Work with Protecta

3 April, 2017

 

If you love cool cars and dealing with great people, then the team at Protecta Insurance may have the dream job waiting for you. Despite providing insurance cover for more than 30 years, the company has just had its biggest month ever, and the current staff level won’t be enough as the company continues to grow.

As you’ll likely know, Protecta isn’t your average boring insurance company, but one where the staff own, drive, and love classic and custom cars and motorbikes. It’s also the driving force behind the biggest monthly car meet in the country — Caffeine & Classics  — as well as the sponsor of countless other events around the country. 


If you’re knowledgeable and passionate, about both cars and offering a high level of customer service, Protecta has opportunities in Customer Service, Claims, and Sales available. So, if you think Protecta Insurance sounds like your sort of place to work, contact the team for a chat on [email protected] or call 0800 776 832.
 

Motorman: Blame it on Rio!

Following the third polite advisory, I figured there had to be a fair degree of substance to the warning. “If this is your first visit to Rio de Janeiro, please be careful,” came the personal hushed dialogue from the pleasant hostesses on a far from crowded Varig flight from Los Angeles to the famous Brazilian seaside city.
The previous evening I had flown into LA from Auckland en route to the 1985 international launch of the Fiat Uno Turbo. I was prepared for another long haul of just under 12 hours across Mexico, central America, Colombia, and central Brazil to that nation’s third largest city. Surprisingly the 10,500km run from Los Angeles to Rio is actually longer than the 8800km LA-London air route.
With the journey including a brief stopover in Honolulu I expected to travel just under 44,000km for the return journey to sample what was to be a low-volume version of a popular Italian car that would sell in even lower numbers in New Zealand. I like to think this shows nothing more than my deep commitment to my craft. In fact, even though I became lost on the homeward journey my total air miles would be little different.

Pinnacle Porsche

We were stopped at the side of the road, setting up the next photograph, when a faded Toyota slowed alongside and stopped. The window was already down to give the driver a good look.
“That’s my dream car,” he said, speaking for more than a few of us.
He drank in the gleaming red paint, shining in the sun, and the car’s purposeful swoops and curves. He exhaled half a lungful of cigarette smoke, gave a hang 10–style thumbs up and drove off.
On the side of the road, against a clear blue background, the Porsche stood out in all its stark red glory. It’s the classic 911 shape on steroids. It has the fat, even pouty, front lip of the G series 911s, added to comply with 5mph bumper restrictions in the US. It also has the oversized haunches to accommodate the wider rear wheels and tyres – a first for Porsche, which also confirmed its supercar credentials – and, most noticeably of all, that enormous whale-tail spoiler. They made it look as if Porsche had abandoned its restraint.