Keen to get involved in October’s Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise?

24 September, 2015

The Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise is back for the second time in 2016 on October 31, with organizers teaming up with Big Boys Toys in support of the wonderful work undertaken by CanTeen around cancer awareness and support. The cruise will be held on the Saturday of the Big Boys Toys event, starting off with a 9am sign in at Smits Group / Meguiar’s headquarters at 59 Greenmount Drive, East Tamaki, where entrants will receive their gift packs, their cruise route, and their official cruise sticker.

The cars will be under way at 10am sharp, following a scenic route to Big Boys Toys (held at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane), where entrants will perform a lap of the live action arena before parking their machines in the VIP car park for show goers to admire.

Registration for the Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise costs $45 per car, with the Meguiar’s VIP entry pack including a selection of products, a further discount voucher for use at the Meguiar’s / Smits Group stand at Big Boys Toys, and, of course, entry to the show for everyone in your car. The Big Boys Toys team have come to the party here, and best of all your entire entry fee will be donated to CanTeen.

The Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise is limited to well-presented vehicles only — including customs, classics, hot rods, imports, and street machines. Those who do enter will go in the draw to win a People’s Choice Award, worth $700 in cash, as well as many other prizes, so get your registration in quick to avoid missing out.

Organizers want to raise as much as they can for CanTeen, so in addition to the 100-per-cent donation of the entry fee, Smits Group / Meguiar’s will donate 50 cents for every legitimate vote in the Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise Peoples’ Choice Award. Voting forms will be provided to every person entering the showgrounds via the event guide, plus spare copies will be available at the gate and at the Meguiar’s stand. The better your car is presented, the more votes placed, and the more dollars raised!

To join the charity cruise, get your car ‘show and shine’ ready and register for the Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise at the Meguiar’s website. Good luck, and we’ll see you there!

Motorman: Blame it on Rio!

22 May, 2025

Following the third polite advisory, I figured there had to be a fair degree of substance to the warning. “If this is your first visit to Rio de Janeiro, please be careful,” came the personal hushed dialogue from the pleasant hostesses on a far from crowded Varig flight from Los Angeles to the famous Brazilian seaside city.
The previous evening I had flown into LA from Auckland en route to the 1985 international launch of the Fiat Uno Turbo. I was prepared for another long haul of just under 12 hours across Mexico, central America, Colombia, and central Brazil to that nation’s third largest city. Surprisingly the 10,500km run from Los Angeles to Rio is actually longer than the 8800km LA-London air route.
With the journey including a brief stopover in Honolulu I expected to travel just under 44,000km for the return journey to sample what was to be a low-volume version of a popular Italian car that would sell in even lower numbers in New Zealand. I like to think this shows nothing more than my deep commitment to my craft. In fact, even though I became lost on the homeward journey my total air miles would be little different.

Pinnacle Porsche

15 May, 2025

We were stopped at the side of the road, setting up the next photograph, when a faded Toyota slowed alongside and stopped. The window was already down to give the driver a good look.
“That’s my dream car,” he said, speaking for more than a few of us.
He drank in the gleaming red paint, shining in the sun, and the car’s purposeful swoops and curves. He exhaled half a lungful of cigarette smoke, gave a hang 10–style thumbs up and drove off.
On the side of the road, against a clear blue background, the Porsche stood out in all its stark red glory. It’s the classic 911 shape on steroids. It has the fat, even pouty, front lip of the G series 911s, added to comply with 5mph bumper restrictions in the US. It also has the oversized haunches to accommodate the wider rear wheels and tyres – a first for Porsche, which also confirmed its supercar credentials – and, most noticeably of all, that enormous whale-tail spoiler. They made it look as if Porsche had abandoned its restraint.

Keen to get involved in October’s Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise?

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