Looking back at the IMVIA

Bev Purchase, the IMVIA’s administration officer, and Malcolm Yorston, its technical services and membership manager, received long-service awards at the association’s gala night for clocking up 21 and 20 years respectively. “Thank you very much for this recognition,” said Yorston. “Bev and I are part of the furniture. We’ve been here for a while and we’ve seen a lot of dealers go under the bridge. “It has been interesting, there have been some challenges and I’m sure there will be challenges in the future. But the industry’s such that it’s flexible, able to move to adapt quickly and I’m sure we will be around for the next 25 years. Thanks a lot.” Peter “PJ” Johnston was one of the founding members of the Licensed Motor Vehicle Dealers Importers Association to be recognised. He said: “I’m proud of our team. There were times when we had some serious drama whether it was Land Transport with rules or Customs with speedos. We would get together and have day-long or two-day meetings with all the brothers – wise old hares and some young fellows like me. “I’ve had some good people around me. They stand on the stage today and I thank them for that. I think back to the first days I went to Japan and started buying cars. We used to go to the auctions and buy 16 cars a day and every one was a good one. It was just an adventure.” “It has been a journey, the past 25 years,” added fellow founder Dick Gray. “They have worked pretty hard these guys here and there was no remuneration. I had a cellphone bill of $500 a month when it was about $1 a minute and I never asked the association to pay it back. I believed in the cause.” Rod Milner was also presented with a supreme award by the IMVIA. He said: “I do thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Without all of those dollars, we couldn’t have done it nor without a great team of people who believed. Right at the start we did it for bucks, but it became more than that. It became a mission. “In 1981, my young brother-in-law was killed on a motorbike and it became a personal mission for me to get kids off motorbikes. The only other silly buggers on motorbikes are baby-boomers, who are getting killed right now because they still can’t ride, David [Vinsen]... I’m sorry. “I also want to make a personal mention tonight of Jackie Russell, who wrote the book [From the Rising Sun to the Land of the Long White Cloud – the history of used car importing into New Zealand]. I just can’t believe how factual that book is to what actually happened.”