SUBSCRIBE TO THE
MAGAZINE NOW
Facebook-f Instagram

Tony Quinn picks up Hampton Downs

3 June, 2015

It’s the start of a new chapter for Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, as it has recently been purchased by Highlands Motorsport Park owner and Australian pet food magnate Tony Quinn.

Hampton Downs opened in 2009, and Quinn has expressed an interest in purchasing the facility for a number of years — it was only after extensive negotiations that he was able to purchase, becoming Hampton Downs’ new owner on June 3.

Tony Quinn (R) purchases Hampton Downs Motorsport Park

For the first six months, Quinn will sit back and firm up his plans, but some plans are already in the works.

“A lot of what we want to do is pretty obvious, like finishing off the pit lane, extending the track, and building another skid pan down the bottom,” Quinn says. “By the end of the summer, maybe March–April next year [2016], a lot of those plans will be finished. Then I can see a grand opening of the track in November, 2016.”

Though nothing is set in stone as yet, it is thought that this grand opening may also play host to a New Zealand double-header finale to the Australian GT series. There is also speculation around an Asia-Pacific GT Cup at the event. Only time will tell, but it sure sounds as though Hampton Downs really will be stepping up to the international stage.

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.