McLaren 650S Kiwi debut

16 June, 2014

 


Auckland’s bespoke McLaren dealership played host last night to the unveiling of the latest offering from the Surrey based supercar manufacturer – the McLaren 650S.

Looking at the 650S, it’s clearly not a stripped out 12C (as featured in the June issue of New Zealand Classic Car) with a facelift. Boasting P1 styling up front, the 650C has 25-per-cent new parts, lighter forged alloy wheels, carbon-ceramic brakes as standard, and performance to match any of its contemporary rivals, the 650C is without doubt the new heavyweight contender on the block for those with the wherewithal to park one of these exotic pieces of kit in their garage .

We look forward to getting in behind the wheel of this stunning machine in the near future, so keep an eye out for our verdict.

Westside story

For the young Dave Blyth, the Sandman was always the coolest car and he finally got one when he was 50. “I have always had a rule. When you turn 50, you buy or can afford to buy the car you lusted after when you were 20. I was 20 in 1979 and the HZ Sandman came out in 1978. It was the coolest of the cool — I just wanted one,” he says. “Back then a Sandman cost $4500 new and a house was worth about $20,000. I made about $30 a week so it was an impossible dream then.”
Dave was heavily influenced by the panel van culture of the time. “I started with an Escort panel van and upgraded to a Holden HD panel van with a 186ci six cylinder. I started a van club, Avon City Vans.

NZ Classic Car magazine, November/December 2024 issue 396, on sale now

It took 19 years for Steve Radich to achieve his dream of owning a Skyline Hakosuka, but what he ended up with is perfection in an extremely low-kilometre example which is our cover feature in this issue.
Back in 2005, Steve hatched a plan to one day own his dream Skyline: the legendary Hakosuka. Over the next 15 years, the list of Skylines Steve bought and sold went as follows. First was a 1998 Nissan Skyline GT, with two doors too many. It was replaced with a red GTT of the same year, but with the correct number of doors! Finally, in 2020, Steve found himself looking at a white 1999 GTR sitting in his shed.
“I was well down the path of getting to the dream of trading my way to owning a Hakosuka,” he says.”
Don’t forget that this edition also comes with our FREE huge wall poster. This issue features a fully restored 1968 Ford Cortina GT Mark II.