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The greatest love of all: New Zealand Classic Car Show 2016

11 February, 2016

‘A Classic Love Story’ is the theme for this year’s New Zealand Classic Car Show, which is being held on Sunday, February 14 (Valentine’s Day) at the picturesque Ellerslie Racecourse. New Zealand Classic Car magazine is again the major sponsor, and we are proud to be associated with a show that is recognized as the country’s premier classic car event — now in its 43rd year.

The New Zealand Classic Car Show not only provides the opportunity for over 75 classic car clubs to show off their best classics to the public, but it also awards excellence in the highly coveted Masters’ Class and Team Event along with the Survivors’ Class.

The highly prized Team Event Shield is awarded to the club presenting the finest pair of same-marque restorations — you’ll find them on display in the Parade Ring, next to the Members’ Stand.

The original event, over four decades ago, was a Concours d’Elegance competition between the marques of various participating clubs. Today, clubs still compete for the same prestigious club shield.

The two-car teams are judged for presentation and originality by a team of skilled and experienced judges — the winning team then hosts the following year’s event. This year’s host club is the Porsche Club of New Zealand.

Seven teams are vying for this year’s Team Event, one of which has been entered by the Auckland Mustang Owners Club. The two award-winning 1969 Mach 1 Mustangs seen above have been lovingly restored to original condition and have been meticulously prepared especially for this event — be sure to stop by and check them out.  

If elegance and style takes your fancy then you’ll need to head over to the Newmarket Room, where New Zealand Classic Car will have the amazing 1938 Mercedes Benz 540K Roadster on display. This massive, handcrafted, art deco sculpture was the absolute pinnacle of automotive desirability from the moment it was launched in Paris back in 1936  — and it is a must-see.

Head along to the New Zealand Classic Car Show 2016 at Ellerslie Racecourse between 10am and 4pm on Sunday, February 14 to share in the greatest love of all — incredible, immaculate classic cars!

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.

Range Rover CSK — the original SUV

5 June, 2026

The Range Rover, thanks to Charles Spencer King, went into production in 1970 boasting an iconic shape that would last until 1996. The vehicle that would create the SUV moniker came about because Rover decided it was time to add a bigger four-wheel-drive vehicle, one with a 100-inch wheelbase, to the model range. Land Rover made a 109-inch wheelbase model but the standard vehicle had a 88-inch wheelbase.
The new model would be more suitable for road use than the existing Land Rover, which was considered to be predominantly for rural use. To make sure it could cope on any road it came standard with the Rover 3.5-litre V8 engine. The body design was originally sketched by King and went into production with only a few minor touch-ups by the Rover styling team.
According to King, “The idea was to combine the comfort and on-road ability of a Rover saloon with the off-road ability of a Land Rover. Nobody was doing it.”