CRC Speedshow: a weekend built for speed and adrenalin

14 July, 2016

Year after year, the CRC Speedshow never fails to disappoint. It’s a motorsport enthusiast’s dream event in which they can get up close and personal with their favourite motorsport drivers and race cars. Based at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds, this year’s CRC Speedshow will be held on July 16–17 and will showcase what everyone loved last year, and more.

This year, alongside the Teng Tools Grand National Rod & Custom Show that we really enjoyed last year, there will be an area called ‘Memory Lane’, where HRC has teamed up with CRC Speedshow to showcase 20 unique race cars and bikes of yesteryear.

For the Japanese performance car enthusiasts, Auto Mania will be putting on a mega display, including 30 hand-picked performance machines, parts displays, and more, which will be in their very own hall. Also for the turbo-fuelled petrolheads out there, Ross Honor from Dobsons Dyno Tuning will be explaining the fundamentals of the dyno itself and dyno tuning, adding a technical element to the event you don’t want to miss.

For the hot rod and custom crowd, you’ll be pleased to know your favourite segment — the Teng Tools Grand National Rod & Custom Show — will be back with its 2016 edition, featuring a huge line-up of modified classics.

If you’re into getting a great deal, or having the chance to talk to trade experts face-to-face, you’ll be pleased to know that there will be more trade stands at the CRC Speedshow than ever before. Car wraps, car care, lubricants, memorabilia, motorsport art, insurance, brakes, gearboxes, wheels and tyres, automotive web design, vehicle grooming, tools, workshop equipment, GPS tracking, hydrographics, ECU tuning, go-fast speed parts, clothing, and much more!

There’s actually far too much for us to rave on about why you should head to the show this coming weekend. For more information, and to see what you can expect at this weekend’s show, head to the CRC Speedshow website here.

Escort services – 1968 Escort 1100 Restomod

The Escort started off as a 1968 1100 cc two-door sold-new in Britain. At some point it was retired from daily duty and set aside as a pet project for someone. When that project began is unclear, but much of the work was completed in 2014 including a complete rotisserie restoration.
By the end of 2014, it was finished but not completed. Its Wellingtonian owner bought it sight unseen from the UK and it landed here in early 2020. It was soon dispatched to Macbilt in Grenada North, Wellington for them to work their magic.
Macbilt had two instructions: to get the car through compliance for use on the road; and to improve the vehicle and finish the project so it drove as well as it looked. Looking at the car now, it has an amazing presence and stance. It can’t help but attract attention and a bevy of admirers.

Lunch with … Cary Taylor

Many years ago — in June 1995 to be more precise — I was being wowed with yet another terrific tale from Geoff Manning who had worked spanners on all types of racing cars. We were chatting at Bruce McLaren Intermediate school on the 25th anniversary of the death of the extraordinary Kiwi for whom the school was named. Geoff, who had been part of Ford’s Le Mans programme in the ’60s, and also Graham Hill’s chief mechanic — clearly realising that he had me in the palm of his hand — offered a piece of advice that I’ve never forgotten: “If you want the really good stories, talk to the mechanics.”
Without doubt the top mechanics, those involved in the highest echelons of motor racing, have stories galore — after all, they had relationships with their drivers so intimate that, to quote Geoff all those years ago, “Mechanics know what really happened.”