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Will Hampton Downs finally be completed?

27 March, 2015

Is Tony Quinn New Zealand motorsport’s Bruce Wayne? It would seem so if the current rumours are true, and the VIP Petfoods giant has finally been successful in his quest to purchase the financialy crippled Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. In two recent interviews, Quinn has been very vocal about trying to fix what he sees is wrong with New Zealand Motorsport, and he knew he needed two tracks to do it. 

Image source: downforce.co.nz

His quest began back in 2012 when he made his first attempt at purchasing Hampton Downs, and around the same time took over the Highlands Motorsport Park project. With his first offer on Hamptons turned down, he then made inroads to purchasing either Queensland Raceway or more recently Taupo Motorsport Park. Both deals failed to see pen put to paper. Little did we know that he had again made a bid for Hamptons and if the rumours are true then the deal has been made.

Hampton Downs is New Zealand’s busiest motorsport park, operating 320 days a year; but despite this, it hasn’t been without its financial issues leaving the venue unfinished and with a for-sale sign out front basically since it opened. 

So what does this mean for you and me? The facility could now see the completion of the 1.2km club circuit, giving Hampton’s three possible track layouts, the longest of which would be 3.8km. There will no doubt also be other additions to make the venue more financially viable 

It is said current management will remain in place, and I highly doubt Quinn will mirror the business model of Highlands. Which I would like to point out is the only way that venue would exist, due to the strict resource consents allowing only minimal events per year;  Quinn is after all a business man, and from an outsider’s view seems to have New Zealand motorsport’s best interests at heart. This is why I liken him to Batman/Bruce Wayne; a well-to-do business man trying to do good, but often grossly misunderstood. 

We will keep a close eye on the deal as details unfold.

Bronze treasure unearthed

20 August, 2026

The car was put away in favour of something more practical, and when his father was unable to drive any more, Matt’s friend asked him to come and take a look at his dad’s old Holden. It turned out this was one of those phone calls that leads to that feeling of pure joy in the classic car world — the ‘barn find’ that turns out to be even better than expected. The HT Monaro had been put to bed some years before and had not seen the light of day since. Layers of dust and boxes of junk littered her undercarriage and bodywork and access points all around.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.