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Win a Scalextric Lotus Exige

3 December, 2014

Most would normally link Colin Chapman’s legendary Lotus marque to Formula One and sports car racing rather than rallying, although those who remember the legendary Sunbeam Lotus know better. Having made their rally debut in 1978, the Lotus 908-powered Sunbeam hatchback competed successfully in frontline events, winning the Championship for Manufacturers in 1981.

After 30 years absence from the rally stage, Lotus returned in 2011 with the Exige R-GT, a car purposely designed for tarmac rallies. Powered by the Evora’s supercharged 3.5-litre V6, this special Exige made its competition debut at the 2012 Rally Vinho da Madeira in Portugal.

As a special Lotus treat, courtesy of the good guys at Toymod Ltd – the NZ Scalextric distributors – we’re giving away an Exige R-GT racer to one lucky reader. Just fill in the form below and answer the question.

This competition is now closed

Terms and conditions

The prize is available for delivery in New Zealand only. One entry per person. Prizes are not transferable, not redeemable for cash, and no exchanges will be made. There is one prize to be given away. The judge’s decision is final. Employees of Parkside Media, associated sponsor(s), and their immediate families and agencies are not permitted to enter. Entries are the property of New Zealand Classic Car magazine and The Motorhood and may be used for promotional purposes by Parkside Media. Entrants must be over the age of 18. Entrants agree to their name/photo being used for publicity purposes. By entering this competition you agree to receive occasional information from New Zealand Classic Car and The Motorhood including out monthly newsletter. Entries close January 10, 2015.

Janspeed recreates the Jaguar sports car

29 September, 2026

Thankfully, a few of these cars made it to New Zealand, the odd one being imported from the UK over the years. However, the 1988 British Racing Green example owned by Bill Slater in Upper Hutt was originally sold as a standard car but converted using the full Janspeed kit by the first owner within a couple of years of buying it.
Bill has owned a few other Jaguars. In fact, after he sold his Jaguar XJ12 in 2018, he found himself pining for another and, when the XJ-S came up for sale, he could not resist it. Having just sold the V12, he was not expecting much from the six-cylinder car other than more reliability and it being cheaper to keep on the road. Naturally, he had heard of the influence Janspeed had on the marque, but it was not until he took the car for a test drive that he became aware of just how superior it was to the car he had just sold. The price of a second-hand Janspeed XJ-S and that of a standard 3.6 XJ-S is quite comparable, making the Janspeed version an incredible bargain, even more so in comparison with other performance classic cars — or even modern cars, for that matter — which cost far more bucks for the bang.

The writing on the wall

25 September, 2026

Deven, a digital content producer in his 20s, says it was the rear-drive Nissan and Toyota drift cars that fired his imagination in his not-so-distant youth and soon had him wanting one of his own. However, like most of us, he had to start in something less glamorous – in his case, a 1997 Mitsubishi Galant. After that, he bought a four-litre V8 1991 Toyota Soarer, a big change from the Mitsubishi.
“It was my daily driver, and it wasn’t that bad to run back when petrol was affordable,” he says.
When he got fed up with filling it up, Deven bought a 1989 Ford Laser sedan, a 1.3-litre five-speed manual, to be his daily driver. It’s in very good condition, bought from a careful older driver, and he still runs it – although he will occasionally also drive the latest in a series of Nissan Laurel sedans. His current one, from 1993, has done the lowest number of kilometres yet, at 183,000. It has the single-cam version of the engine in his Skyline.
“I’ve had four different versions of that car. It was just a car I always liked. It’s really comfortable, quite luxurious. I bought it from a 90-year-old in Hamilton. It’s in mint condition, and everything is standard.”