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.”
 

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.”

ROTARY CHIC

Kerry Bowman readily describes himself as a dyed-in-the-wool Citroën fan and a keen Citroën Car Club member. His Auckland home holds some of the chic French cars and many parts. He has also owned a number of examples of the marque as daily drivers, but he now drives a Birotor GS. They are rare, even in France, and this is a car which was not supposed to see the light of day outside France’s borders, yet somehow this one escaped the buyback to be one of the few survivors out in the world.
It’s a special car Kerry first saw while overseas in the ’70s, indulging an interest sparked early on by his father’s keenness for Citroëns back home in Tauranga. He was keen to see one ‘in the flesh’.
“I got interested in this Birotor when I bought a GS in Paris in 1972. I got in contact with Citroën Cars in Slough, and they got me an invitation to the Earls Court Motor Show where they had the first Birotor prototype on display. I said to a guy on the stand, ‘I’d like one of these,’ and he said I wouldn’t be allowed to get one. Citroën were building them for their own market to test them, and they were only left-hand drive.”