MOBIL AND MURPH SEARCH THE MEAN STREETS
Earlier this year, Mobil motor oils and their brand ambassador, motorsport legend Greg Murphy, went looking for New Zealand’s meanest machine. With $10,000 cash up for grabs, they put the call out to all tinkerers, tuners, and polishing pros.
The Mobil Mean Machine competition was open to all kinds of vehicles — sports cars, muscle cars, supercars, show cars, and not-even cars. Whether it was a pick-up, low rider, fixerupper, or still on blocks, it was eligible. The whips came flooding in with over a thousand entries and nearly 100,000 votes from members of the public.
The top 20 featured Mazdas, a Mitsi, Subaru, Chevs, Fords, a couple of trusty Corollas, and a fair few Holdens, including a 2008 HSV Murph edition featuring an underhood mural of the man himself.
Here’s the countdown of the two runners-up and ultimate Mobil Mean Machine winner:
In third place it’s Billy’s 2007 Jeep Wrangler JK, possibly the only jeep in New Zealand running 6-pot long travel shocks. Here are a few more choice features to give you an idea of its awesome mods: 4.5-inch lift kit, chromoly long arms, Alu Body Armor fender flares, 37-inch tyre, bead lock mags — 38 offset, Smittybilt XRC Gen 2 rear bumper, Best Top Rock Crawler front bumper, Smittybilt Gen 3 X20 winch, Smittybilt Hiloft jack, GME UHF radio, Roadsafe switch panel, RT performance big brake kit with twin pot callipers, 50-inch light bar, Injen Assault fully sealed snorkel.
In second place, Aidan’s 1998 Mazda RX7 is from the ‘golden era of Japanese motorsport’ (’90s–03), back when RX7S like this were battling it out on the track against Skylines, NSXS, Silivas, Mclarens, Porches, and Supras. This is the RE Amemiya and Mazdaspeed Japanese-built JGTC GT300 RX7 that competed in the 2000 – 2001 championship. It is powered by a peripheral port 20B engine with a six-speed sequential gearbox and MOTEC engine management. It won the first ever fly away Super GT round at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit as well as other podium finishes throughout the season in Japan. Some will also remember this car as one of the ‘unlockable’ cars featured on the Gran Turismo 2 video game.
Finally, in first place, crowned ‘New Zealand’s Meanest Machine’, is Matt’s incredible 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air. This is one of the most iconic low-rider bombs in New Zealand, and most likely the only one that holds a cert for hydraulic suspension. It’s also running the original 235 blue flame and original 50s-era car accessories.
If you have a vehicle you pour all your love and attention into, don’t treat it mean, show it love with premium Mobil motor oils like Mobil 1 — scientifically proven to extend oil life, providing longer, stronger protection for your mean machine; the oil trusted around the world by top performance vehicle manufacturers and race teams alike.