a certain likeness

Dog and owner look-alike competitions do exist — in case you weren’t aware. Maybe you’ve seen the mildly unsettling images of the winners proudly posing with their trophy and their hairy companion, beaming with questionably justified pride. Hairy old Bruce and his Irish setter, uptight Cindy and her prized Maltipoo, and chubby little Timmy and his wheezing Shar Pei — it’s all very wholesome fun. Research shows that these similarities — not just in looks but also in personality and demeanour — aren’t restricted to the type of people that would enter a look-alike competition; this is a fairly universal phenomenon.

Auckland-based Richard Opie is more of a cat guy, to be fair, but what he lacks in canine companionship, he makes up for in the garage. Richard’s cherry-red KP61 Toyota Starlet, while obviously not a dog, does a great job of standing in for Fido in this pup-and-owner similarity phenomenon. We’re sure anyone who knows Richard — and that’s probably quite a lot of you, thanks to his standing as one of the country’s best automotive photojournalists and a long-time NZPC contributor — will wholeheartedly agree. For those who haven’t met Richard, well, after reading about his car, you might just feel as if you have.

Richard’s low-key humility, his measured and tasteful approach to creativity, and his pure nerdiness about the smallest of details are all attributes that make him great behind the lens. It’s these exact qualities that you’ll find reflected when you start to take a good look at his