Automotive News NZ

Skoda Karoq SUV offers more than the bear necessities

April 18 | Comments Off
Time will tell on Toyota’s new fixed pricing structure

April 4 | Comments Off
New Subaru Forester gets driver monitoring safety

April 2 | Comments Off
First 3D-printed car is built from aerospace aluminium

March 30 | Comments Off
50th anniversary Toyota Corolla gets improved dynamics, comfort

March 25 | Comments Off
First for Lexus: seven-seater SUV expected to spark sales

March 22 | Comments Off
The V6 engine that new Holden Commodore desperately needed

March 19 | Comments Off
Kia gets the jump on hybrid SUV market with new Niro

March 15 | Comments Off
Toyota NZ ‘absolutely’ lining up the new-generation Supra

March 13 | Comments Off
Volkswagen kills off Beetle, the car that made it famous

March 11 | Comments Off

Holden designer joins Leno in famous GM concept …
Jaguar XJR-15, one of only 53 ever made …
Fords and Chevrolets moonshiners used to haul booze ...
Coveted Shelby Cobra found in a barn …
History lesson about 1913 Bugatti …
‘Bubble Top’ 1962 Chevy Bel Air …
Jay Leno drives 2019 ‘Bullitt’ Ford Mustang …
1942 Dodge Carryall muscles up …

Holden designer joins Leno in famous GM concept …

April 2, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Holden designer Michael Simcoe has pretty much penned every Commodore since the 1980s. He also designed the modern Monaro. These days the 60-year-old Melbourne native is the global design chief for General Motors, only the seventh person in company history to hold the position. In this episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Simcoe lets Leno...

Jaguar XJR-15, one of only 53 ever made …

March 20, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Noted American surgeon Dr Jasbir Dhillon has bought and sold exotic cars for many years. In this episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Dr Dhillon shows off his Jaguar XJR-15, one of only 53 such cars ever made. The XJR-15 was based on the legendary Jaguar XJR-9 race car and was the predecessor to the ...

Fords and Chevrolets moonshiners used to haul booze …

March 8, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

In this episode of US internet show Barn Find Hunter, Tom Cotter meets a fellow in North Carolina who houses old cars in sheds longer than a rugby field. Among the many collectables are Fords and Chevrolets that good ‘ol boys used to haul moonshine liquor. The bullet holes from pursuing police add to the [&hellip...

Coveted Shelby Cobra found in a barn …

February 16, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The web series Barn Find Hunter follows car collector and author Tom Cotter around the US looking for treasure in the form of coveted cars. In this episode, Cotter sniffs out a 1967 Shelby 427 Cobra and a Ferrari 275 GTB that have been parked in a barn in California for many years. The Shelby [&hellip...

History lesson about 1913 Bugatti …

February 6, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

This episode of Jay Leno’s Garage sure is a history lesson about early Bugattis. Alan Travis tells all about his 1913 Type 22, believed to be the oldest Bugatti regularly on the road. Incidentally, “Vente Restreinte” on the packet of Gauloises cigarettes means “Sale restricted”, probably to troops during World War 1 …...

‘Bubble Top’ 1962 Chevy Bel Air …

January 30, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

High school dropout Ralph Holguin took a humble car detailing business he started at 19 and built it into RMD Garage, a multimillion dollar US design and fabrication house. In this episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Holguin shows off his latest build, a 1962 Chevy Bel Air named Sanity...

Jay Leno drives 2019 ‘Bullitt’ Ford Mustang …

January 18, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Jay Leno gets behind the wheel of the Mustang built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the classic movie ‘Bullitt’. He also gets to drive one of the Fastback GT Mustangs used in the 1968 car chase blockbuster, starring Steve McQueen...

1942 Dodge Carryall muscles up …

December 28, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

American Winslow Bent runs Legacy Classic Trucks, where he and his team bring the toughest technologies together to make vehicles that perform as advertised. This week on Jay Leno’s Garage, Bent drops in with his 1942 Dodge Carryall...

Feel-good simplicity of EVs: Hyundai Ioniq is Car of...
Ford delivers ‘Bullitt’ Mustang for classic film’s 50th birthday
Quirky design elements that make some cars stand out...
Jaguar D-Type that set speed record at Le Mans...
General Motors Holden registers Camaro trademark for Aussie
Jeep USA tests new Wranglers in rugged Kiwi country
1970 VW Beetle to tackle annual off-road spectacular
‘Huge market’ awaits Bosch’s off-the-shelf EV powertrain

Feel-good simplicity of EVs: Hyundai Ioniq is Car of Year

January 8, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

It’s impossible to ignore the advantages of cars that run on batteries alone, especially in a country like New Zealand with its renewable supply of comparatively cheap hydro-electric power. One advantage is that average urban daily commutes are well within the range of every plug-in battery-electric car (BEV) on the NZ market. Another...

Ford delivers ‘Bullitt’ Mustang for classic film’s 50th birthday

December 15, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The first clue that Ford would deliver a special Mustang to mark the 50th anniversary of the movie Bullitt came when it withdrew the colour Guard from its inventory. Guard is a dark green similar to the signature Dark Highland Green of the Mustang GT Fastback driven by Hollywood star Steve McQueen (above) in the classic [&hellip...

Quirky design elements that make some cars stand out …

December 10, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Gear Patrol’s Bryan Campbell lists his favourite car design elements … When automotive designers and engineers get together and put forward the best they have to offer, cult followings and icon status just come naturally. For era-defining cars, influences from highway safety rules and crash protection regulations play just as big of...

Jaguar D-Type that set speed record at Le Mans up for sale

December 7, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Jaguar D-Type OKV 2 might be considered more of a legend than a collector’s car – but now it’s up for sale again. Sothebys will auction the car at the Arizona Concours in January, where it is expected to fetch US$15 million. OKV 2 was the second D-Type iteration from the Jaguar factory back [&hellip...

General Motors Holden registers Camaro trademark for Aussie

November 28, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The story six weeks ago on this website that the all-American Chevrolet badge is almost certain to return to New Zealand on the 2020 Camaro sports car has gained further traction – General Motors Holden (GMH) has just registered the Camaro trademark for Australia. But it hasn’t just filed protection of the car’s name – it taken...

Jeep USA tests new Wranglers in rugged Kiwi country

November 16, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The new Wrangler JL won’t be seen in New Zealand until next year – but Jeep USA has been testing four North American-market prototypes over rugged country around Wanaka and Queenstown. Jeep has already revealed static official pictures of the next-generation two-door and four-door Wrangler, but this is the first time either variant...

1970 VW Beetle to tackle annual off-road spectacular

November 13, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

It’s been described as one of the coolest entries in recent years, the appearance in next year’s Baja 1000 off-road race of a heavily modified 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. And behind the ProjectBaja.com team in the annual California-Mexico event will be the might of VW America. “For decades Volkswagen Beetle vehicles, Beetle-based...

gs_image_glasscar_mcv_powertrain_ev_stage01_20170811

‘Huge market’ awaits Bosch’s off-the-shelf EV powertrain

September 4, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

German parts supplier Bosch has developed a “start-up powertrain for electric vehicles”, a plug-in system combining electric motor, transmission and power control electronics into one package. It calls it the ‘e-axle’, short for ‘electronic axle drive’. And it hopes carmakers that don’t yet have EV s in showrooms will buy...

Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales...
HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado...
Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel...
Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures
At the wheel: an open and shut case in...
Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste...
Kia, Suzuki big improvers in January sales sleight-of-hand
Hayden Paddon on crash death: ‘Please don’t speculate’

Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales year

January 18, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

If you believe the public relations guff, every distributor in New Zealand last year sold record numbers of new vehicles. But that wasn’t the case. Okay, it was an overall record year, with 159,871 new vehicle registrations. But quite a few brands didn’t do as well as the PR people claim. Press releases saying this [&hellip...

HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado truck

December 8, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Chevrolet badge returns to New Zealand next year on the bonnet of the all-American Camaro sports car and Silverado pick-up truck. Both vehicles will be converted to right-hand drive by Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) at its new 28,000 square-metre plant in Melbourne. It’s where HSV will also prepare two versions of the Holden...

Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel is the devil’

September 13, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Jaguar Land Rover has defended its diesel engine technology after criticism of the fuel from the founder and director of Clean Air London, Simon Birkett. “Diesel is the devil, and we do need to ban it,” Birkett told a panel of automotive experts at the inaugural Jaguar Land Rover Tech Fest, a three-day event in [&hellip...

Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures

September 6, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Registrations of traditional passenger sedans and hatchbacks have tumbled over the past five years, as New Zealanders move towards SUVs and utes. In August 2013, for instance, the Holden Commodore sat at No. 5 on the top 15 list. Last month it was No. 10. A month earlier it was No. 11. Five years ago [&hellip...

At the wheel: an open and shut case in top-down Merc

May 29, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Hard-charging Kiwi motorcycle great Graeme Crosby tells the story of racing in the Isle of Man TT for the first time in 1979. He sort of ‘smelled’ his way round the 48km circuit. “It’s such a long way that it’s hard sometimes to remember exactly where your are,” he once told me. “There is one [&hellip...

Holden New Zealand - Astra RSV 2017, 15 February 2017

Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste of Kiwi’

March 3, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Holden has tasked its award-winning advertising agency, Special Group, to change how Holden is perceived in New Zealand. It wants the agency to help transform the brand, give it a taste of Kiwi, point it more towards premium space. It’s not that Holden has gone away; just that, over time, the brand has lost its [&hellip...

Kia, Suzuki big improvers in January sales sleight-of-hand

February 5, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Record January registrations in New Zealand point to the usual end-of-year sleight of hand, where many vehicles sold in the last month of the year aren’t registered until the first month of the next year. That way an unregistered 2016-year vehicle bought in December, for example, appears on the NZ Transport Agency books as first...

Hayden Paddon on crash death: ‘Please don’t speculate’

January 21, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

New Zealand rally star Hayden Paddon wrote this after he crashed during the first stage of the Monte Carlo rally. A spectator near the crash site died. This is Paddon’s unedited statement. Hi everyone, Upon reflection, I wanted to issue a statement about yesterday’s events. Firstly, our thoughts are with the family and friends...

September 26, 2015 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

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