Special Stablemates’ Kiwi Connections

16 January, 2021

By Quinton Taylor

Wide doors aren’t a problem when they swing up

Racing McLarens most often do without a lid but the bare-headed versions are rarer among the supercars bearing that name.

That was the look that appealed to seasoned campaigner Ralph Smith, who has added a McLaren Spider 570S to his Central Otago garage. The retired engineer is justifiably proud of his new acquisition and the technical excellence it both represents and contains.

“It’s not brand new but a very well looked after almost-new example,” says Ralph.

The distinctive black and yellow car offers a very different driving proposition from another motor racing legend in his stable, the Lycoming Special.

“It’s got a lot of buttons and I’m carefully finding out what they are all for,” Ralph explains, swinging up one of the massive dihedral carbon-fibre doors to reveal a battery of buttons on the underside panel

The McLaren comes with a soft personalized dust cover embroidered with the McLaren logo. This helps keep the car in tip-top nick and the reveal adds a sense of occasion when Ralph decides to give it a run.

Firing up the 3.8-litre, twin-turbo, 90-degree V8 of McLaren’s own design produces not your usual V8 burble but what seems like a high-revving idle, at least during warm-up. Producing 419kW at 7500rpm and 600Nm at 5000–6500rpm, it will whip the McLaren up to 328kph with a back-thumping 0–100kph time of just 3.2 seconds. Most of this power runs the short distance to the rear wheels through a seven-speed Graziano SSG dual-clutch transmission from just behind the driver’s seat. A few years ago, admittedly, another 3.8-litre engine, Jaguar’s legendary in-line XK6, made just 164kW at 5500rpm and 325Nm at 3000rpm.

The carbon-fibre shell looks impressive but is also strong and light. Designed by Robert Melville, these shells have been built at McLaren’s Woking, Surrey premises in England since 2015.

Massive carbon-ceramic disc brakes at each corner

Secure seats are essential for appreciating the handling

Ralph still gets a kick out of driving his Lycoming Special, advanced for its day

The McLaren weighs in at a svelte 1452kg with all fluids, and stopping power is provided by massive carbon-ceramic disc brakes at each corner. It will come to a stop from 100kph within 32m.

Operate the powered top and a stunning cabin is revealed. The interior is trimmed in a tactile mixture: suede dashboard materials, stitched leather seats and door panels with contrasting body colour stitching, and satin-chrome instrument bezels. This is one classy interior.

Ralph has one intriguing final act to show on his McLaren, popping a tiny service hatch on the rear deck.

“Other than checking the water and oil levels, servicing is restricted to the experts,” he laughs.

Living in Central Otago, Ralph’s in the right area to enjoy some great driving roads and take advantage of the opportunity to drive the car at Highlands Motorsport Park. He is sure looking forward to warmer weather and ice-free roads to go cruising.

Could this be a future classic in the making? I think Bruce would have said, “No doubt about it!”

This article originally appeared in New Zealand Classic Car issue No. 358

Chrysler’s classy cruiser

22 May, 2026

I first saw our feature car, a 1970 V8-powered Regal 770 hardtop, towing a trailer carrying the tidy Ford Anglia classic racing saloon in Broadspeed racing colours that has featured in these pages. The coupe is comparatively rare here, which means anyone contemplating purchasing one of these big two-doors is sure to see prices continue to climb. The latter Charger has claimed much of the Aussie Chrysler limelight, but the simpler and classier lines of this car, which appeared dated soon after its introduction, now have a more timeless appeal.
Former owner, Balclutha motor engineer, Mike Verdoner, remembers the car well. He believes it came from Dunedin originally.
“I’m not sure about the car’s history, but I bought it off its owner at Kaitangata. Unusually, it was advertised in the local newspaper, the Clutha Leader, which was a surprise as these usually go for a lot more money on the internet. I had it for quite a few years. It needed a little bit of work to tidy it up, so I had to decide whether to spend the money on it to do it up, which could have been twenty grand. Its value at the time was not like it is now, so I sold it to Ewan. It’s probably now worth three or four times what I sold it for.”

The Pininfarina 230 SL

14 May, 2026

It’s October 1964, and imagine you’re an automotive journalist covering that year’s Paris Auto Show (Mondial de l’Automobile). As you approach the Pininfarina booth, you come across a car that looks a bit like the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL introduced the previous year at the Geneva Auto Show, a car then arriving at Mercedes-Benz dealerships around the world.
But looking closely, its styling and proportions seem to be a bit different. And it has a fixed roof, unlike the Pagoda-style greenhouse of the removable hardtop seen on the production 230 SL. While today, the styling of the W113, under the supervision of Head of Styling Friedrich Geiger, with lead designers Paul Bracq and Bela Barenyi, is considered a mid-century modern masterpiece, acceptance in-period was not universal. Some critics called out the concave design of its removable roof, which ultimately gave the car its “Pagoda” nickname.

Special Stablemates’ Kiwi Connections

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