Race to the Sky has a new king

28 April, 2015

After taking an in-depth look at the Possum Bourne Motorsport–built Subaru WRC car, we knew the team, and driver Alister McRae, had a good shot at winning the resurrected Repco Race to the Sky hill-climb event in Cardrona Valley. Boasting over 850hp, the Subaru was a real monster, which it had to be with the likes of Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima returning to claim the throne with his purpose-built Super 86, as well as super-quad racer Ian Ffitch said to rustle some feathers.

However, there could only be one winner and Alister McRae was on fire all weekend, until Sunday morning when the worst happened during a practice run. Alistair pushed hard during the morning session, until there was a mechanical failure. It was irreparable at this stage in the weekend and the spare motor had to be installed before the final run — fine of course, but it makes 150hp less than the first engine. With less power than the initial motor, the team weren’t as confident, but after Alister’s final run of 8:17:06 was enough to secure the win, he was crowned the new king of the mountain.

Australian Brett Hayward was consistent throughout the weekend in his self-built supercharged Suzuki-powered open wheeler.

His consistency was enough to see him place second overall during the final run (left on the podium).

Kiwi Ian Ffitch, from Amberly, also suffered an engine failure on Sunday morning, but his efficient team had the quad back up and running in no time. Ian placed third overall and took home the Repco Race to the Sky Fastest Kiwi trophy.

Unfortunately for Monster, he suffered a very serious aero failure, which had him veer off the road along one of the highest-speed sections of the climb. Monster was looking quick throughout the event and it’s a real shame that he didn’t get the chance to contest the final. Monster was very disappointed in the outcome, but will be back to contest the popular event the next chance that he gets.

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.

The other Q car

12 August, 2026

Say the word ‘bond’ to anyone in the street and around 80 per cent straight away think of pop culture’s least-secret secret agent. The other 20 per cent may think of the wad of cash required to secure a flat or hire equipment that one gets back providing the fixtures and fittings stay much as they were.
However, mention ‘bond’ in specialist classic car circles and people will spin a very different yarn. If you dig deep enough, you will find an eccentric British carmaker that, throughout its 23 years in business, spawned some quirky and charming little cars.
The company was founded by Paul Sharp in 1922 under the name of Sharp’s Commercials Limited. However, the company did not start producing cars until 1948. The first car to carry the Bond name was the Bond Minicar. A three-wheeled, soft-top, two-cylinder eco car, the Minicar was a big hit at the time as the desire for an economical urban runabout that didn’t attract four-wheel car tax was strong in post-war Britain. All in all, 34,285 Minicars were produced over 26 years in a variety of variants.

Race to the Sky has a new king

Contact us

Sign up to New Zealand Classic Car's newsletter