About the Author

The Trekka Dynasty is the first book by award-winning Radio journalist Todd Niall.

Cars came before journalism for Todd, leaving school for a brief fling in a travel agency before selling Peugeot spare parts. He joined the Auckland Star in 1977 before switching to radio.

The Trekka was filed in the back of his mind for 25 years until scratching for a subject for a radio documentary. That programme “The Trekka’s Tale” in 2001 was the start of an intriguing journey down avenues of New Zealand history which threaded their way through the story. Research took him to Venice for the art biennale where Michael Stevenson’s
“This is the Trekka” represented New Zealand. From there to the Czech Republic to meet Josef Kaplan who had spent two years in Noel Turner’s factory as the Skoda man.

In 2004, Todd Niall won the Bill Toft Memorial Fund prize, the top overall radio prize in the Qantas Media Awards, best radio Sports reporter for his coverage of the 2003 America’s Cup sailing regatta, and presented Summer Report on National Radio which won Best News Programme. He is currently a senior journalist with Radio New Zealand in Auckland, and lives in Kumeu with his wife Angelika and teenage children Lukas, Laura and Julia.

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