No 178 March 2020

NZV8

NZV8 is not only riding that wave, but leading the way by providing a world class magazine that features the cars, events, and people that make the scene so exciting. NZV8 covers an extensive range of high-performance V8-engined vehicles

NZV82 min read
Bad Ideas Are Awesome!
How good was Muscle Car Madness this year? The number of crazy creations cruising around has to be a new record. I’m not quite sure how some of the guys and girls dream up some of these things, but they’re equal parts absurd and impressive. I guess t
NZV81 min readIndustries
First C8 Corvette Sold
Everyone wants to be the first, to claim that small piece of history as their own, and auctioning off the first production model of a new performance car for charity has become accepted practice. It shouldn’t be too surprising to learn, then, that th
NZV81 min readAutomotive
Shelby Sells 2.5 Times More Trucks Than Mustangs
It’s not the news any performance enthusiast wants to hear, but it is the reality of the world we live in. In what can only be a forsaking of the performance gods, it’s been confirmed that Shelby American sells 2.5 times as many performance-oriented
NZV81 min read
Itm Auckland Super400 Venue Change
For the first time since returning to Pukekohe Park Raceway back in 2013, the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship ITM Auckland Super400 has been shifted away from its traditional home. Organizers have confirmed that this year’s 24–26 April (Anzac
NZV81 min read
Arg Secures Nz Trans Am Rights
Could we be seeing Trans Am 2 (TA2) come to New Zealand in the near future? The door to that possibility has opened with the news that Australian Racing Group (ARG) has inked an agreement with the Trans Am Race Company. The multi-year deal, running t
NZV83 min readAutomotive
Displacement Replacement
Whether you like to generate your smoke stationary, in circles, or sideways at high speeds, there’s no denying the skill and technical expertise it takes to compete in the D1NZ National Drifting Championship. While it’s traditionally been an import-h
NZV84 min read
The Universe Works In Petrolhead Ways!
Hiya Todd and the NZV8 crew, its been a while so I thought I’d say hi and send you a crazy update on one part of life! It’s a goodie! Rewind 2.5-ish years ago, Mr Wolf — husband (mechanic extraordinaire), daughter (topped Yr 12 Automotive Engineering
NZV81 min readAutomotive
Sweet ’66
The team from Performance Wheels are nearing the completion of not one but two C10 pickups, appropriately named ‘Performance 66’ and ‘Performance 68’. Both will be at Repco Beach Hop 20. The ’66 was purchased in March 2019 and subsequently stripped d
NZV82 min read
Events Guide
▸ 14–16 FEBRUARY February is a busy time of year for Kiwi hot rodders, what with events the likes of the massive Rebel Round Up going down. This year, the party is once again held at Pukekohe Park Raceway over the weekend of 14–16 February, and promi
NZV86 min readAutomotive
Trophy Hunter
The life of a shift worker in the Australian outback can be an interesting one. You’ve got to have the right sort of mental fortitude to be able to go to work for a few weeks, then back home again for a few, on a cycle that repeats indefinitely. It’s
NZV86 min readAutomotive
Unnatural Aspirations
Geoff Dann’s a man who likes his horsepower. We’re not talking about a few ponies in a paddock here, but the type that can only be created by an internal combustion engine, preferably one with a little bit of boost. Over the years, he’s owned, tuned,
NZV85 min readAutomotive
BOGAN’S Paradise
When I think of Summer Nationals, I think about burnouts, V8s, mullets, and bogans! Having grown up around speedway, drag racing, and V8s, it has always been on my bucket list to photograph Summernats in Canberra, Australia. With Dad, uncles, and fam
NZV813 min readAutomotive
NUTOUT DOES Summernats
It’s 3.30am on Tuesday, 31 December and I’m awoken by my phone ringing. It was old mate Andrew Harrison wondering where the hell I was. Dazed, and confused as to why my alarm hadn’t gone off, I stumbled around trying to get dressed to rush out to the
NZV83 min read
History REPEATS
Some events you remember for all the wrong reasons, some you remember for specific moments or things that happened, and then there are those like Dragstalgia — held at Masterton Motorplex over the weekend of 4–5 January. This was an event that not on
NZV86 min readAutomotive
Getting Your Licence
You know how you have a really great idea, and then, just after it’s too late, you wonder if it’s really such a great idea? Don’t feel bad if you do — we all do it. We do it because we’re guys. The hunter. The collector. The gatherer. The one with th
NZV81 min readAutomotive
Quick Dark Fox
Phil Taylor is well known in the Christchurch performance tuning scene, working his magic on countless cars over the years. You’ll soon be hearing more of his name though, as he’s recently purchased a 1992 Fox Body Mustang from a Timaru racer and is
NZV81 min read
Wellington Invasion
The Auckland Invasion, where Meremere racers travel en masse to Masterton Motorplex, has been a hit with drivers and crowds alike for a few seasons now, and the return event — the Wellington Invasion — is now equally as popular. The event was the fou
NZV83 min read
All Fired Up
For the start of the 2020 season, we had a jam-packed schedule, with our Perth race on 4 January then a four-day drive back to Sydney to get the cars serviced, cleaned, and on the boat to head to New Zealand by the end of the month. That may seem lik
NZV87 min readAutomotive
A Beast Beneath
Isn’t it interesting that, as car fanatics, we can all remember the moment that a certain car or vehicle made a big enough impact that it formed a burning desire to own one? For Steve Phillips, the love of Mopars started because of not just one but t
NZV83 min read
Legends!
1969… she was an iconic year. Apollo 11’s moon landing, “nippon clippons” were added to the Auckland Harbour Bridge, bellbottoms and the peace movement were alive and kicking as a segway to Woodstock. But hey, there was also the formation of the infa
NZV86 min readAutomotive
The Keeper
Kiwis are well renowned for punching well above their weight, with our sports teams amongst the best in the world in a variety of disciplines. In motorsport circles we have had drivers that have been world champions and we are innovators in the engin
NZV82 min readAutomotive
Social Scene
Here are some quick hits of content from social-media channels around the globe, curated by Low Fast Famous. They relate to some of the projects and completed builds that have been generating the most interaction and impressions in the past 30 days.
NZV82 min readAutomotive
American Psycho
“I’ve always loved the ’57 Chev two doors — the smooth lines are out of this world,” says Graham Espiner. Let’s be honest, that’s a statement that’s hard to argue with. Graham admits that building a ’57 would be a dream come true, and he’s spent his
NZV85 min read
PROPER Metal Prep
The most important part of any bodywork project is prepping the metal properly. It is the foundation that everything is built from, and it needs to be done extremely well for the paint job to last. There is no ‘good enough’. The methods explained in
NZV87 min readIndustries
300 And Counting
Most of us can probably remember the first car we ever saw that started our passion for everything automotive. It’s also fair to say that some of us from the more ‘mature’ generation, should we say, may take some time to recollect what it was that go
NZV86 min read
Seahorses
Power has long been the goal of many, from gladiators in the arena to money-hungry rich-listers and dictators the world over. For the rest of us, the glory rests with another type of power — the cubic-inch kind — which has long been advertised by car
NZV82 min readAutomotive
Rumble in PARADISE
The peaceful lakeside community of Taupō in the central North Island is a great place to be on a calm summer’s day. Late last year the town was anything but calm, though, as the popular tourist mecca quaked with the first-ever Volcanic Rumble event t
NZV85 min readAutomotive
C11
Rikky Dawson is a drainlayer by trade, but he should have been a salesman. He managed to pull off a very slippery line to his wife, which ended up with the purchase of this 1982 Chev C10, and somehow managed to get away with it. The tactics may have
NZV86 min read
SOUTHERN Sensation!
There was never any doubt that the fourth round of the Enzed Central Muscle Cars (CMC) series was going to provide entertainment and drama, and the reasons for this were quite simple. The points table for both Group 1 and Group 2 had been turned upsi
NZV85 min readAutomotive
Cargo
Walking is so last decade. Get to where you’re going at pace, up to 30kph to be exact. Mini Bopper electric scooters feature a powerful 350kW motor and a range of up to 35kms with the dual-battery model and 25km for the single-battery model. Both are
NZV82 min readAutomotive
Decade Ago
BUY THIS ISSUE ONLINE AT MAGSTORE.NZ WHERE IS IT NOW? There are few, if any, cars more iconic in the Auckland scene than Adam Browne’s VH Commodore. Although the car’s history dates back to when his brother owned it prior to him, it’s through Adam’s

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