MAD WORLD
Hopefully, the title of this editorial has you singing the Mad World lyrics to yourself, as they’re quite apt given the current situation: “All around me are familiar faces / Worn out places, worn out faces / Bright and early for their daily races / Going nowhere, going nowhere”.
By now, I’m sure some of you are sick of hearing the words ‘Covid-19’ — and fair enough, too. Who would have thought that the world as we knew it would change so rapidly over the past few months? For us in magazine land, it meant we couldn’t print one issue, so, instead of 12 issues this year, there will be just 11. If you’re a subscriber, don’t worry, you’ll still receive the exact number of magazines you paid for, it’ll just take an extra month for you to get them all.
We were fortunate enough to be in a position where we had, or could source, enough content for this issue of NZV8, which we pulled together while under Level 4 conditions, intending it to go to print a month earlier than it will. Under Level 4, we couldn’t send photographers or writers out and about as we would normally, and our in-house team has been working from home. For myself and our designer, Mark Gibson, working from home is nothing new; we’ve been putting the magazine together remotely since I moved from Auckland to Wellington three years ago. It was a new experience for the rest of the team, though, but one they managed without too much drama. Although we should be back down to Level 2 by the time you’re reading this, as I write we are still in
Level 3. Thankfully, that means we are free once more to photograph cars — assuming, of course, we do so safely. For many readers, Level 2 also means they can purchase car parts again. If you’re anything like me, you would have been doing a bit of that.
I’ve found the time stuck at home for the past few months, walking past the projects in the garage every day, has led to my ideas for them being refined, as well as snowballing a bit. As I’ve been working the whole time, though, I haven’t made as much physical progress as I know some people have been lucky enough to manage. Interestingly, I recently spoke to one of the team members at George Stock, New Zealand’s importer and supplier of King Springs and Koni shock absorbers, among other related products, and was told they had had a huge rush on lowering springs during Levels 3 and 4, selling twice as many as normal. So, I guess I’m not alone with getting into — or at least thinking about — projects!
While many industries will feel the effects of Covid-19 for years to come, I suspect that the automotive industry will be less affected, or will at least bounce back more quickly than others, especially in the enthusiast sector. Here’s hoping! I look forward to seeing all your lockdown projects out on the road over the coming months.
Stay safe.