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The Targa Bambina approaches

3 May, 2015

The Targa Bambina is just around the corner — held over May 14–17 — and teams will be putting in the last-minute hard yards to ensure their cars are competitive and ready.

Racing begins on May 15, with the Targa Bambina Welcome Function and Charity Auction commencing at 7pm on Thursday, May 14, at the Simunovich Olive Estate in Bombay. The Welcome Function provides a fantastic opportunity to meet the Targa family, sponsors, enjoy a three-course meal, and support the Kids in Cars charity.

Targa NZ raised $25,000 for the Kids in Cars charity last year, and hope to match, if not exceed, that benchmark. Auction items can be donated by contacting the Targa office, or you can purchase a ticket, or make a contribution on the night. The purchase of tickets is open to all of the Targa family and past competitors.

And, of great importance, Targa NZ are still in desperate need of timing teams. Three weeks out from racing, volunteers are needed to avoid having to cancel any stages. If you know of friends, family, or competitors who aren’t competing at this event, who’d be interested, please get in touch with the Targa office.  

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.