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The Surgery is hosting car club visits

4 August, 2025

The Surgery is hosting a joint meet for the Wellington Corvette and Mustang groups this coming weekend, August 9.
The Surgery – NZ’s Top Classic Car Restoration Shop
Based in Tawa, Wellington, The Surgery is one of the country’s leading restoration workshops with over 35 years’ experience. Everything’s done in-house to concours standards using top materials and techniques. Professional, friendly, and trusted by classic car owners nationwide — including plenty of Corvette fans.
For more info or to arrange a visit for your car club, contact John Stevenson-Galvin at the Surgery, thesurgery.co.nz

The Ayrburn Classic announces dates for 2026

7 May, 2025

Save the date: Friday 20 – Sunday 22 February 2026
That’s right. The Ayrburn Classic returns next February for what promises to be another world-class celebration, scheduled slightly earlier on the calendar to bask in Central Otago’s long golden evenings and late-summer glow. This festival will once again transform Ayrburn into a playground for car enthusiasts, food lovers, and seekers of high-end hospitality alike.
The 2025 edition set an incredibly high benchmark, and is fast becoming one of the leading reasons to visit Queenstown – amongst New Zealanders and international travellers alike. With over 250 classic and contemporary luxury vehicles on display – collectively worth more than $250 million – the festival was a visual and visceral feast for attendees.
Standouts included an $8 million LaFerrari, the latest Aston Martin Vanquish, and a fleet of dream machines from Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, and more. The event’s unique blend of elegance and accessibility attracted both seasoned collectors and casual admirers aplenty.

This could be good news for restoring cars and bikes – but we must be quick!

5 March, 2025

Our parliament is currently considering a member’s Bill, drawn by ballot, called the ‘Right to Repair’ Bill.
It’s due to go a Select Committee for consideration, and we can make submissions ie say what we think of it, before 3 April this year. It’s important because it will make spare parts and information for doing repairs far more readily available and this should slow the rate at which appliances, toys and so on get sent to landfill.

Dave Alexander is going to Bonneville, can you help get him there?

26 February, 2025

“My name is Dave Alexander, and I am on a mission to set a land speed record of over 420 kph at the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats.
With decades of experience in motorsport dating back to the 1970s, I have had the honour of competing at Bonneville before, where we achieved three records in just one week with my home-built car from New Zealand.
My latest creation is an impressive 7-metre ‘Lakester’, engineered specifically for land-speed racing and powered by a turbocharged Nissan RB30 engine. As a self-employed engineer, fabricator, and welder, I took on the challenge of building this vehicle in my shed with support from a small team of skilled friends.
In February 2025, we successfully completed the build and ran the car on a hub dynamometer, ensuring all systems were calibrated and functions tested. This marked a crucial milestone in our journey. Now, we face the next challenge: packing the car and transporting it across the globe to compete in ‘Bonneville Speedweek’ 2025.

Hiroshima Express

21 January, 2025

One of the rarest Mazdas,and amongst one of the rarest production cars in the World, a 1967 Series 1, Cosmo made its public debut at the 2025 Cromwell Classic and Hot Rod Car Show on Saturday January 18 this year.
After a challenging 5-year restoration, its proud Cromwell owner, Mike Elford celebrated its appearance along with Dunedin specialist, Mazda rotary engine builder, Cory Wilson who trallered the car through to the show.
“There are a number of details still to attend to and fine-tune the engine and then it will at last be finished. I’m very pleased with the result,” Cory said.
Mike is extremely pleased with the end now in sight of what has been a very challenging project. The tiny jewel of Japanese motoring engenuity attracted many on-lookers at the show as it sat glistening in the sun on an appropriately brilliant Central Otago summer’s day.

Merry Christmas from NZ Classic Car magazine

23 December, 2024

The Classic Car magazine team is taking a few weeks’ holiday from the work computer and heading to the beach for some kickback time.
Merry Christmas, and have a wonderful summer holiday to all our readers, followers, and fans. Enjoy this special extra time with the family. We will be posting archive articles again in mid to late January.
Have fun, be good and be careful out there.

Our cover car is winning prizes

10 October, 2024

The stunning 1958 Buick cover car from our September/October 2024 issue 395 magazine, is winning awards at car shows. Congratulations to Dave and Catherine Parker on taking out Presidents choice at the Tararua Rodders Crome & Custom show. The Buick had to beat some fierce competition to achieve first place with plenty of top quality vehicles on show. 
Photographs Dan Strawbridge and Kevin Walsh.

Ayrburn Classic Car Festival

4 October, 2024

The Ayrburn Classic Car Festival will take place on the scenic grounds of the Ayrburn Winery in Arrowtown, Queenstown Lakes District, on Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March 2025, coinciding with Otago Anniversary Weekend. Set to become New Zealand’s premier classic car event, this festival promises to be reminiscent of some of the most prestigious motoring events globally, thanks to its stunning location and world-class execution.
Chosen for its breathtaking views and lively atmosphere, Ayrburn Winery adds a unique dimension to the experience, offering visitors not just a car show but an immersive day out. A celebration of motoring heritage set against the spectacular backdrop of one of New Zealand’s finest estates, the festival will showcase the exceptional craftsmanship of New Zealand’s automotive industry.
Prestige and classic car owners are invited to participate in this inaugural event. If you own a special vehicle and wish to be part of this landmark festival, please contact the event team to secure your spot.

Porsche New Zealand Celebrates Certification of New Porsche Classic Technicians

2 August, 2024

Porsche New Zealand proudly announces that three of their talented technicians have successfully completed the prestigious Porsche Classic Technician training program and are now officially Certified Porsche Classic Technicians.
Ricky Urry and Kai Newstead of Giltrap Porsche, along with Savannah Mountney-Needham from Continental Cars Porsche, have demonstrated exceptional skill and dedication throughout the rigorous training process. This accomplishment is a testament to their unwavering commitment to preserving and servicing classic Porsche vehicles to the highest standards.

A passion for classics and customs

17 May, 2024

In the highly competitive field of New Zealand classic and custom restorations, reputations are won or lost on the ability to maintain consistently high standards of workmanship. A company managing to achieve this is D A Panel beating Ltd, of Rangiora near Christchurch. Is your classic or custom car restoration stalled, or in need of a refresh, or perhaps you are looking for experts to rebuild that recent import project out of Europe or the ‘States?

Honda NSX video

26 June, 2023

Honda decided it needed to capitalise on the success of its passenger cars and its Formula 1 triumphs and release a sports car that could rival the Europeans. It wanted a halo car that could offer improved reliability for a lower price than existing rivals but, in the Honda fashion, it would be usable, fun to drive and easy to maintain. Starting in 1984, Honda developed a concept sports car called the HP-X – standing for Honda Pininfarina eXperimental. It had a mid-engine 3.0 litre V6 with rear wheel drive.
As the vehicle concept developed, the name changed to New Sportscar eXperimental – NS-X for short. Honda eventually settled on NSX, with no hyphen. The NSX was developed by Honda in Japan and was inspired by the F16 fighter jet. Ayrton Senna had input into the final stages of development. The NSX was the first mass produced car to feature an all-aluminium body.

Taupō welcomes back the classics

11 May, 2023

Historic Muscle Cars and Saloon Cars president Tony Roberts was delighted with the success of the sixth edition of Taupō International Motorsport Park’s Historic Grand Prix held over the weekend of 21–22 January 2023.
No doubt Tony would have been chuffed even without his win in Class A in the SAS Autoparts MSC F5000 Historic GP race driving his McLaren M10A, the feature race for the meeting. Taking top honours was Brett Willis, winner overall in his Lola T332, after finishing second and third in the first two races and winning the feature race.

Supercars by the sea

11 May, 2023

Summer Supercars by the Sea had a million dollar harbour backdrop for cars worth maybe 20 times more than that, parked along Wellington’s Te Papa promenade on Sunday 22 January. The capital’s anniversary weekend car show ran between 10am and 12.30pm.
Around 60 supercars graced the concourse for the Wellington Sports & Supercar Owners’ second show. Last winter’s show was at the nearby Odlins Plaza but the new venue for the summer event enabled an improved display, and easier access for visitors to get amongst them.

Big jump at Cromwell

27 April, 2023

Kicking off the event, the Alpine Street Machines’ Friday cruise to Bannockburn and back on the Friday was easily the biggest in the event’s history. Some 380 cars created a wondrous spectacle for unsuspecting fellow road users that day, potentially tempting some to take a closer look in Cromwell over the weekend.
Saturday’s car show, organised by the Southland Ford Falcon Club at the Alpha St reserve, drew perhaps a thousand or more gleaming examples of interesting cars and applied restoration skills. Chrome and flashing paintwork dazzled the eye in the bright Central Otago light everywhere you looked. It really looked as if everyone with a classic or a hot rod from across the island had seen the forecast for great weather and headed for Central Otago.

Dub day afternoon

27 April, 2023

A Volkswagen show happened on Sunday December 11, exactly a fortnight before Christmas. Wellington’s fifth annual biggest little VW show again took over the car park for the day at the Parrotdog bar, Lyall Bay, in 2022. Classics from the greater Wellington region and beyond graced the concourse.