The ghost car of State Highway 2

Listening to: 'Fumbling towards ecstasy'- Sarah Mclachlan
Alongside State Highway 2, just past where the old road branches off to cross the river into Silverstram, and the new road continues on to Upper Hutt, is Keith George Memorial park. It is a piece of land gifted to the government for preservation, and is a good place to see regenerating and remnant native podocarp forest and bush. Anyway, it is handily placed to CIT where I did my undergrad study, and we would go there on Biodiversity field trips.
One of the trails runs parallel to the highway, about fifteen meters away. And on the trail is this.
It's a car. The first shot shows the front bumper (the shiny chrome bit). The second shot is from behind the right rear wheel (the wheel arch is visible). The photos are pretty blah as they were taken yesterday morning when the sun wasn't shining, and the overhead vegetation is kinda thick, so it was very dark for my poor digital. I took some proper film shots which will probably come out better.
I first saw it in 1999-2000, and its condition has deteriorated somwhat since then. I went back yesterday to see if it was still there. When last seen the front of the car was still relatively intact (it has now rusted out and collapsed forwards), and there was still something of a windscreen frame and roof, enough to identify it as some kind of sixties sports car.
When I first saw it it had clearly been there for some time already (notice how the small trees have grown around it). How did it get there? Why was it never taken away? Who did it belong to? It was fairly intact once, so would likely have been repairable after whatever incident put it in the bush. There must be an interesting story behind it, but right now it is a mystery.......