Stephen Barnett is a writer and editor. He spent many years working in book publishing and is the author and co-author of a number of books on social history and popular culture, among them New Zealand! New Zealand! In Praise of Kiwiana, At the Beach, and We Had One of Those! He grew up familiar with a variety of old vehicles and was able to pick up enough rudiments of maintenance and inventive repair to keep a variety of Minis, vintage cars, motorcycles and a Ford Special on the road.

Stephen Barnett lives in Auckland. His own We Had One of Those is a 1964 Rover 110.