Alastair Sloane writes: I grew up on a farm where my dad used an ex-army Bren gun carrier as a tractor. It was just after World War II and there wasn’t enough money around for a new Massey Ferguson or Fordson Major. They came later. The Bren carrier humped cream cans a few hundred meters from the cowshed to the ‘cream stand’, where the local dairy company truck would pick them … [Read more...] about 1932 – the invention of the Ford V8 engine
Volkswagen's Piech
World COTY: Kia SUV wins main gong, Mazda takes design award
South Korean carmaker Kia has won the overall World Car of the Year award with its Telluride SUV (above), a seven-seater available only in some left-hand-drive markets but with a styling language shared by the smaller Seltos, which went on sale in New Zealand last year. The top gong wasn’t Kia’s only award – it also won the World Urban COTY for its battery-electric Soul, … [Read more...] about World COTY: Kia SUV wins main gong, Mazda takes design award
New vehicle sales: the best- and worst-case scenarios for 2020
The best-case scenario for new vehicle registrations in 2020? Around 60-65 per cent of the 154,479 logged by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) last year – or between 90,000 and 100,000 vehicles. That’s a 30-40 per cent slump on 2019 numbers. It would be the biggest in a decade, after the 30 per cent year-on-year fall in 2008-2009 in the midst of the Global Financial Crisis … [Read more...] about New vehicle sales: the best- and worst-case scenarios for 2020
The 25 most expensive cars sold at auction …
Fans of exotic classic cars are already asking what affect the COVID-19 pandemic will have on upcoming auctions, like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August. The elite auction houses, like RM Sotherby’s and Bonhams, constantly hold high-profile sales in both the USA and Europe, and it can be difficult to keep tabs on the multi-million dollar trade in these dream … [Read more...] about The 25 most expensive cars sold at auction …
Monty Python approach to new normal about no-handshake zones
Seems car distributors and dealers in New Zealand have borrowed from the Monty Python song, ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.’ The coronavirus pandemic has shaken the foundations of prosperity, but the automotive industry people say they have quickly adapted to the new normal and will continue to throw open showroom doors. But the meet and greet handshake and … [Read more...] about Monty Python approach to new normal about no-handshake zones