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East meets West with this oriental Colt Galant GSR

18 September, 2015

Japanese car culture’s expansion to the proverbial West continues to grow and grow, with an exponentially increasing amount of stories of cars like this beautiful Mitsubishi Colt Galant GSR, which now calls America home, popping up all over the World Wide Web.

In stark contrast to the high-tech Mitsubishi GTO from the early ’90s that NZ Performance Car staffer René gallivants all around the greater North Island in, the Colt Galant GTO and GSR were much simpler beasts from a much simpler time. While René’s GTO features four-wheel steering, seats that mould to your body, and a twin-turbo six-cylinder 6G72 power plant; the Colt Galant GTO is your perennial battler, making do with an enthusiastic two-litre twin-carb engine paired with a five-speed manual. Simple thrills.

But enough of our talk (did we mention that René owns a GTO?) — find a quiet spot, put your feet up, and check out this stunning Petrolicious video on the Colt Galant below:

Header image: Petrolicious / Jeremy Heslup

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

16 April, 2025

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.

NZ Classic Car magazine, May/June 2025 issue 399, on sale now

13 April, 2025

Who would have thought it would become such a worldwide motorsport star when Ford introduced the humble Escort in 1967?
Its popularity, particularly in Mark 1 form, is now of iconic status. Our cover story for this issue is on a 1968 Ford Escort Mark 1, Alan Mann Racing Tribute. We talked with the owner of this very special Escort, finished in tribute also to the owner’s father.
“Most children love speed, and motorsport typically comes courtesy of a parent, and Elliott is no different. His engineer father, Mark, had a love for motorcycles and going fast; however, when children came along, he swapped two wheels for four, in the form of two Ford Escorts.
Little did Mark know it at the time, but the humble Escort was about to weave its way into the family fabric once and for all.
After emigrating from London to New Zealand, Elliott recalled one evening when he was 14 being invited to tag along by his father, helping a friend convert an Escort road car into a racing car. This was the pivotal moment when Elliott remembers the motorsport bug taking over. He knew he had to have his own one.”