Motorclassica 2015
New Zealand will play an increasingly important role in the expansion of Motorclassica — Australasia’s most important automotive exhibition. That’s the prediction of Event Director Paul Mathers, who has watched the annual event grow significantly over its six-year history.
“There’s no question that New Zealand is going to play a larger role in Motorclassica in 2016 and beyond,” Mathers confirmed. “We’ve seen significant enquiry this year from car and motorcycle owners wanting to exhibit their machines in 2016, and we know anecdotally that there’s increased interest from enthusiasts across the Tasman — and thanks to the support of NZ Classic Car magazine, I expect we’ll have a larger visitor attendance from New Zealand this year than ever before, and that’s going to grow year on year.”
Motorclassica — Australasia’s premier exhibition of unique, classic, collectable, vintage, veteran and historically significant cars and motorcycles — will be held again this year at Australia’s world-heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building, in Melbourne, on October 23-25.
“Motorclassica is a celebration of the automotive lifestyle, a must-attend event in the calendar of automotive enthusiasts, and in our view brilliantly melds an historic perspective with a modern outlook,” Mathers said.
That’s reflected in the high manufacturer attendance expected this year — with Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Citroën and Mini joining other classic marques which have attended previously, including MercedesBenz, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lotus, Morgan and Caterham.
Centrepiece of this year’s show will be a ‘50 Years of the Supercar’ tribute, the global automotive genre that began with the legendary Lamborghini Miura of the mid ’60s. Motorclassica has assembled an extraordinary line-up of supercars from around the globe, the highlight for many being the appearance of a Mclaren F1 similar to that recently sold by actor Rowan Atkinson for $16 million.
The Mclaren will be joined by a Pagani Zonda, for a long time the fastest production road car ever built, and an equally exclusive Koenigsegg CCX.
Ferrari fans will be excited to see an F40 on display, but it’s not as rare as the Ferrari 288 GTO that will park beside it — not to mention a 365 GTB/4 Daytona, surely one of the most beautiful cars ever made.
The car that is credited with starting off the modern supercar trend, the Lamborghini Muira, will be partnered by the most futuristic design ever to make it into production, a Lamborghini Countach LP400.
Confirmed too is a Porsche 959, the most technologically advanced car of its time, and a Carrera GT, not so much a sports car as a racing car for the road.
The supercar line-up will also include the only Jaguar capable of earning that tag — the mighty XJ220. Also on display will be a Jaguar XJR-15 — the limited-release, road-going version of the 1988 Le Mans champion.
Bugatti at Motorclassica
Bugatti owners and enthusiasts will also mark 50 years of their club in Australia with an unprecedented display of the classic French cars — a gathering of mouth-watering classics worth more than A$15 million. No fewer than seven Bugatti Grand Prix machines will sit in a racingthemed display, along with a rare Type 43 ex Hope Bartlett and Bill Thompson racer that has not been seen in public for 40 years. There’ll also be a Bugatti Type 37 in as-found barn-find condition, and even a Holden-engined Bugatti that was converted in the 1950s, quickly earning an enviable Grand Prix record. However, the undoubted highlight of the Bugatti display will be the art deco–styled Type 57C Atalante, its stunning lines sure to make it a contender for the most popular car of the show.
Concours d’élégance & Tour Classica
Motorclassica has many other strings to its bow. The Australian Concours d’élégance attracts around 150 entrants annually, there’s a collector car and memorabilia auction, plus an external car club display — pleasingly called the ‘Club Sandwich’ — which draws 200 cars per day over the Saturday and Sunday of the event. Then there’s the annual Tour Classica that sees select entrants convoy through Melbourne’s CBD to the Royal Exhibition Building to officially kick start the Motorclassica festivities. Motorclassica also entertains with special guest speakers on centre stage, vendors offering motoring paraphernalia, collectibles, automotive artwork and books, and specialists providing restoration support services. “New Zealand’s participation in Motorclassica is important to us, and we’d encourage owners and enthusiasts to join us for the event, we never have people disappointed or regretting making the trip,” Paul Mathers said. “Importantly, New Zealand has a raft of cars and motorcycles simply not seen in Australia, so we’d be keen to have them here so they can be enjoyed, I know they’d be warmly welcomed.”
What happens when the team behind your favourite motoring magazines get the call to make a show about what they know and love best? To find out, set yourself a reminder to commandeer the couch and tune in to the motorsport-friendly network, TV3, at 2pm on Sunday, October 18, when we’ll be premiering the first episode of our brand-new motoring magazine show NAC Car Culture! An exploration of the local motoring scene across the length and breadth and of the country, NAC Car Culture promises to be the salve for viewers starved of big-screen coverage of grassroots event and show coverage, and special interest motor sport. Even better, the show takes a look inside some of the best private garages in the land to investigate build projects big, small, and in-between. From obsessive, money-isno-object spenders, through to the super-keen DIY conjurors creating motoring magic on a shoestring, we meet the nation’s most passionate petrolheads and their cars and current projects. It’s been a long time between drinks for a locally produced automotive magazine-style programme on free-to-air TV, and given the great response to our sister title NZV8’S Repco
one-off TV3 special this year, the obvious solution to fill the gap was expanding that concept into a series format focusing on the wider scene. Equally as straight forward a step was finding a partner who was as passionate about the local motoring scene as director Cal Thorley and the crew here at Parkside Media. NAC Insurance have been a loyal supporter of the New Zealand motoring community for more than 18 years and were thrilled to come on board to help bring the project to life. The series is a good fit for NAC’S involvement in supporting initiatives that grow and develop the scene — as well as providing something great to watch on a Sunday afternoon! Keep an eye on themotorhod.com, where we’ll be posting more details closer to the broadcast date. Brought to you by the creators of New Zealand’s biggest and best motoring magazines — New Zealand Classic Car, NZV8, NZ Performance Car — and supporting sponsor Teng Tools, NAC Car Culture has got us more than a mite excited; make sure you’re tuned in weekly from October 18 to get your fix.