Latest news and features

Shipping in: time to buy
View fullsize We recently spoke to the team at Famous Pacific Shipping (FPS) about the process of importing a vehicle into New Zealand,

Vehicle Compliance 101
Is getting a VIN for an old car really that hard? View fullsize Buying a car that isn’t road legal can be a

Thrashing the Jaguar XJ220: Brilliant or Blasphemy?
You may have read about the ultra-low mileage, Kiwi-based Jaguar XJ220 in a recent issue of NZ Classic Car. If so, you’ll have read about

Ferrari F40: Dougie style
A lot of you won’t have heard of Doug DeMuro. He’s a polarizing character that reviews cars on the internet (sometimes the comments on his

Best of Britten: 1935 Triumph Gloria Six with a colourful past
A survivor of the September 2010 Christchurch earthquake — after a bookcase fell onto it — this lovely Triumph (once owned by famed Kiwi motorcycle

Prince Valiant: rare ’65 Chrysler from the shaky city
Whilst travelling through the South Island last year, we dropped by to check out Stephen Mitchell’s incredibly original and rare 1965 Chrysler Valiant

Silverstone Classic 2017
As those lucky buggers in the UK get rid of the last of their hangover from the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a few of them

Win an Autoart 1:18-scale Nissan/Datsun Fairlady Z432 (S30)
Win an Autoart 1:18-scale Nissan/Datsun Fairlady Z432 (S30)

Advanced ageing: how to create a faux patina
We find out how to fool people into thinking your brand-new paint job is not so new after all View fullsize The finishing

Car guy movies: Baby Driver
We’re drawn to any movie featuring fast cars and a good chase scene. When it’s matched to a soundtrack like that of Baby Driver, we’re

Mongol Rally 2017 — Team Coddiwomples
The Mongol Rally is underway again for 2017. The now legendary rally from the UK to Mongolia with no route, no plan and, generally, no

Easy listening: 1970 McLaren F5000 M10B start up
Bruce McLaren knew a thing or two about hill climbing and the first event the then 15-year- old Bruce ever competed in was a hill
The $5,000 dilemma
If you’re anything like us here in the office, you’ll spend a good chunk of your time imagining what car you’d buy in any given

The golden days: traffic jams with classic Japanese tin
There’s so much classic Japanese tin slammed by traffic in this one we can’t even name them all. Cedrics, Celicas, Soarers, Corollas, Crowns, Citys, and everything else

Shower thoughts: what’s the best car from the year you were born?
Picture this: You’re six months old, you crawl onto any car yard in the world with a blank cheque ready to buy a brand-new car,

The master: an interview with Mike Gearing [Part One]
If you scroll back through the history books of drag racing in New Zealand, a number of names stand out — names such as Pete

Volvo turn their back on internal combustion
The news has broken that Volvo are claiming every Volvo launched from 2019 onwards will now have an electric motor. It marks the historic end

Tech Thursday: How Subaru’s modern AWD systems work
For some, All Wheel Drive is some kind of black magic that keeps four tyres attached to the road. For the rest of us, there

The twists and turns of crowdfunding
It seems every second article you read has a crowdfunding appeal attached. Of course, some are to help cure disease or help out those in

Paddon pulls through for second place finish in Poland
Local boy Hayden Paddon, along with new British co-driver Sebastian Marshall, secured their best finish in a WRC rally since Paddon’s win in Argentina last

Watch: all the carnage from Goodwood FOS 2017
Goodwood Festival of Speed is known for drawing perhaps the world’s greatest collection of historic performance and race cars — located on Lord March’s massive

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2017 — Live stream!
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is about to kick off for another year of high-speed radness and we’ve got all the action streaming here LIVE

Legends of Lamborghini
Valentino Balboni seems like the type of guy who might have a few good work stories. Balboni began work at Lamborghini in 1968, eventually rising

Don’t miss New Zealand Classic Car Issue No. 319!
The Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser is now one of the most sought after vehicles the world over. From workhorse to collectors’ favourite, the FJ40 has

Capital Rodders on again
A shame about the weather for the organisers of the 7th annual Capital Rodders’ Wellington Swap Meet & Horsepower Show at Trentham Racecourse, Upper Hutt,

Ladies, start your engines
Garages, sheds and driver’s seats aren’t just the vestige of men. There are a few good women who are well involved in the car scene,

Bob Turnbull’s Bugatti Type 57: As Kiwi as Pav
In 2015, we wrote about Bob Turnbull’s Bugatti Type 57 being up for sale. We recently had an update from Gloria at Waimak Classic Cars

Honk if you’re horny
We’ve all been there, sitting at the lights when the car in front waits a beat too long to get underway. No biggie, we give

Rattle ya dags and get yourself to Fieldays
It’s that time of year again where what seems like every ute in the country converges on Mystery Creek in Hamilton for Fieldays. 2017 sees

Win an Autoart 1/18 scale Mazda Cosmo Sport
Win an Autoart 1/18 scale Mazda Cosmo Sport

Garage ornament heaven auction to take place in July
Calling all petrolheads — R.A. Proctor Auctioneers will be hosting the auction to cure your winter blues. The automotive, garagenalia, associated memorabilia, and vehicle auction

Something for everyone: 20B powered Fiat 124 battles a V8 Supercar
As we hear news of regulations being relaxed for the Supercars series, our ears are pricked up a bit. Could GT-Rs really be making a

“Mahketing” 101: How Chevy accidentally won the internet
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

Colin McRae’s 1997 WRC test car was for sale and we all missed out
Rally fans will know the story like the back of their hand, but for those of us a bit fresher to the golden

Toyota knew how to throw endless dollars at a race engine
The ‘90s saw Toyota produce some of their finest engine work — it spawned the 1JZ and 2JZ, beams 3S-GE, 20-valve 4A-GE silver- and

Small-town dealer has immaculate S12 that you NEED to own
View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize It ain’t every day that you stumble across perhaps one of the best examples of Silvia rarity, and

Those Swedes know how to keep a secret
It feels like every second story in motoring news is a manufacturer telling us they’ve broken a record at the Nurburgring. Fastest lap while carrying

Candy-apple cruiser: immaculate ’55 Chev
There’s nothing like a bit of pressure to get a build moving, and with a family wedding looming, it was a push

Snake Bite: a stunning father-and-daughter built Cobra replica
The AC car company’s very first sports car — the Ace — appeared in 1953, and over the next 10 years the open-top Ace