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“Mahketing” 101: How Chevy accidentally won the internet

9 June, 2017

 


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You can imagine how excited Chevrolet were when they came up with this concept. Get a bunch of definitely-not-paid-actors together, film them standing around your new range of cars chatting about how amazing every single feature is, give them a few dollars and send them on their way. The end result was, well, a bit shit really.

So the “post-production” addition of “Mahk” as one of the people hanging about checking out Chevy’s new range and generally taking the piss in the most brilliant fashion has boosted this campaign into the stratosphere, with three of the first four videos from YouTubers Zebra Corner so far having had in excess of two million views (as opposed to the 5,000 odd views on the official Chevrolet channel). There’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?

Check the vids out below. Time well spent but probably not for the overly precious.

Today sees the fifth instalment in the series targeting millennials and Mahk is taking no bearded, flannel shirt wearing, typewriter-using prisoners.

 


 

Bronze treasure unearthed

20 August, 2026

The car was put away in favour of something more practical, and when his father was unable to drive any more, Matt’s friend asked him to come and take a look at his dad’s old Holden. It turned out this was one of those phone calls that leads to that feeling of pure joy in the classic car world — the ‘barn find’ that turns out to be even better than expected. The HT Monaro had been put to bed some years before and had not seen the light of day since. Layers of dust and boxes of junk littered her undercarriage and bodywork and access points all around.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.