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Supercars by the sea

11 May, 2023

A wealth of automotive treats gathered on Wellington’s waterfront
By Christopher Moor

Summer Supercars by the Sea had a million dollar harbour backdrop for cars worth maybe 20 times more than that, parked along Wellington’s Te Papa promenade on Sunday 22 January. The capital’s anniversary weekend car show ran between 10am and 12.30pm.
Around 60 supercars graced the concourse for the Wellington Sports & Supercar Owners’ second show. Last winter’s show was at the nearby Odlins’ Plaza but the new venue for the summer event enabled an improved display, and easier access for visitors to get amongst them. A few cyclists and scooter riders detoured from their promenading around the waterfront to take a look at some of the finest alternative forms of transport.

It was the day of the coupé featuring American muscle, European classics, the sporty Japanese, and the best of British, plus a scattering of four door saloons and a handful of soft tops displayed with their hoods down. Those expecting Mustangs, Corvettes, Ferraris, Aston Martins, Hondas, Lamborghinis, or a DeLorean would have been well satisfied.
Children provided a pretty steady stream of visitors to the silver Lamborghini Gallardo to have their photos taken with this exotic beast. Hopefully they weren’t too disappointed to discover that the revving motors heard throughout the morning came from pre-recorded sources.

My happiest memory of the day is of the Aston Martin owner who opened the door of his convertible to let youngsters take a turn behind the wheel. Their matching beaming smiles told me he’d made their day – as well as his own. Here’s hoping kind gestures such as this from today’s classic owners will help ensure that the interest transfers to future generations.
An Englishman was overhead explaining the TVR 450 to some interested New Zealand mates, apparently a car they’d not heard of before. 
Summer Supercars by the Sea was a free entry event. Donations could be made on the concourse to Child Cancer, the day’s benefiting charity.

A passion for classics and customs

17 May, 2024

In the highly competitive field of New Zealand classic and custom restorations, reputations are won or lost on the ability to maintain consistently high standards of workmanship. A company managing to achieve this is D A Panel beating Ltd, of Rangiora near Christchurch. Is your classic or custom car restoration stalled, or in need of a refresh, or perhaps you are looking for experts to rebuild that recent import project out of Europe or the ‘States?

Aspen Siris — A roadster for the wrong time

16 May, 2024

When I visited George Spratt’s workshop in Auckland, I was impressed with the number of vehicles he had tucked away, mostly hybrid or fully electric. Many of them had started life being petrol powered but George has been tinkering with converting conventionally powered cars to electrical propulsion since the mid ’70s.
The Horizon was George’s first attempt at building a car; it was an evolution of ideas about what was considered to be ideal for a car at that time. The shape and style were governed by the choice of running gear and power plant. The size of the garage restricted walk-around viewing, and it was not until it was almost finished that George was able to push the car out of the garage to get the full picture.