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Lowndes scores Camaro drive

28 October, 2014

 

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“The Highlands 101
November 8–9, 2014
Highlands Motorsport Park
Cromwell, Central Otago”

It’s looking like November’s Highlands 101 endurance race is set for a shake up with V8 Supercar driver Craig Lowndes jumping into the Chev Camaro of Inky Tulloch.

The front-running Holden-driver isn’t the only V8 Supercar driver taking on the gruelling event, as rival Shane Van Gisbergen is also tackling the race, driving a McLaren GT3 with Australian GT Championship driver Klark Quinn. 

The Kiwi star and the Aussie champ are both entered for the 101-lap enduro, the feature race of the Highlands 101 event running over the weekend of November 8–9 on the Central Otago circuit.

Lowndes is excited to race at Highlands for the first time and to pilot the wild-looking Camaro GT3-spec race car.

“One of my biggest reasons for doing the event is to get to race on the Highlands track,” says Lowndes. “It looks awesome, I’ve heard great things about it and I can’t wait to get there. Learning new tracks is both challenging and fun, I am looking forward to it.”

Not only will the event be the first time for Lowndes at the track, but it also marks the first time Tulloch’s Camaro has been on the track as well. Tulloch says he’s really looking forward to having a professional of Lowndes’ ability in the car.

“The early form of the Camaro has been promising, but we’re still working through some of the ‘new car’ gremlins,” says Tulloch, who was leading a recent endurance event in Christchurch before a sudden and unexpected mechanical failure.

“Craig is an outstanding driver with outstanding technical ability to get the best out of any car, so I’m looking forward to racing with Craig and seeing him help uncover the true potential of the Camaro.”

Lowndes is also happy to have been asked to drive the Camaro. “It’s a new car to the category and I haven’t even seen it yet. But it’s got a good pedigree, and on paper it looks very competitive. It’s a GM product and it’s quite different from the GT cars I’ve raced previously.”

In regards to the Highlands 101 race format with its running start for one of a team’s two drivers, Lowndes says, “We haven’t had a chance to think about who’ll start in the car or who’ll be running yet. It’ll be up to Ian, so maybe we’ll just toss a coin! I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Van Gisbergen has the advantage over Lowndes of having previously raced at Highlands and also having raced the GT3-spec McLaren MP4 12C with Tony and Klark Quinn in February’s Bathurst 12-Hour Race, where he set a new lap record for ‘tin-tops’ at the Mount Panorama circuit.

The Gold Coast-based Kiwi says the Highlands circuit is fun in every car he’s driven there.

“I have visited Highlands a few times now and have driven a number of cars around there. I watched the 101 from the commentary box last year; it’s a different format to most GT races with the Le Mans-style start, so that should be fun too!” says Van Gisbergen.

“The McLaren is awesome to drive — I love driving GT cars so I’m certainly looking forward to having another go. Klark is a really good driver and, although the seat needs to go quite a way forward for him, in the racing we have done together so far, we have been competitive so I hope we can have a go at getting top step of the podium!”

Tickets are available for the event online from TicketDirect, or at the gate during the race weekend. Visit highlands.co.nz for more info or check out Highlands on Facebook.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.

The other Q car

12 August, 2026

Say the word ‘bond’ to anyone in the street and around 80 per cent straight away think of pop culture’s least-secret secret agent. The other 20 per cent may think of the wad of cash required to secure a flat or hire equipment that one gets back providing the fixtures and fittings stay much as they were.
However, mention ‘bond’ in specialist classic car circles and people will spin a very different yarn. If you dig deep enough, you will find an eccentric British carmaker that, throughout its 23 years in business, spawned some quirky and charming little cars.
The company was founded by Paul Sharp in 1922 under the name of Sharp’s Commercials Limited. However, the company did not start producing cars until 1948. The first car to carry the Bond name was the Bond Minicar. A three-wheeled, soft-top, two-cylinder eco car, the Minicar was a big hit at the time as the desire for an economical urban runabout that didn’t attract four-wheel car tax was strong in post-war Britain. All in all, 34,285 Minicars were produced over 26 years in a variety of variants.