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Targa Drops MSNZ for AASA

10 February, 2020

 

 

Last year we covered the new motorsports sanctioning body, Australian AutoSport Alliance (AASA), launched locally by LeMons organizer Jacob Simonsen. The alternative sanctioning body offers an alternative choice for permitting, licensing, and insurance for New Zealand motorsport event organizers, competitors, and officials. It was quickly adopted by Targa New Zealand for the Targa Tour portion of the event, while the main portion stayed under the MotorSport New Zealand (MSNZ) banner.

Now in 2020, the organizers behind Targa have announced that they’ll switch sanctioning bodies completely, with the local-arm of AASA taking over full duties. “I have decided to go with the AASA for both the competition and tour parts of our three Targa events in 2020,” Ultimate Rally Group director Peter Martin says.

“As an event organizer, and someone who is ultimately responsible for the safety of everyone who not only competes in but also is involved in some way in any of my events, I understand that safety is absolutely paramount.

“I found it refreshing this year to find that Jacob and his team at the AASA share the exact same laser-like focus on safety as I do, yet — because most [of] the processes are online — actually save everyone involved in the process of competing in one of my events, in time as well as money.”

The two-day Targa Bambina will return in March (7–8), followed by the three-day Targa Hawkes Bay event in May (15–17), and the five-day Targa New Zealand in the Taranaki region (14–18 October).

Range Rover CSK — the original SUV

5 June, 2026

The Range Rover, thanks to Charles Spencer King, went into production in 1970 boasting an iconic shape that would last until 1996. The vehicle that would create the SUV moniker came about because Rover decided it was time to add a bigger four-wheel-drive vehicle, one with a 100-inch wheelbase, to the model range. Land Rover made a 109-inch wheelbase model but the standard vehicle had a 88-inch wheelbase.
The new model would be more suitable for road use than the existing Land Rover, which was considered to be predominantly for rural use. To make sure it could cope on any road it came standard with the Rover 3.5-litre V8 engine. The body design was originally sketched by King and went into production with only a few minor touch-ups by the Rover styling team.
According to King, “The idea was to combine the comfort and on-road ability of a Rover saloon with the off-road ability of a Land Rover. Nobody was doing it.”

Ford’s Mustang – the endlessly hip American dream machine

28 May, 2026

Fifty or so years ago, the only place in New Zealand to see a Ford Mustang was on the racetrack. In a local market severely constrained by a lack of new motor vehicles, the new North American Ford was a dreamy icon boosted by considerable motorsport success.
Import licences for cars were limited, and if Kiwis travelled abroad, the amount of currency they could take with them was restricted. What’s more, those funds could not be used to buy a car for importation back home. Yet it was OK to spend the money on heavy drinking at a London pub, Gucci shoes, sable fur coats, and excessive stays at the Hôtel Martinez at Cannes in France.
However, any rare Mustang that landed on our shores would not be destined to pose around Auckland’s then trendy Queen Street on a Friday night but would more likely be found in the care of well-known racing drivers on the starting grid at local motor racing tracks.