Win a Corgi Bentley Continental GT

15 April, 2015

In 2003, under the management of Volkswagen AG, Bentley really turned a corner when they revived an old model name with the introduction of the Continental GT. Powered by a massive six-litre W12 motor, replete with a pair of turbochargers, this Bentley for the new millennium boasted 412kW (that’s 552 imperial horses) and a top speed just a tad under the magical 200mph mark. Woolf Barnato, Sir Tim Birkin and the rest of the Bentley Boys would’ve loved this luxurious beast. Using the original Continental GT as a base, Bentley would subsequently essay a whole range of models, with one of the latest being the 2014-introduced V8 S.

If you try a Google image search on the V8 S, you’ll discover a whole pile of shots depicting a Monaco Yellow example — the UK press car.

Thanks to the good guys at Toymod, the NZ Corgi distributor, we have one example of the UK Press Car Bentley to give away to a lucky reader — just answer the following question:

Q: What was the registration number of the Monaco Yellow Continental V8 S UK press car?

Competition closes on May 20, 2015

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Phone

Answer

Yes I agree to the terms and conditions

Terms and conditions: The prize is available for delivery in New Zealand only. One entry per person. Prizes are not transferable, not redeemable for cash, and no exchanges will be made. There is one prize to be given away. The promoter is Parkside Media Ltd, 254 Richmond Road Grey Lynn, Auckland. The decision of the promoter is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Employees of Parkside Media, associated sponsor(s), and their immediate families and agencies are not permitted to enter. Entries are the property of [insert publication title] magazine and The Motorhood and may be used for promotional purposes by Parkside Media. Entrants must be over the age of 18. Entrants agree to their name/photo being used for publicity purposes. By entering this competition you agree to receive occasional information from New Zealand Classic Car and The Motorhood, including monthly newsletters. Entries close [insert closing date]. Prizes are as specified and are not transferable or redeemable for cash. If the winner does not claim the prize within 21 days of contact being attempted, the prize will be withdrawn and a new winner drawn. Parkside Media reserves the right to make any changes to any prizes and to provide the winner(s) with a substitute prize.

Yes

The butterfly effect

18 June, 2026

The man on the mountain bike pedalled over, taking it all in. Gazing in wonderment at this small Japanese coupe with butterfly doors, he said, “Wow, I have never seen one of these before. What is it?” When I told him it was a Toyota, he nearly fell off his bike.
The Toyota Sera is unique amongst ’90s Japanese coupes. The Sera, which is Italian for ‘evening’, can trace its roots back to Toyota’s AXV-II concept car. Launched as part of a trio of Toyota concept cars at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, it shared its underpinnings with the P70 Toyota Starlet. The similarities ended there, thanks to the AXV-II’s low-slung and rounded coupe styling with butterfly doors. These doors were held upright by gas struts when fully open. Glass covered the upper section of the doors and the rear hatchback.
These features, much to everyone’s surprise, were carried over to the production Sera in 1990. Toyota marketed the Sera, which means ‘will be’ in Spanish and ‘princess’ in Hebrew, as a funky alternative to the much-loved MR2.

12 June, 2026

Both Rod Millen and Ron Kendall were rotary racing kings, emanating from the North Shore of Auckland, where I grew up. And the ultimate rotary techno guru was Bill Shiells, who developed the engine into a rocket ship while working out of Gulf Mazda in Takapuna from 1969, and later in his own business, Rotorsport. He began to extract some phenomenal horsepower from the enigmatic rotary engine. Bill was one of the first to race the Mazda RX-2 Coupe in 1971 and achieved immediate success, causing others to sit up and take notice, particularly the North Shore’s racing elite. They included Robbie Francevic, Rod Millen, Ron Kendall, John Woolf, John Le Feuvre, and Rex Findlay.