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Classic BMW K1 auctioned for Nepal earthquake relief

19 May, 2015

In 1992, BMW released for production the K1 motorcycle — their first production motorcycle featuring four valves per cylinder, and cutting-edge design. That design stood the test of time in that it still boasts the lowest coefficient of drag of any production motorcycle to date.

A beautifully restored example has been donated by BMW specialists Mint Classics, of Münster, to RM Sotheby’s auction house — 100 per cent of the auction’s proceeds are to benefit Caritas International, which is a confederation that volunteers and provides aid for when a crisis hits. These proceeds will go towards the support of relief work for the recent Nepalese earthquakes.

“We are proud to lend our auction services to support the area’s earthquake-relief efforts, with 100 per cent of proceeds from the bike’s sale, including buyer’s premiums, supporting this deserving cause,” said Max Girardo, Managing Director of RM Sotheby’s Europe,

The auction is to take place during the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on Lake Como, Italy, on May 23. We hope the bidders will dig deep for a truly worthy cause.

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.

Racing Mazdas

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.