The best of the best: 2015 Ellerslie Intermarque Concours d’Elegance

4 February, 2015

Who would have thought that a small competition between a cluster of car clubs 42 years ago would one day become the largest classic and new-car event in the country?

In 2015 the Ellerslie Intermarque Concours d’Elegance and Classic Car Show will be held on February 8 at Auckland’s Ellerslie Racecourse. It features around 800 cars from clubs and leading new-vehicle dealerships, as well as an even stronger presence from those industries that support our motoring passions. New Zealand Classic Car magazine will once again host an amazing display of classic cars in the Newmarket Room.

This year’s theme for the Classic Cover Insurance Best Club Display award is The Big Screen, featuring cars as stars in films and TV shows. And you’ll see some of the country’s finest unrestored classics in RadioLIVE’s Best Survivor Class.

The show host this year is last year’s team event winner — the Auckland Mustang Owners’ Club — and you can expect to see a spectacular line-up of these iconic pony cars.

But it won’t just be classics that will captivate you. It’s hard to resist the temptations of new cars too — and this year Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jaguar, Jeep, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Lotus, Maserati, Mini, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen, and Volvo all display a mouth-watering selection of models.

There’s also Maserati’s new hospitality area, in which you can decide what you’re going to buy with next week’s Lotto winnings. One option (apart from a few cars) could be a new motorhome and, for the first time, RV Super Centre has a presence, exhibiting six futuristic recreational vehicles at the show.

This year, background music — appropriate for a classic scene — is provided by The Sound 93.8FM, with a broadcasting team on-site.

You can also acquire books and motorsport accessories, and check out wheel refurbishing, rally tours, tracking-and-recovery technology, dashboard cameras, clothing, car bumpers, garage/showroom flooring and paint-protection technology, insurance cover and, of course, Meguiar’s car-care products.

We also hope you’ll support the Variety Bash vehicles that raise funds for Variety — The Children’s Charity — look out for their special display.

So, set your camera for some great shots — and recapture fresh memories of cars you might have dreamed about, owned, or grew up with.

We hope you enjoy the show — check out the event’s progamme in advance below to see where everything will be located on the day:

Super affordable supercar

The owner of this 1978 GTV, Stephen Perry, with only a skerrick of wishful thinking, says through half-closed eyes, “It is not dissimilar to the Maserati Khamsin”.
The nose is particularly trim and elegant from all angles, featuring cut-outs for the headlights echoing Alfa’s own exotic Montreal. The body is unfussy, lean with lots of glass, and the roofline shows a faint family resemblance — although on a much more angular car — to the curved waistline of the earlier 105s. The slightly hunched rear means there’s much more space in the rear seats than in the cramped rear of 105s — very much a 2+2 — and a generous boot. These more severe lines are not quite as endearing as the 105’s but they are still classy and clearly European.