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Aussie vs Kiwi muscle car showdown at Highlands

30 January, 2015

The battle between Australia’s Enzed Touring Car Masters (TCM) and New Zealand’s Enzed Central Muscle Cars (CMC) is set to be one of the highlights of Highlands Festival of Speed, running from January 31–February 1 at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell, Otago. It will be the third time the TCM and CMC have competed for a trans-Tasman trophy, but it marks the first time the groups have raced on New Zealand soil.

Dr John Elliot, the president of CMC says, “We’re all looking forward to it enormously!” Many of the CMC cars that you know and love will be present at the event, ready to wage war on the track with their Australian cousins.

Double Australian Touring Car Champion Glenn Seton has put his expertise to good use in setting up several leading TCM cars. One such car is the 1964 Ford Mustang regularly driven by Will Vining in TCM’s ProSports class, which he will race at Highlands. Blue Oval fans will also be excited to watch the ’66 Ford Mustang Fastback, driven by 2007 TCM champ Steve Mason, as well as Wayne Mercer’s Falcon XB GT, Tony Karanfilovski’s ’69 Mustang, and Keith Kassulke’s ’74 Falcon Coupe.

That’s not to say Holden has been neglected — with noted historic racer Carey McMahon’s Holden Torana SL/R 5000, and Garry Treloar’s ’72 HQ Monaro making an appearance, Holden’s finest will be well represented by the Aussie brigade.

The event is a celebration of New Zealand motorsport through the years — including vintage and classic saloons, and open wheelers competing on the Highlands’ circuit. As a true family event, the motoring is not the sole attraction; there is also a mass of festival-style entertainment, food, and refreshments to keep every member of the family happy.

Tickets cost $39 for an adult on Saturday only, or $49 for an adult on Sunday only. Otherwise an adult can attend both days with a weekend pass costing $80. Children 16 years and younger receive free entry with a paying adult.

Racing Mazdas

12 June, 2026

Both Rod Millen and Ron Kendall were rotary racing kings, emanating from the North Shore of Auckland, where I grew up. And the ultimate rotary techno guru was Bill Shiells, who developed the engine into a rocket ship while working out of Gulf Mazda in Takapuna from 1969, and later in his own business, Rotorsport. He began to extract some phenomenal horsepower from the enigmatic rotary engine. Bill was one of the first to race the Mazda RX-2 Coupe in 1971 and achieved immediate success, causing others to sit up and take notice, particularly the North Shore’s racing elite. They included Robbie Francevic, Rod Millen, Ron Kendall, John Woolf, John Le Feuvre, and Rex Findlay.

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.”