so long. My father often said to me 'you've got to put that thing over a cliff.'!"