Bay Driver 31 January 2014

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The Weekend Sun Bay DriverPage 2 Friday 31 January 2014 Friday 31 January 2014Friday 31 January 2014

No.1 The Strand, PO Box 240, Tauranga 3140 www.sunlive.co.nz phone 07 578 0030 fax 07 571 1116 email [email protected]

Bookings and enquiries contact Lucy Pattison on 07 578 0030email: [email protected]

For editorial and news tips email: [email protected]

Home of

Weekend WheelsWeekend WheelsBay of Plenty• February 1: Sprint car champs: ASB Baypark SpeedwayTop speedway action is guaranteed at the Earth Mover Tyres North Island Sprint Champi-onships with top drivers from around the north, including Tauranga’s national champion Rodney Wood, battling it out on the dirt from 6.30pm, with super saloon, stock car and mini stock racing also on offer. Details: www.asbbaypark.co.nz/speedway• February 15: Caravan Derby and Super Saloons : ASB Baypark SpeedwayASB Baypark Speedway hosts the Pacifi c Kartsport South Pacifi c Super Saloon Champs, with the Bay stock car champs in an exciting night that will fi nish with the popular cara-van derby. Racing from 6.30pm.• February 16: Battle of the Streets: PaeroaStreet racing comes to Paeroa in the town’s popular annual street battle. Details: www.battleofthestreets.co.nz• February 23: Show off your wheels: Mount MaunganuiThe inaugural ‘Show off your wheels’ car show organised by Mount Maunganui Rotary Club promises to offer plenty for all motoring enthusiasts with displays by collectors and restorers through to racing drivers and the latest models from dealerships. The show runs at Mount Maunganui College from 10am-4pm. Details: www.showoffyourwheelsautoshow.com• March 1: Principals’ Challenge: ASB Baypark SpeedwayFollowing the success of last year’s inaugural challenge, principals from around the Western Bay will be racing mini stocks in the hope of winning the title claimed by Welcome Bay School’s Nik House in 2013. Details: www.asbbaypark.co.nz/speedway

Beyond the Bay• February 1-2: Independent Racing Classes: Hampton DownsRound four of the IRC competition will see cars from Minis to Mustangs and Porsche to VW compete in 12 different motorsport classes.• February 16: Motorsport BOP track titles: TaupoRound one of the motorsport club’s track championships will be held at the Ricoh Taupo Motorsport Park with dual sprints. Details: www.mbop.org.nz• February 22-23: Drift series action: TaupoRound four of the D1NZ National Drifting Championships will be held at the Ricoh Taupo Motorsport Park with plenty of action guaranteed. Details: www.d1nz.com

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The Weekend Sun Bay Driver Page 3Friday 31 January 2014 Friday 31 January 2014Friday 31 January 2014

When it comes to cars Dean Muller knows what he likes. You won’t fi nd

him in a British sports car or an Italian thoroughbred – it’s got to be American

through and through.“It’s just the way I like them,” says Dean. “It’s

the era and the look of them,” he says about the Classic American style he is drawn to. It also helps if the brand starts with a Ch.

Look around his Mount Maunganui garage and you will probably think he only has eyes for Chryslers, but dig a little deeper and he tells you it all started with a Chevy – his fi rst restoration which took a couple of years in weekends in his younger days about 28 years ago.

“It was a 1938 Chevrolet 4 door sedan - maybe the appeal is the art deco look, the 1930s, Gatsby look, the Al Capone style,” he says about the classic 30s style he has a weakness for. “But there is defi nitely something special about cars from that era.”

Since having a family his time for restoration projects has disappeared, prompting him to buy the latest addition to his collection – a 1936

Chrysler Roadster – already fully restored last year.

Dean already owned two other Chryslers from the era – a sedan and a coupe (both 1936) – “so the roadster would com-plete the family”. He fi rst saw the car advertised about three years ago – but lost interest because it was well overpriced.

“About 12 months ago I heard it was in Levin, and visited the owner and we negotiated a price,” says Dean who had the roadster shipped up on a transporter last February to sit alongside his largely restored sedan in his garage.

Getting that Gatsby style

Work on the black four-door sedan, which he has owned for about 28 years, has taken longer than expected but he is nearing completion and hopes to have it certifi ed roadworthy within six months.

“I have fi ts and starts on it, but I don’t have a lot left to do before I should be able to get an engineer to certify it.”Dean, who is looking forward to

getting the sedan out on the road, is expecting the hardest part will be proving the car has been previously registered after struggling to fi nd any original documentation.“I originally brought it from my

mate who lived in Whatawhata, who at the time was buying lots of 1930s cars in rough, going condition.”

He already has his next restoration project lined up, with two cars from the era in storage on a friend’s farm – a 1936 Chrysler Plymouth sedan and a 1938 Plymouth De Soto two door

sedan. Ultimately he would love to put a Chrysler V8 in the 1936 sedan if he had plenty of time and money, but its way down his list of jobs.

“I know it can be a bit of an engineer-ing challenge so we’ll just see,” says Dean, who is yet to tire of the satisfac-tion of getting out in the roadster. “We take out for a cruise about every second weekend. It’s lots of fun.”

The smartly restored roadster – which he believes is only one of six in the country – is always a hit in car shows and displays, with hundreds of fans always stopping in their tracks.

“Everybody loves it. You’re always getting lots of good comments, people seem to really love the dickey seat and it’s quite a rarity.” By Hamish Carter

Mount Maunganui Chrysler enthusiast Dean Muller with the 1936 roadster. Photos by Tracy Hardy.

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Calling all Western Bay young business and professional people – Sideline Sid has found the car for you, with more technology than

you can poke a stick at.The latest mission for this Bay Driver test

pilot, was to take a Nissan Altima Ti from Bay Nissan at Farmer Auto Village on Hewl-ett’s Road in the Mount, out for a spin. On a day where we passed plenty of pulsating

action at the Classics of the Sky Tauranga City Airshow and ENZED V8 Jetsprint Championship extravaganza on our drive, the latest offering from the Nissan team completely grabbed our admiration.

In order to give the Nissan Altima Ti the attention it required, Sideline Sid’s co pilot on the day was his long suffering wife of more than four decades. First impressions were of a stylish looking 2.5 litre sedan coloured in Panther Black. In keeping with the stylish concept, the Nissan Altima also

comes in exotic sounding shades of Titanium, Storm Grey, Sheer Silver, White Diamond and Mineral Blue.

A quick initial scan before taking the Nissan Altima Ti out on showed a compact 2.5 litre engine under the bonnet, plenty of leg-room in both the front and back of the vehicle, and a boot that would take up three big suitcases with ease.

Out on the open highway to The Lakes, the premium class Altima Ti purred along close to the speed limit, in an extremely quiet manner. The Nissan Altima delivered a light touch of the steering wheel but gave a fi rm grip on the road.

Passing acceleration was very responsive - with the car’s sensors initially confus-ing Sideline Sid when they beeped as he got too close to the white lines.

However, it is the Nissan Altima technology that makes it stand apart from its competitors. The driver’s seating is outstanding, with an eight-way power adjust seat, which automatically adjusts each time you get into the hot seat, courtesy of the memory settings.

The four cameras and multiple sensors give the Altima Ti a sense of invisible body armour. The cameras keep watch around the vehicle and if other cars, trucks or people start to stray too close, the driver is alerted of impending trouble by the car’s beepers. Of particular value is the blind spot warning that alerts the driver to other vehicles prone to sneak up, sight unseen.

The cameras and sensors are just the start of a myriad of technology on show in the Altima TI, including headlamps with auto levelling and door mirrors with auto tilt reversing, along with rain sensing wipers and rear privacy glass that complements the outside of the sedan.

The front passenger seat has four-way power adjust with dual zone air condition-ing providing individual comfort. A 7inch touch screen with Blue Tooth and audio streaming are rounded out with 9 BOSE speakers. Satellite Navigation is state of the art with plenty of bells and whistles and even includes a petrol station fi nder when run-ning low on fuel.

It is the around view monitors with multiple functions that will really appeal to

business professionals always on the go.

Front and rear parking sensors help avoid the little bumps and knocks when parking, and blind spot warning, lane departure warning and moving object detection make

for mistake free motoring.Really comfortable rear seats,

which have genuine leg room are another bonus, while the back seats fold down, and coupled with the huge boot, will give a vast area to transport a wide

variety of purchases and goods.Safety is an overriding feature of both the

Nissan Altima ST and Ti models. Dual front, side and curtain airbags are the start that move on to Vehicle Dynamic Con-trol, Traction Control, Active Understeer Control, and ABS, EDB and BA braking systems.

Final impressions from the intrepid husband and wife reviewers were of a qual-ity bigger car at a medium car price. The Nissan Altima ST and Ti models, are ideally suited to life on the road for a busy business professional, with the on board technology providing the perfect temporary offi ce base to send and receive information.

We left the last word to Roger at Bay Nissan who said “The Nissan Altima has outstanding fuel effi ciency for a large car and front seats with the same zero gravity quali-ties as the space shuttle, which make it top of the class against the opposition”.

Nissan Altima Ti

Engine: 2.5L petrol engine

Power: 127KW

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: Xtronic CVT Automatic

Safety Features: Vehicle Dynamic Control

(VDC) Traction Control (TC) Active

Understeer Control (AUC) and ABS, EDB

and BA braking systems.

Recommended Retail Price:

Ti Sedan - $53,290

ST Sedan - $43,990

Contact: Bay Nissan @ Farmer Auto Village

07 578 6017

technology that makes it stand apart from its competitors. The driver’s seating is outstanding, with an

go.

It’s the businessNissan Altima Ti -

It’s the businessNissan Altima Ti -


It’s the business

116 Hewletts RoadMount Maunganui, Tauranga City Tel: 07 578 6017www.farmerautovillage.co.nz Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Facebook


Open: Monday-Friday 8.00am-5.30pm Saturday 9.00am-5.00pm

116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui. Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz


116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui. Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga City Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz Follow us on Facebook


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Hot rods or vintages cars, big rigs or the latest premium roadsters –

there will be plenty to take your eye at the upcoming Show off your Wheels auto show.

That’s the prediction from Les Creswell, who is organising the inaugural show as a Mount Maunganui Rotary Club fundraiser after being inspired by a similar event run by an English club.

“I was really impressed by what they were doing so I thought we should do something similar here,” says Les, who is already excited about the strong interest in the show which is being held at the Mount Maunganui Col-lege grounds on February 23.

Les says the event, which will raise money for a range of Rotary charities, gives the opportunity for anyone who isn’t a car club member, but has a “special and loved” car, to show it off in public.

“You will have displays by all your enthu-siasts and club members, but it’s much more than just that – with dealerships showing off some of their latest models, there will be old traction engines and lots more.”

Among the handful of dealerships that have leapt on the chance to showcase their latest and greatest is BOP Honda. General manager Barry Knight says it is exciting to see the Rotary club organise the show where he planned to display Honda’s hybrid petrol-electric CRZ along with the brand’s perennially popular CRV.

“There’s always a lot of interest in hybrids so it’s a great chance for us to show the Tau-ranga public what we’re doing.”

Barry says it is great to see the motoring show put on in Tauranga and expects it to grow over the coming years.

Other dealerships displaying vehicles at the show include Farmer Motor Group, Coombes BMW, Duncan and Ebbett and Pacifi c Toyota.

To register vehicles or book commercial sites, visit: www.showoffyourwheelsautoshow.com

By Hamish Carter

Show us your wheels

BOP Honda general manager Barry Knight will be displaying the hybrid CRZ and the popular CRV at ‘Show off your Wheels’.

Photo by Tracy Hardy.

10.00am to 4.30pm Sunday 23rd February 2014, Mount Maunganui College Grounds

10.00am to 4.30pm Sunday 23rd February 2014, Mount Maunganui College Grounds

ROTARY CLUB OF MOUNT MAUNGANUIPROUDLY SUPPORTED BY:


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116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui. Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz


116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui. Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz116 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga City Tel: 07 578 6017 www.farmerautovillage.co.nz Follow us on Facebook


Tauranga sprint car driver Rodney Wood is all fi red up ahead

of this weekend’s North Island Sprint Championships at

Baypark Speedway.

After getting a taste for speedway racing when he took part in a demolition derby 26 years ago, he hasn’t looked back – claiming his share of success in every class he has raced in, but this season he is aiming to do even better.

Fresh from his success in Cromwell, where he won the New Zealand Sprintcar Championship title, he is promising a fi erce performance this weekend when the North Island’s are held at his home track.

“It’s a pretty huge achievement,” says Rodney about his success claiming the national title in Central Otago which, following his success winning the championship in 2010, makes him the fi rst sprint class driver to claim the title twice in the past 10 years of the modern era of sprintcar racing.

“Myself and the whole crew, we were all so excited because it is quite a big deal,” says Rodney, who explains the standard of compe-tition has become a lot tighter over the past 10 years with the expansion of sprint car racing from two speedway tracks in the country to fi ve centres.

On top of increased competition from around the country Rodney had to beat off professional American drivers to win the national championship – after US-based driv-ers won the national title for the past three years.

“That made the title even more satisfying,” says Rodney, who was the last Kiwi to hold the title in 2010, a season when he also claimed the North Island championship and was third in the New Zealand grand prix. Charged up by his recent success Rodney is determined to do even better this season.

“We want to go even further, so that means winning the North Islands then doing better than third at the grand prix (in March). That’s the personal challenge for me”.

Rodney says after some mixed results earlier in the season the whole team has had a big boost from its convincing win at the nationals where they dominated and believes they have a strong chance against the top teams expected this Saturday.

“But you always have to remember last week’s win is last week’s. You just pick yourself up and give it your best - it always comes down to the day.”

Rodney attributes a large part of his success to the strong team behind him including a very supportive wife and family, dedicated crew and sponsors, with crew chief Gary Arnold who has been part of Rodney’s team for the past 18 years.

From the fi rst demolition derby Rodney took part in where he was bitten by the speedway bug, he went on to race in the street stock class gathering a swag of titles over the next nine years including the New Zealand & North island Champs, before switching over to super stocks. Along with winning an astound-ing 22 events on the run as a member of the famed Baypark Busters super stock team in its heyday, he also individually won the North Island super stock title three times, as well as taking second and third place in the nationals. Lately he has been trying to give back to the super stock class and share some of his own insights as a coach for the reformed Busters.

But for the past six seasons it has all been about sprint cars – the fastest cars competing on dirt in New Zealand, boasting a higher power-to-weight ratio than even Formula One cars. “At 850 horsepower you’re fl ying around Baypark at 170kmh-180kmh. It’s something else.”

Over the summer speedway season he competes almost every weekend at one of the country’s sprintcar tracks but over winter he takes time out from racing sometimes visiting the USA to keep in touch with their sprintcar scene.

The North Island Sprintcar Champs will be at Baypark speedway from 6.30pm on Sat-urday where Rodney will be racing the 1NZ Fowler Homes Sprintcar, aiming to win his sixth North Island title.

Above: Rodney Wood in action showing his winning sprint racing form. Inset: Rodney celebrates his national championship title in Cromwell with his mini stock racing daughter Rosie Woods, 16.

The Weekend Sun Bay Driver

Sprinting ahead

By Hamish Carter

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Bay Driver 31 January 2014