Kiwis love Aston Martin

16 June, 2014

 

Kiwis love Aston Martin more than any other country does anywhere else in the world.

Global Sales Director for Aston Martin, Christian Marti, announced at the Australasia Dealer Conference, held in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, that Aston Martin in New Zealand had the highest market share in the world (luxury segment) in 2013.

Aston Martin/Independent Prestige General Manager, Greg Brinck, was there to accept the accolade.

“We had a fantastic 2013, particularly with the new Vanquish, so we were confident that we’d be ‘up there’ internationally, based on the New Zealand market share stats that we had received. It is particularly fitting that we achieved the number one spot in the centenary celebration year for Aston Martin.

“The celebration events that we shared with our customers and owners during the last year, again emphasized to us the real passion held here in New Zealand for Aston Martin sports cars. The future certainly looks bright with a strong model range and all-new dedicated dealership, in the not too distant future.”

There seems to be plenty to look forward to from Aston Martin in New Zealand, so let’s see what the rest of 2014 has to offer.

Put a ring around that

Provenance is a valuable part of a classic car and DKW/Auto Union collectors Brendan and Bobbette Odell have a detailed documented history of a special car in their growing collection of these little two-stroke wonders.
Brendan’s hometown of Pretoria enjoyed more than its fair share of the marque, where their reliability and performance made them popular..
“There used to be a joke going round in South Africa that there were more DKWs in Pretoria per square mile than anywhere else in the world,” Says Brendan.
The Odells redressed that balance a little when they shifted to New Zealand as they brought some of the cars with them.
One of their DKWs also accompanied them to Tonga. Brendan’s green 1959 Auto Union 1000 two-door went with them from South Africa to Tonga from 2010 to 2013 where he worked for the local airline. It then travelled on with them to New Zealand. It is one of just 10 right-hand drive cars of the two-door basic model remaining worldwide.

Stag roars again

The Triumph Stag pictured here has been lovingly restored from what was once, in the owner’s words, “a horrible, terrible job”. Owners Glynn and Alison Gaston hail from Dunedin and along with their grandchildren now enjoy cruising in the Stag after a three-and-a-half-year restoration.
In 2011, Glynn was looking for a classic car to restore. After 21 years with Air New Zealand he was working as a Super Shuttle driver, with four days on and four days off, which gave him the time to take on such a project — something he had always wanted to do.
“I’d looked at quite a few cars over the years. The idea was to restore a car as something to keep me going. I had looked at different MGs and I would have quite liked an Austin Healey or something similar but they were really expensive.
“Then I saw a Stag and I thought, Ah, this is nice. This is what I would like.