The Heron MJ-1, a Kiwi Wedge

Posted by John Mellberg December 07, 2020

The Heron MJ-1, a Kiwi Wedge

The Heron MJ-1 was limited production specialty car produced from 1981 until 1998 in New Zealand. Designed in 1980, it made its debut at the 1981 Auckland Motor Show.

It's styling was derived from the Lotus Esprit, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Ital Design in 1972. It featured very similar proportions and an angular shape common in mid-engine cars of the era.

Heron MJ-1 at rear (owned by Brady Wedding of NZ)

The first production version was built in 1984 with engine options ranging from a Fiat 125 4-cylinder engine to V8. It was built on a fiberglass monocoque chassis, to which tubular steel front and rear subframes mounted, with parts from various donors, and fiberglass body panels.

Heron MJ-1 (interior) owned by Scott Brearley

Summit Engineering became involved in the Company to provide the necessary finance in return for a two-thirds share. The original concept was a very simple car using reconditioned parts supplied by the customer, with Heron assembling them into a complete roadworthy car. Summit wanted the cars built completely by Summit using mainly new parts.

Problems then began to occur with production, incurring rising costs. After an acrimonious split, Heron's founder Ross Baker bought them out and carried on until 1998.

The MJ 2+2 with pop-up headlights, an air-dam, skirts,
and wing, was an evolution of the original MJ-1

It is believed that 6 prototypes and 19 production MJ-1's were ultimately built.

Because of the costs of importing vehicles to New Zealand, Heron Cars was among a number of homegrown sports cars sold in that market which also included the Almac Sabre, Buckler, and Scorpion (a Sterling/Nova clone).

Eventually, cheaper competition from Japan killed a number of these local makes. However, a small specialty car industry still survives in NZ.

Sources:

Heron Cars, New Zealand

NZ Classic Car