$100K and seven years on, Stragglers back for more

17 November, 2014

 

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Stragglers Cambridge Charity Car Show
Sunday, November 23, 2014
10am–3pm
Lake Karapiro Domain, Cambridge

The annual Stragglers Cambridge Charity Car Show always delivers, fronting up with hundreds of superbly presented vehicles, picturesque surroundings, and an awesome atmosphere. Best of all, over the last seven years, the Stragglers have raised well over $100K for their selected Waikato charities (charities which must be Waikato-based and benefit children in need).

Last year the event almost didn’t happen due to trees falling at the show’s previous site of Lake Te Koutu, creating an unsafe environment for the public. The council was left with no choice but to close the area and the show had to find a new home. But the organizers were adamant that the show must go on, and on it went to the new site of Lake Karapiro. Beating the old site hands down, the show returns to the same spot this year and the Stragglers can continue to raise money for kids in need in the Waikato vicinity.

It’s hard to come by an event of this scale that delivers all that the Cambridge Charity Car Show does, as well as the charity underlying the whole event. This year’s show will be held at Cambridge’s Lake Karapiro Domain on Saturday, November 22 from 10am–3pm, and looks set to deliver everything we’ve come to expect from the event. If you’re around, or are keen for something different, set this Saturday aside and head along. Entry’s only a gold coin donation as well — a cheap Saturday outing.

Check out some of the photos from last year’s stunning event captured by Kevin Shaw:

Motorman – The saga of the Temple Buell Maseratis

Swiss-born Hans Tanner and American Temple Buell were apparently among the many overseas visitors who arrived in New Zealand for the Ardmore Grand Prix and Lady Wigram trophy in January 1959. Unlike Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Ron Flockhart, Harry Schell and Carroll Shelby who lined up for the sixth New Zealand Grand Prix that year, Tanner and Buell were not racing drivers but they were key players in international motor sport.
Neither the rotund and cheery Buell nor the multi-faceted Tanner were keen on being photographed and the word ‘apparently’ is used in the absence of hard evidence that Buell actually arrived in this country 64 years ago.

Luxury by design

How do you define luxury? To some it is being blinded with all manner of technological wizardry, from massaging heated seats to being able to activate everything with your voice, be it the driver’s side window or the next track on Spotify. To others, the most exorbitant price tag will dictate how luxurious a car is.
For me, true automotive luxury comes from being transported in unparalleled comfort, refinement, and smoothness of power under complete control. Forget millions of technological toys; if one can be transported here and there without the sensation of moving at all, that is luxury — something that is perfectly encapsulated by the original Lexus LS400. It was the first truly global luxury car from Toyota, and one that made the big luxury brands take notice.