Wheels up for the crowds at Ruapuna

29 January, 2015

Tonnes of wheels-up action took place during the IHRA Southern Nationals at Ruapuna on January 25 — and the track had seen a lot of effort to get it prepped for the event.

It was the first time many of the spectators had seen such a full field fighting it out to be the best in their class — even several North Island cars had made the trip to get in on the action. There were a couple of minor breakdowns and oil issues over the course of the day, but nothing that the Pegasus Bay Drag Racing Club crew couldn’t sort.

Amongst the impressive field, it was great to see Brendon Shearing hammering his ’71 Holden Monaro, as seen on the cover of Issue No. 115 of NZV8 magazine. The car runs into the low nine-second zone making it the current quickest street car in the South Island. Not bad for someone who lives an eight-hour drive from the track!

Another previous NZV8 feature car to also stretch its legs was SYCO 8, an ex Hamilton-based Holden Monaro now owned by Chris Daley, all the way from Te Anau.

After a full-on day, the results of the event were as follows. Don’t forget to check out the gallery below and let us know if you were there in the comments.

Supercharged Outlaws

Winner: Graham Christison
Runner-up: Minchington Brothers

Top Street

Winner: Roger Binnema
Runner-up: Gavin Green

Super Sedan

Winner: Jason Fleck
Runner-up: Warren Black

Modified

Winner: Ken King
Runner-up: Cameron Patterson

Competition Bike

Winner: Raymond Lelievere
Runner-up: Andy Urwin Wells

Modified Bike

Winner: Alan Thoresen
Runner-up: Bryn McCaw

Super Street

Winner: Dave Christian
Runner-up: Andy Vaughan

NZ Classic Car magazine, July/August 2026 issue 406, on sale now

21 June, 2026

Rebirth of a brilliant Grand Tourer –1973 Datsun 240Z
How often do we long for that ultimate dream sports car, and that dream comes true? This is about one of the most influential Japanese cars of all time, a car that changed the sports car market.
This is about much more than the restoration of an iconic classic sports car, the 240Z. It’s about the culmination of a dream over many years and the friendships made. It’s about the people who helped and the professionals whose approach ensured that the dream became a reality, an attitude typical of the industry we call ‘classic restoration experts’.
It is no surprise that the outcome after a lengthy search by Conrad Van der Geest for the right Datsun 240Z culminated in a trophy for the best Japanese car at this year’s Caroline Bay Beach, Rock N’ Hop at Timaru.
Originally a roadworthy car in running order, it was left-hand-drive and had been driven for several years by its Timaru owner, as Conrad explains.
“A neighbour, Dave Barron, knew I was looking for one and introduced me to the owner. I had seen the car being driven around Timaru. It was unusual for one of these coming originally from California, so it was a really clean car instead of rusty, as they are prone to rust. The story goes that the grandfather passed it onto his grandson, who decided to sell it, and that’s when it came over here.”
Every issue comes with our FREE huge wall poster; this issue, it’s our cover car for this edition, a 1973 Datsun 240Z

The butterfly effect

18 June, 2026

The man on the mountain bike pedalled over, taking it all in. Gazing in wonderment at this small Japanese coupe with butterfly doors, he said, “Wow, I have never seen one of these before. What is it?” When I told him it was a Toyota, he nearly fell off his bike.
The Toyota Sera is unique amongst ’90s Japanese coupes. The Sera, which is Italian for ‘evening’, can trace its roots back to Toyota’s AXV-II concept car. Launched as part of a trio of Toyota concept cars at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, it shared its underpinnings with the P70 Toyota Starlet. The similarities ended there, thanks to the AXV-II’s low-slung and rounded coupe styling with butterfly doors. These doors were held upright by gas struts when fully open. Glass covered the upper section of the doors and the rear hatchback.
These features, much to everyone’s surprise, were carried over to the production Sera in 1990. Toyota marketed the Sera, which means ‘will be’ in Spanish and ‘princess’ in Hebrew, as a funky alternative to the much-loved MR2.

Wheels up for the crowds at Ruapuna

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