SUBSCRIBE TO THE
MAGAZINE NOW
Facebook-f Instagram

Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise is back!

16 May, 2017

Is your ride itching for a mid-winter cruise? Is your ride a hot rod, modified or a god damn big-rig?!? Well Meguiar’s have something coming up you’ll be into.

Alongside Meguiar’s Annual Car Crazy Charity Cruise, they will also be running a Rislone Big Rig Truckin’ Charity Cruise.

Saturday the 22nd July will be for the Big Rigs and Sunday the 23rd for the cars. All registration fees will be donated entirely to the Starship Foundation.

Both events will be departing at 8:30am on their respective days from Smit’s Group/Meguiar’s head office at 23 Greenmount Drive then taking a lazy scenic route through to CRC Speedshow.

View fullsize

0008_D3_3470.jpg

View fullsize

0050_MG_3457.jpg

For the car cruisers, registration is $50 per car and includes a ticket to the CRC Speedshow for the driver and all passengers as well as a Smit’s Group voucher and plenty of Meguiar’s goodies as well as your chance to win the ultimate prize in the Show and Shine (every legitimate vote received for your ride will get 50c donated to the Starship Foundation by Meguiar’s). Check out meguiars.co.nz for more info.

The Big Rig’s registration is $50 and once again includes you and your passengers tickets to the CRC Speedshow as well as a Smit’s Group voucher and plenty of Rislone goodies to take home. Check out lovemycarnz.co.nz for more info.

The Meguiar’s Car Crazy Charity Cruise and Big Rig Truckin’ Charity Cruise are limited to well-presented vehicles only – which could be customs, classics, hot rods, imports and street machines (and of course, Big Rigs for Saturday’s cruise). So get them out and looking their best so you get lots of votes in the People’s Choice Award.
 
Due to the popularity of this charity cruise, places will not be confirmed until payment has been received, and is strictly on a ‘first in, first served’ basis.
 

“Gotcha!’’ The continuing tale of a Nissan/Datsun tragic – part two

8 May, 2026

In 1996, I was on a mission to buy a suitable pavement scorcher and visited the now-defunct Manukau City Car Fair. Unbelievably, among the sea of four-door utilitarian Japanese compacts was the absolute jewel in the crown, my automobile wet dream — a 1985 two-door R30 RS Nissan Skyline FJ20 Turbo five-speed manual in nice condition. The owner wanted $10,000 — a great deal.
But what did I do? I bailed out, paralysed by indecision. The money would have been a stretch, but it was the worst automotive choice I ever made. Instead, I went for a rusty Toyota Sprinter 8 Valve Twin Cam Coupé, which was pretty terminal from the get-go. I know. We’ve all done it, but there was really no excuse for passing up the Skyline, and I was haunted by that for years.

Last Tango in the Fast Lane

30 April, 2026

In the mid ’80s, I locked into a serious Nissan/Datsun performance obsession. It could have kicked off with my ’82 Datsun Sunny, though this would have been a bit of a stretch of the imagination, given its normally aspirated 1.2-litre motor — not the sort of thing to unleash radical road warrior dreams. But it did plant a seed, and it was a sweet little machine and surprisingly quick, in contrast to all the diabolical English offerings I had endured.
I was living in South Auckland at the time and was an unrepentant petrolhead. Motor racing was my drug of choice, and I followed the scene slavishly. Saloon car racing, with the arrival of the international Group A formula, was having a serious renaissance here and in Australia and Europe. There was suddenly an exotic air in local racing that had been absent for 15 years.
I was transfixed by this new frontier of motor racing that had hit our tracks in 1985–87 and the new array of machinery on display. In 1986, the Nissan Skyline RS DR30 made a blinding impression on me. The Australian Fred Gibson-run, Peter Jackson-sponsored team of George Fury and Glenn Seton were the fastest crew of the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship. But Kiwi legend Robbie Francevic snuck through to win the Aussie Championship in his Volvo 240T after a strong start and consistent finishes.