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The wait’s nearly over: NAC Car Culture is coming soon!

14 October, 2015

We’re less than a week out from NAC Car Culture hitting a TV near you this Sunday, October 18, at 2pm on TV3. It’s been a long time coming and we can’t wait to show you what badass content we have in store for you. NAC Car Culture is a magazine-style TV show, which means that each episode you’ll see stuff similar to what we feature on The Motorhood and in our magazines, like a couple of feature cars, an insane dream-worthy garage, or an event we think worthy of showcasing to New Zealand and the world.

In this first episode we take a close look at Johnny Burkhart’s ProCharged hemi-powered ’69 Plymouth Road Runner; we have a chat with Malcolm Sankey from Matamata Panelworks, and we soak in the crazy action that the Mothers Chrome Expression Session had to offer.

With 10 episodes per season, and three seasons locked in, there’s plenty to look forward to! If you do happen to miss an episode (because you’re out at an event or in the shed building a monster), we’ll have them uploaded online for you to watch here at The Motorhood, so save this page to your bookmarks as we’ll tack them all here.

Meanwhile, check out the trailer for the first episode below …

“Gotcha!’’ The continuing tale of a Nissan/Datsun tragic – part two

8 May, 2026

In 1996, I was on a mission to buy a suitable pavement scorcher and visited the now-defunct Manukau City Car Fair. Unbelievably, among the sea of four-door utilitarian Japanese compacts was the absolute jewel in the crown, my automobile wet dream — a 1985 two-door R30 RS Nissan Skyline FJ20 Turbo five-speed manual in nice condition. The owner wanted $10,000 — a great deal.
But what did I do? I bailed out, paralysed by indecision. The money would have been a stretch, but it was the worst automotive choice I ever made. Instead, I went for a rusty Toyota Sprinter 8 Valve Twin Cam Coupé, which was pretty terminal from the get-go. I know. We’ve all done it, but there was really no excuse for passing up the Skyline, and I was haunted by that for years.

Last Tango in the Fast Lane

30 April, 2026

In the mid ’80s, I locked into a serious Nissan/Datsun performance obsession. It could have kicked off with my ’82 Datsun Sunny, though this would have been a bit of a stretch of the imagination, given its normally aspirated 1.2-litre motor — not the sort of thing to unleash radical road warrior dreams. But it did plant a seed, and it was a sweet little machine and surprisingly quick, in contrast to all the diabolical English offerings I had endured.
I was living in South Auckland at the time and was an unrepentant petrolhead. Motor racing was my drug of choice, and I followed the scene slavishly. Saloon car racing, with the arrival of the international Group A formula, was having a serious renaissance here and in Australia and Europe. There was suddenly an exotic air in local racing that had been absent for 15 years.
I was transfixed by this new frontier of motor racing that had hit our tracks in 1985–87 and the new array of machinery on display. In 1986, the Nissan Skyline RS DR30 made a blinding impression on me. The Australian Fred Gibson-run, Peter Jackson-sponsored team of George Fury and Glenn Seton were the fastest crew of the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship. But Kiwi legend Robbie Francevic snuck through to win the Aussie Championship in his Volvo 240T after a strong start and consistent finishes.