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Prestige Classic Car collection to be auctioned in New Zealand

1 March, 2019

 

 

On Sunday, 17 March, Auckland-based auction house Webb’s will offer one of the most distinguished personal collections of Classic Cars to be auctioned in New Zealand: the Roy Savage Collection.

The auction follows the successful sale of the first part of the Roy Savage Collection in 2016. This auction focused on British post-war classics and achieved multiple auction records, such as a 1955 Jaguar XK140 selling for $258,750, and the 1972 Rover P5B, 1966 Jaguar MK II, and 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SL selling for $149,500, with total sales of nearly $1.5 million.

This time around, the auction will feature some of the most prestigious marques ever to come on the market in New Zealand, with seven Rolls-Royces offered, including a New Zealand–new 1951 Silver Dawn and an ultra-low mileage 1978 Corniche Convertible. Further highlights include a rare 1955 Allard Palm Beach Mark 1 Convertible (only 74 of this model ever manufactured), a 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Manual, and 1953 Bentley R-Type.

For buyers whose need is more fundamental, there are two 5-Series BMWs, and for those who favour the rural pursuit, there’s the 1964 Land Rover, which carries a cult-classic status due to its enduring and iconic look. Also up for auction is what was often Roy’s daily driver, a Rover 3500 that he owned since 1973 and has just 62,623 on the clock.

Following Roy’s passing in 2017, the Savage family have again entrusted Webb’s to market the balance of their father’s passion. The collection is not the disposal of a static museum, but every car is registered, warranted, and has detailed service records.

The auction is set to take place at the Southward Car Museum in Paraparaumu, one hour north of Wellington, on Sunday, 17 March at 2pm. Prior to the auction the vehicles can be viewed at the museum 14—16 March, 10am–4pm and 17 March, 9am–11am. To view the full catalogue of 18 cars, visit webbs.co.nz.

Britannia rules the roads – Royal Tour Cars – part 1

30 May, 2025

Today we take royal tours for granted, but once upon a time, or at any time before the 20th century, it was impossible for our monarchs to visit their downunder dominions because of the distances involved and the unreliable transport.
The advent of steam power for ships and trains, the evolution of the motor car and, finally, the arrival of passenger air travel shrank their world, and ours, considerably, and the royal tour became a feature of the empire and the Commonwealth.
The first British royal visitor to Aotearoa, New Zealand, was Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1920. During his 28-day tour, he travelled mostly by the royal train, which was both safer and more convenient for royal personages. A variety of best-available cars were used locally. Ideally, these would be Daimlers.

Motorman: Blame it on Rio!

22 May, 2025

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.