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Targa New Zealand: day one pace setters lead the way

27 October, 2015

Still in front at the end of the second gruelling day (Tuesday, October 27) of Targa New Zealand 2015, Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn (Mitsubishi Evo 8) have an impressive lead over five-time event winner Tony Quinn and co-driver Naomi Tillet (2008 Nissan GT-R) by just four minutes and 36 seconds.

Information on both the main (six-day) 2015 Targa New Zealand and two-day Targa Regional Rally events can be found in the latest copy of (November 2015) New Zealand Classic Car magazine.

Results:

Andrew Simms Allcomers 4WD

  1. Glenn Inkster / Spencer Winn (2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) 01:32:57
  2. Tony Quinn / Naomi Tillett (2008 Nissan GTR) 01:36:21
  3. Brian Green / Fleur Pedersen (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 1:42:06
  4. David Rogers / Aidan Kelly (2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 01:43:52
  5. Matthew Wales / Mitchell Osborne (2006 Mitsubishi Evolution 9) 01:46:17
  6. Graeme Wong / Kim Blatchley (1998 Subaru Impreza Type R) 01:48:15

Metalaman Classic 2WD

  1. Mark Kirk-Burnnand / Chris Kirk-Burnnand (1987 BMW M3) 01:40:49
  2. Bevan Claridge / Campbell Tannock (1992 Holden Commodore) 01:41:00
  3. Bruce Farley / Glen Warner (1986 BMW 325 325) 01:42:44
  4. Ashton Wood / Chris Lancaster (1976 Ford Escort RS1800) 01:45:38
  5. Keith Callinan / Mary Anne Callinan (1977 Ford Escort) 01:45:46
  6. Barry Kirk-Burnannd / Dave Ocarroll (1989 BMW M3) 01:46:54

Instra.com Modern 2WD

  1. Clark Proctor / Sue O’Neill (1973 Escort MK1) 01:39:36
  2. Martin Dippie / Jona Grant (2007 Porsche GT3 RS) 01:39:43
  3. Robert Darrington / David Abetz (2002 BMW M3) 01:41:45
  4. Grant Aitken / Caroline Cullimore (2013 Toyota 86 RC) 01:41:50
  5. Steven Kirk-Burnnand / Mick Hay (1994 BMW 318ti) 01:42:23
  6. Chris Lewis / Kieran Anstis (2013 Toyota TR86) 01:42:46

Also retaining their class lead in Instra.com Modern 2WD were Clark Proctor and Sue O’Neill (Ford Escort/Nissan V6)

Defending Targa New Zealand title-holders Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn extended their lead in the 2015 Targa New Zealand event from Auckland to Palmerston North

Meanwhile, getting the feel for their new car was Mike Lowe and co-driver Philip Sutton in the Enzed Abarth

Image credit: Fast Company / ProShotz

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.”