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Top-shelf metal on display at Big Boys Toys 2015

29 October, 2015

Big Boys Toys is, without a doubt, New Zealand’s biggest mainstream ‘bloke-fest’ — a massive expo dedicated to all the things that make Kiwi blokes feel warm and gooey inside; chiefly, fast cars and power tools. There will be some amazing gear on display, but if the exotic supercars, showroom Euros, CrossFitters, and boats don’t tickle your fancy, we’ve got you covered.

On display we’ll have a range of cars — cars built and restored by regular Kiwi car enthusiasts — covering our three motoring titles, New Zealand Classic Car, NZ Performance Car, and NZV8, as well as a stream of our new TV show NAC Car Culture. 

The NZ Performance Car boys have managed to sort out a pretty wild machine to show off this year — Daynom Templeman’s outrageous, and only just completed, BMW M3. This thing is a real deal, pro-spec drift car, powered by a nitrous-equipped 2JZ-GTE pumping out over 1000hp, and with a dozen Santa sacks full of top-shelf gear — think Wisefab steering and suspension gear, Kevlar body parts; the works. Make no mistake, you’ll want to see this weapon right up close. 

Eight cylinder power is taken care of with Mike Bari’s brutal 1971 Chev Chevelle, as featured on the cover of NZV8 Issue No. 123. No stranger to tough street cars, having built a street-legal nine-second Ford Capri back in the ’90s, Mike’s latest creation is about as tough as they come. Not only has the Chevelle’s ample bodywork been massaged to perfection, it’s also been built 100-per-cent correct to run easy single-digit quarter-mile passes. They should come in due course, courtesy of a mammoth 598ci big block Chev, aided by a progressive port and plate nitrous system. The whole car is a masterpiece in engineering and finish, and one that you should see to believe. 

Last, but not least — except in size — is the diminutive Fiat Abarth 500 on display for New Zealand Classic Car magazine. Roger Bourne purchased this example, a 1963 Fiat Abarth 500 with a full convertible roof, from Trade Me, before getting it completely restored. The boot lid covers a larger Fiat 126 engine, which has been rebuilt and modified by the team at Marsh Motorsport — while it won’t run four-second quarter-miles, it sure is a neat, and very cool, little cruiser. 

In addition to the cars we have on display, you’ll also be able to watch episodes of our new TV show NAC Car Culture, usually broadcast from 2pm every Sunday on TV3, and you can pick up some pretty sweet subscription offers to our motoring titles while you’re at it.

More to the point

6 March, 2026

This Daimler SP252 is so rare, few people know it exists. It’s one of a kind. It’s the only surviving, in fact the only SP252 ever completed; the would-be successor to the SP250 Daimler Dart. It is also the last sports car to have been designed by Jaguar’s legendary founder, Sir William Lyons.
Perhaps one of the original Dart’s biggest problems was it’s somewhat-divisive looks. It certainly went well enough to win fans, although Sir William wasn’t among them. It crushed the opposition in the Bathurst six-hour race, finishing five laps ahead of anyone else, and it was snapped up by police forces in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, as it was the fastest thing on the road.
So you’d think a stunning new body with the magic Lyons touch would have been a surefire success. Why this car never made it into production is still something of a mystery, as the official explanations barely stack up.

Polishing to perfection

26 February, 2026

The secret to a show-stopping finish is colour sanding, no matter which paint system you use. Even a good painter, no matter how experienced or talented — like my mate Bruce Haye, CEO at Ace Panel and Paint in Whitianga — can’t shoot to a perfect mirror finish. To get that level of perfection, you need to colour sand.
It used to be called ‘rubbing out’ or ‘cutting’, and it was done with pastes that came in cans. They worked — sort of — but the compounds really just rounded off imperfections instead of eliminating them, and they removed a lot of paint in the process. But now your new finish can be made flawless, thanks to microfine sandpapers that come in 1000, 1500, 2000, and even 2500 grit ranges, and Farecla G3 polish — available from automotive paint suppliers.