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Get your paintwork looking on point

17 November, 2015

 

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“Looking at getting paintwork done? Here are a few tips and businesses to check out”

Aesthetically, the paint finish on your car is its most important feature. Sure, the saying ‘wheels make or break the car’ is definitely true, but a good paint job is what will really set your vehicle apart from the rest. When dealing with paint, the old adage ‘You get what you pay for’ is really apt — get your mate to blow it over in his carport in exchange for a box of brews, and you’ll probably end up with imperfections in a less than ideal finish.

While you can still get a decent paint job done for a decent price, what a lot of people don’t realize is that most of the time — and therefore money — is spent in preparation, which is undoubtedly the most important step in ensuring a flawless finish.  Take a look at our complete paint guide, and in our opinion, the guys you should go see! 

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.”