NZ Performance Carの No 291 August - September 2021 の目次

Ah, that all-too-familiar feeling — it’s gone. My 1995 Subaru WRX V2 STI, painted in the famous 555 hue from the factory, has been sold. Why, you might ask? I have always wanted to own a GC8; I think they’re an incredible factory platform and they cause me a huge amount of nostalgia, from when I would watch the World Rally Championship (WRC) in the ’90s as a kid. Hell, even the first race car I ever went in was a GC8 WRX rally car, driven by a Kiwi. Those are the main reasons I had to have one at some point, so when the chance to own this particular example arose I jumped on it without thinking long term. However, being the kind of vehicle that it is and…

It’s no secret, I am – along with many others — a huge fan of single-marque events and the fact that they tend to bring together enthusiasts from all walks of life who would otherwise not cross paths. The GTR Festival was a pioneer of that particular movement, with a gap being identified in the market to meet the needs and wants of owners whose cars can be relatively rare and in many cases often highly modified to the point that they seek their own playground. Fact is, if you are at GTR Festival, then you are probably a fan and also have some background knowledge, and that makes for different types of conversations between owners and spectators who unite in their love of all things Nissan. CAROLYN’S ‘FL1RT’ IS…

Just when you thought you had heard all the stories, the pandemic builds are still going strong, and we found a stunner — a build initiated within the constraints of lockdown. Meet Scott, owner of this Miata — another bloke cut from the same vine as us performance car gear heads who had zero plans to binge-watch Tiger King on Netflix during lockdown, but rather crack into a new project. Now, it would almost be a world record to build this car in one month, so it wasn’t. In fact, it was seven months before it was hitting the Hauraki chase at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, but lockdown made for some great progress. Starting with a decent-running and driving vehicle, it was time for the light and nimble MX to…

NZPC: Hey, Peter. How and when did you get into modifying cars? Peter: I’ve been involved in the motor trade all my life — specifically parts — so it’s in the blood. My first mod goes way back to the mid ’70s, when American V8s were all the rage — if you could find one. My first car was a 1964 Chevy Impala — quite a tank for a little fella. That began with putting a big four-barrel carby on the 283-cubic-inch [4638cc] V8; twin side pipes; lowering the car — off memory, six inches — and getting wide rubber to the road — 12 inches in the back and nine or so in the front. At the tender age of 18, my first Japanese car mod was converting a…

NZPC: Hi, Nick. How did you get into modifying cars? Nick: I have been into cars since I was a little kid. Seeing other people’s cars being modified at the likes of 4&Rotary Nationals was an inspiration. Since then, I always wanted to be able to build and modify my very own car. Why did you choose a C35 Laurel? To do something different, I suppose, as you hardly see any nice, clean C35s on the road these days. Was the intention always to chuck a 2JZ in it? Nope! It was just a random build, to be honest, as we were supposed to fix the RB20DE+T I had in it, but then I didn’t want to spend money on that engine, so Dinh from Spec 2 Development said to…

The 2021 New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC)is once again in full swing, having taken a year off due to the havoc Covid caused in 2020. Five rounds make up this year’s championship, which started off with the Otago Rally in April. The International Rally of Whangarei, South Canterbury Rally, Rally Hawkes Bay, and the Coromandel Rally make up the remaining four rounds. The 2019 championship winner, Ben Hunt, has returned; however, he will have a hard time defending the title, with many top-notch drivers hot on his heels, including Hayden Paddon in the Hyundai i20 AP4, and Jack Hawkeswood and co-driver Sarah Brennan in the Mazda2 AP4. Matt and Nicole Summerfield will be there too, as will Emma Gilmour, who has been impressive in local events. Here are some of…

HERO CONTRIBUTOR GLEN MCNAMARA I’m constantly on the lookout for fresh, new content to bring to the magazine for all of you to enjoy. While I was shooting the 2JZ-powered Nissan Laurel C35, which also features in this issue, Minh’s name was mentioned as someone I should get in touch with. Minh doesn’t have social media so I had no idea what the deal with his RX-7 was until I got in touch with him and he sent through some images and videos — I instantly knew I had to feature it. Slammed out on air-ride suspension and with the power to match, it’s right at home at an event or on the drag strip. With it having the number plate ‘AIROUT’, I really wanted to shoot it at an…

By now, you’ll all be well aware that Repco Muscle Garage has returned to Three’s CRC Motorsport on Sundays (hooray!), but what you might not know is that we upload all the episodes to YouTube so you can stream them any time, anywhere. In fact, you’ll also find all previous seasons up there too. Each episode is uploaded the Monday following its TV broadcast. Just search the show’s name, or subscribe to The Motorhood’s YouTube channel, to have it appear in your feed — make sure to click the notifications bell. Thanks once again to our partners Repco, Mount Shop, and Smits Group, which make the filming of the show possible — legends!…

Lord Bemrose: the king of ‘fuck all’, the Wolf of Wellington, the car scene’s version of Jake Paul — New Zealand’s very own mad lad and internet bad boy. You’ve all heard of him and you’ve all been following him and his antics on social media and national news. Now, his 12-year build is complete. For this one, we thought it best to fly down to Wellington for the weekend to capture the first drive and witness first-hand the impeccable style, unquantifiable quality, mountainous power, and overall finish of what we think is quite possibly the gnarliest build ever to grace these pages. Summing up 12 years of a build is no easy feat, and it’s a summary we spent an entire day — and night (don’t ask) — talking…

There’s something special about the wheels touching down on Christchurch Airport’s runway. Those short, sharp bumps signify the start of a ripper of a weekend — especially if baking a few sets of Hi-Flies in the name of a few giggles with mates is in order. It’s a trip, and a purpose, that’ll never get old, waiting until damn near the middle of the year — Queen’s Birthday weekend — to head down for total immersion in the South Island drift scene. No, make that the South Island grassroots drift scene — that one noun makes all the difference. This is drifting, for the South Island people — er, by the South Island people. Well, it was, but for 2021 some changes were in store for the weekend that traditionally…

Jon-Paul Ferguson is well known in the Honda community for a host of Honda-based builds and shenanigans. Now co-owner of Torque Performance Developments (TPD), ‘JP’ — as he’s famously known — continues to push the boundaries of Honda performance and development in New Zealand. What better way to do that than to have your own shop build? In this case, it was a family car that was used to go to the shops, JP tells us. “The GD3 Fit started out as my wife’s car. We always thought it would be a bit of a laugh to build a K24 one. As you know, I have built a lot of K-swapped Hondas, so it seemed like a good idea at the time to put together a little track beater,” he…

After competing in Japan from 2013 to 2019 with the Cusco Japan-based team in the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, followed by a stint competing in the West Australian Rally Championship, Mike Young is set to contest the remainder of the 2021 Rally New Zealand Championship for SAS with regular co-driver Malcom Read. About the move, Mike says, “SAS have built a great car, it’s easily the fastest GRB Subaru I’ve ever driven. It handles really well, has a sequential [gear]box with Cusco diffs. It was good to be able to do the rally sprint as a test — we managed to get about 20km in — enough to get used to the car and find a set-up that suits my style.” With New Zealand having some of the greatest rally…

Calling all Mitsubishi lovers! Mitsubishi Owners Day (MOD) is back this year, on 18 September, and the Downtime Entertainment and 4&Rotary New Zealand team promise us that it’s going to be bigger than ever, hosted yet again at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. If you’re new to the MOD concept, it’s a Mitsubishi-only day, where Mitsi fans and enthusiasts can come and celebrate, show off, and blow the cobwebs off their chosen Mitsubishi platform. MOD will be run like a normal cruise-style event, with plenty of track time by means of track sessions, gymkhana, roll racing, and everyone’s favourite: cruising. Quite possibly, one of the coolest opportunities you’ll have this year is to be involved in the Andrew Simms NZ Mitsubishi parade world-record attempt. Last year, they were only 38 Mitsubishis…

When the first Skyline was produced by the Prince Motor Company back in 1957, the original 104kW engine was made for Mum, Dad, and the kids to head down to the local drive-in and catch the latest flick. Roll on 10 years, and with a merger between Prince and Nissan, the Skyline has become a household name in the motorsport scene. By the late ’60s, Nissan had created a number of iterations of the original C10 series of Skyline but none greater than the performance-based GT-R version, which was launched with a 119kW straight-six, paving the road to its future greatness. Nissan produced several Skylines throughout the years, but the one putting the Skyline name back on the track and the map was the 1989 R32 model — and this…

"I just loved the shape and body lines; to me, it was like a Japanese Viper or Corvette — a classic that just looks so good. I spent years looking for just the right one,” owner Minh begins. It is well after 6pm and there are still sparks flying, hammers hammering, and the sound of tools hitting the floor. Welcome to another day at Auckland’s Spec 2 Development, where the owner of this smooth-looking street cruiser plies his trade. Describing himself as the floor sweeper and fish feeder, it’s clear that Minh does a little bit more than that, with his own work seen throughout the beautifully clean Series 6 RX-7 known as ‘AIROUT’ or, formerly, ‘OHNO50’. While many are familiar with this sleek machine from recent car shows and…

Having just freshened up at a Lawson and had my daily onsen experience the night before, it was time to hit the road in my Nissan Silvia, which I was also using to sleep in. No public transport or toll roads for this driver — strictly free local roads and touge (mountain passes). As I slotted my removable Nardi steering wheel back into the Works Bell housing, I thought about the drive ahead I had that day. Would I drive by rice fields, past beaches shaded by forests, through cherry blossom-lined streets, or past ancient shrines or one of the few original castles? Anything was possible when your accommodation was your car and your plan was flexible. I spent most of my time on mountain passes. Curves on curves with…

STRAP IN FOR THE RIDE! Strap in tight, there’s a new parts store in town! Zoo Performance NZ specialises in a wide range of performance-related products, including fittings, hoses, oil and fuel systems, manifolds, throttle bodies, RTS G-Force gearboxes, and even Winters Quick Change differentials. It also has a range of its own Zoo Performance NZ products. Introducing the Zoo Performance NZ six-point HANS (head and neck support) and FIA-approved harnesses! These are a German-engineered and ultra-thin with high-tension webbing design, complete with lightweight cam lock. When you’re out on the track, drifting, or grip racing, it’s important you have a harness you can trust and one that’s comfortable — better yet, one that looks damn good. With five different colours and designs to choose from, there will no doubt…