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.”
 

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.