Spruce up your interior with Luxxio

3 April, 2017

 

Your car’s interior may see more wear and tear than its exterior, depending on how you treat it, so make sure you treat it right — to find out how, we spoke to Jack Crichton from Luxxio.

Interior Touch Up

“At Luxxio, we process hundreds of cars a month for private and commercial industry, so we needed an interior cleaner that was going to get the job done right the first time and quickly. We created a formula that increases the surface tension of the dirty surface, maximising our ability to clean with minimal passes.

“We also needed a solution that was safe for use on all surfaces — plastics, leathers and metallic surfaces. The product worked so well that we made it available for retail. You really cannot go wrong in applying the formula, either spray directly onto the surface (if it needs a soaking) or your all-purpose Microfibre cloth for a quick and clean wipe. The product will do the work for you.”

Plastic Defence

“Now the surface is clean, we wanted a coating to keep it protected, most products have strong chemicals that can cause more damage than good so we developed an olive oil-based product that nourishes and protect the surface. It smells amazing, prevents UV damage, permeates deep into the plastic to restore colour and adds water repellency, plus it has an anti-static agent to reduce dust while naturally protecting the plastic from further aging.

“Super versatile, it’s great for black plastic skirting, rubber seals, tires and a variety of other plastic and rubber surfaces. Apply a fair amount onto a clean microfibre cloth and wipe onto surface, let it sink in for a few minutes, then wipe any excess solution away for a non-greasy and refreshed looking finish.”

Leather Defence

“When it comes to interiors, leather is arguably the most sophisticated and elegant option there is, but keeping it healthy can be far from easy — Leather Defence works to increase the life and durability of leather by increasing its protection against harsh UV, dust and mould while providing essential nutrients and moisturisers to keep it flexible and resilient. A built-in protective film provides anti-static and moisture resistance, meaning less work on future cleans.

“For the best results, clean the leather surface with the interior cleaner, then apply Leather Defence to provide protection. Again, you cannot go wrong in application, liberally apply onto a clean microfibre cloth, apply to the surface, let sit for a few minutes and wipe excess away. Note that all leather is different, so do a test spot on an inconspicuous area to see how your leather may react to the oils.”
 

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

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

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.