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Video: Paddon goes HAM freeestyling his AP4

30 May, 2017

Kiwi WRC extraordinaire Hayden Paddon knows how to pedal, there is no denying that. So when you give Hayden some fresh tracks to slay you know its going to be good. Dubbed Paddon’s Playground, the premise for these low buck videos is simply Hayden, and his NZ based Hyundai i20 AP4, inserted into roads that have never been hit before  this is raw rally at its best. 

The first instalment sees Hayden travel by barge to Minaret Station on the shores of Lake Wanaka and let loose like the local farm boy in a flat deck Hilux. Lets hope this video series goes someway to promoting New Zealand as a return destination for WRC in 2018, which currently has the 14th spot sitting open. 


Our only competition currently is Croatia, and a candidate rally will be held here this September to promote our viability. The promoter will reveal its 2018 calendar to the WRC Commission for autumn ratification by the World Motor Sport Council. 

“I don’t need to tell you about New Zealand,” said Ciesla, continuing, “There is a big passion to go there with Hayden and even though we won’t see the highest number of on-site spectators, we have these beautiful roads which we can use to make great television. I am very much in favour of this.” 

Working in our favour is WRC Promoter’s policy of avoiding more rallies in Europe, though we are unsure if this will prevent them from choosing Croatia, as Ciesla explains, “It’s true that we are not seeking more European rallies … [but the planned event] would go straight into the top five rallies for spectator attendance.” Failing New Zealand returning for 2018, it is expected that a 16-round calendar will be introduced by 2022, of which we are almost guaranteed to make an appearance.

 

 

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

21 June, 2026

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

18 June, 2026

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.