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Watch the Race to the Sky action on the big screen

8 April, 2015

There’s nothing worse than being at a hill climb, racetrack, or rally circuit and only being able to take in the action as it soars past your nose. Fortunately, Race to the Sky organizers have taken note — they have arranged a big screen that will show live and replayed in-car footage, interviews with competitors, and much more during this year’s event being held at Cardrona Valley, Central Otago, on April 18–19.

The footage will all be produced by an on-site television production team, who are also making a one-hour television highlights package, which will be screened during TV3’s CRC Motorsport show on May 10.

Some other exciting additions have been added as the event’s event marketing manager, Melanie Kees, explains.

“Make sure you’ve got a good spot in sight of the big screen for Sunday’s top-20 shoot-out — yes, we’ve expanded the traditional top-10 shoot-out to enable the fastest 20 competitors from any class to enjoy a little extra time in the spotlight.

“Spectators can enjoy a range of activities and entertainment in the event village on the plateau. The pit area is open and free to walk around so you can talk with your favourite drivers and check out their awesome cars, bikes, and quads.”

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.