Only the most sexy…

Some months are good. Other months are better. Wearing another hat (as managing editor of Company Vehicle magazine) I was able to drive the new BMW M3 and M4 (sedan and coupe) on two separate racetracks, hundreds of km apart, with a great road trip in between.

Although we weren’t allowed unfettered driving on Taupo and Hampton Downs, we were “chaperoned” by a professional trainer/race driver who set the speed according to how close behind him the lead car was.

I managed to cling on, and the pace was very, very hot.

In between driving I was able to chat, on behalf of Motor Equipment News, to one of the German BMW people who had come over for the New Zealand/Australian launch, and it was amazing to learn about what goes into making a BMW an “M”.

Essentially, it’s the ability of the car to start a major endurance race, drive flat out, and finish at the front, without any additional mechanical

modifications. That means what goes into each car is special, very special, and I hope you’ll find it all as interesting as I did.

I’ve driven every M3 (and now 4) since the very first, and this is the most exciting. You can read more on P28.

Leading on from that, I went to Auckland to see the CRC Speedshow, and I must say this year’s event was the best yet. Lots and lots of cars, especially the hotrods and classics, and some very exotic modern machinery from McLaren and Ferrari, to name just two.

It was difficult to choose which pics to publish from my nearly 300, so I was tempted to fill my allotted two pages with the “show girls”. But I decided to choose just the most sexy…

John