Scott Dixon to headline Legends of Speed event

18 August, 2016

When you’ve got an event where all of those in attendance could be the headline act, it’s hard to be blown away by just one big name. However, the 2016 event may be the one that changes that, as it is said that Kiwi motorsport icon Scott Dixon is to headline the Giltrap Prestige–backed Legends of Speed event, being held on November 25 at Auckland’s Vector Arena.

Legends of Speed is a Kiwi motorsport superstar haven, with Earl Bamber, Greg Murphy, Brendon Hartley, Hayden Paddon, and now the recently announced Scott Dixon, all to be showcased at the 2016 event, with never-seen-before footage and interviews. Alongside current motorsport icons, the event will showcase the legends of yesteryear and the progression of New Zealand and Kiwi motorsport on a global scale. 

Scott Dixon has had an outstanding career since joining Chip Ganassi Racing at the beginning of his IndyCar career, and has won the IndyCar championship in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2015. Scott also took out the 92nd Indianapolis 500 in 2008, from pole position. With 38 wins, Scott is the leading driver in the current IndyCar series, so to have him back on home soil to promote New Zealand motorsport and its athletes is a real treat. 

Escort services – 1968 Escort 1100 Restomod

The Escort started off as a 1968 1100 cc two-door sold-new in Britain. At some point it was retired from daily duty and set aside as a pet project for someone. When that project began is unclear, but much of the work was completed in 2014 including a complete rotisserie restoration.
By the end of 2014, it was finished but not completed. Its Wellingtonian owner bought it sight unseen from the UK and it landed here in early 2020. It was soon dispatched to Macbilt in Grenada North, Wellington for them to work their magic.
Macbilt had two instructions: to get the car through compliance for use on the road; and to improve the vehicle and finish the project so it drove as well as it looked. Looking at the car now, it has an amazing presence and stance. It can’t help but attract attention and a bevy of admirers.

Lunch with … Cary Taylor

Many years ago — in June 1995 to be more precise — I was being wowed with yet another terrific tale from Geoff Manning who had worked spanners on all types of racing cars. We were chatting at Bruce McLaren Intermediate school on the 25th anniversary of the death of the extraordinary Kiwi for whom the school was named. Geoff, who had been part of Ford’s Le Mans programme in the ’60s, and also Graham Hill’s chief mechanic — clearly realising that he had me in the palm of his hand — offered a piece of advice that I’ve never forgotten: “If you want the really good stories, talk to the mechanics.”
Without doubt the top mechanics, those involved in the highest echelons of motor racing, have stories galore — after all, they had relationships with their drivers so intimate that, to quote Geoff all those years ago, “Mechanics know what really happened.”