RIP: Chris Amon 1943–2016

3 August, 2016

It was with heavy hearts that we learnt today of the passing of one of New Zealand motorsport’s greats — Chris Amon.

Chris passed away today at Rotorua Hospital just a fortnight after celebrating his 73rd birthday.

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the victory for Chris and Bruce McLaren at Le Mans when the Kiwi duo won the famous 24-hour race in a Ford GT40. That victory did not go unnoticed at Ferrari, and for 1967 Chris was signed to the famous Italian marque. He remained there for three seasons during which he won the Daytona 24-hour race, the 1000km of Monza, the New Zealand Grand Prix twice, and the Tasman Championship in 1969; however, consistent car breakages with their Grand Prix cars caused him to reluctantly quit at the end of that year.

Having established himself as one of the very best drivers in the world, he went on to drive for March and Matra in Formula 1, and for BMW in the European Touring Car Championship. He retired from Formula 1 in 1976, and from all motor racing in 1977 when he returned to New Zealand. He married Tish and returned to farming.

While motor racing was never forgotten, it went on the back burner as he settled back into life in New Zealand after 15 years away. They were soon joined by daughter Georgie, followed by twins James and Alex.

For many years, Chris had been a consultant to Toyota, and the winner of the Toyota Racing Series receives the Chris Amon Trophy. Chris was widely regarded internationally as not only the best driver never to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, but one of the best drivers never to be crowned world champion. Chris was awarded an MBE for his services to motorsport in 1993, and was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

Chris had battled with cancer in recent years, but retained not only a close interest in Formula 1, but also his wonderful sense of humour complete with infectious chuckle.

He’ll be sadly missed by friends and fans around the globe.

Our condolences go out to his family.

NZ Classic Car magazine, July/August 2026 issue 406, on sale now

21 June, 2026

Rebirth of a brilliant Grand Tourer –1973 Datsun 240Z
How often do we long for that ultimate dream sports car, and that dream comes true? This is about one of the most influential Japanese cars of all time, a car that changed the sports car market.
This is about much more than the restoration of an iconic classic sports car, the 240Z. It’s about the culmination of a dream over many years and the friendships made. It’s about the people who helped and the professionals whose approach ensured that the dream became a reality, an attitude typical of the industry we call ‘classic restoration experts’.
It is no surprise that the outcome after a lengthy search by Conrad Van der Geest for the right Datsun 240Z culminated in a trophy for the best Japanese car at this year’s Caroline Bay Beach, Rock N’ Hop at Timaru.
Originally a roadworthy car in running order, it was left-hand-drive and had been driven for several years by its Timaru owner, as Conrad explains.
“A neighbour, Dave Barron, knew I was looking for one and introduced me to the owner. I had seen the car being driven around Timaru. It was unusual for one of these coming originally from California, so it was a really clean car instead of rusty, as they are prone to rust. The story goes that the grandfather passed it onto his grandson, who decided to sell it, and that’s when it came over here.”
Every issue comes with our FREE huge wall poster; this issue, it’s our cover car for this edition, a 1973 Datsun 240Z

The butterfly effect

18 June, 2026

The man on the mountain bike pedalled over, taking it all in. Gazing in wonderment at this small Japanese coupe with butterfly doors, he said, “Wow, I have never seen one of these before. What is it?” When I told him it was a Toyota, he nearly fell off his bike.
The Toyota Sera is unique amongst ’90s Japanese coupes. The Sera, which is Italian for ‘evening’, can trace its roots back to Toyota’s AXV-II concept car. Launched as part of a trio of Toyota concept cars at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, it shared its underpinnings with the P70 Toyota Starlet. The similarities ended there, thanks to the AXV-II’s low-slung and rounded coupe styling with butterfly doors. These doors were held upright by gas struts when fully open. Glass covered the upper section of the doors and the rear hatchback.
These features, much to everyone’s surprise, were carried over to the production Sera in 1990. Toyota marketed the Sera, which means ‘will be’ in Spanish and ‘princess’ in Hebrew, as a funky alternative to the much-loved MR2.

RIP: Chris Amon 1943–2016

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