New Zealand - We Have Cars Too!

"RooWills" (roowills) 08/09/2013 at 13:00 • Filed to: New Zealand, Drifting, Rally, Circuit Racing, ROO WILLS

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After seeing New Zealand pop up over on Jalopnik in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I realized that you don't often see New Zealand mentioned on international sites. And when you do it's about odd things. Like UFO sightings, remote airports, expensive air fares, Lord of the Rings and driving dogs. Yes, dogs that drive cars.

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This is probably because we are situated in a cold and forgotten corner of the world. But when it comes to cars and motorsport, I think we do alright. For starters - Bruce McLaren, Burt Munro and Possum Bourne were all New Zealanders and should need no introduction to anyone reading this. They all honed their skills and and built their respective vehicles here before going on to dominate overseas.

We have a large enthusiast car scene which is spread across V8/hotrods, European, classics, weekend race cars and Japanese tuners which local media love referring to as 'boy racers' (they are right most of the time).

We build !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! rotaries.

We have a hugely competitive drag racing industry with an annual V8 vs import event that sees bogans and teenagers battle it out.

We hold a WRC round once every couple of years and we host one V8 Supercars event each year. As well as our own homegrown V8 SuperTourers series.

We have a massive drifting community which has really grown in popularity over the last few years.

Along with various other racing disciplines such as Super GT, Time Attack and factory backed production classes.

Are we small? Yes. Are we part of Australia? No. Are our Australian neighbours annoying? Yes. Do we love rugby? Yes. Are we a little odd? Yes. Do we have a place called Shantytown? Yes.

Do we like cars? Yes we do.

Photo credit: Google Maps/Me.

ZeroOrDie - Powered By MZR > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:01

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Yes it is. It is a country!

Forgetful > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:03

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New Zealand... Australia's diffuser

For Sweden > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:06

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If you had cars, why did Frodor walk to Mordor?

ColoradoTaco > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:08

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New Zealand is a buck-list vacation for me, looks to be a beautiful country

CKeffer > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:10

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I call shenanigans! Everyone knows that New Zealand is really Middle Earth, and it's inhabited by Hobbits, Orcs, and wizards, and everyone knows that none of them can drive a car!

crown victor victoria > CKeffer 08/09/2013 at 13:13

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Mikeado > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:14

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YEEEESSSSSSS.

Also, don't forget 1967 F1 world champion Denny Hulme!

Xesty > ColoradoTaco 08/09/2013 at 13:17

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It is a great thing to have on your bucket list. I was lucky enough to visit for a week when i was in high school. The landscape is absolutely stunning and the people are very friendly.

ColoradoTaco > Xesty 08/09/2013 at 13:18

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That's what I've heard. Plus they seem to have exponentially less deadly spiders/snakes than their larger island neighbors.

Gamecat235 > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:25

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I call shenanigans. There was no mention of Rod Millen. Your argument is invalid. =P

$kaycog > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:27

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I absolutely love New Zealand and have been there twice. You New Zealanders are the friendliest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet.

Dusty Ventures > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:31

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Wait, you're NOT part of Australia?! Wow, mind blown, man!

Seriously, though, I love NZ. It's an incredibly beautiful country and those cambered roads put Rally New Zealand right up there with Finland and Monte Carlo on my list of "bucket rallies"

Jagvar > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 13:40

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NZ is top of my short list of places to visit. It seems like my kind of place.

ttyymmnn > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 14:00

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FTFY.

lonestranger > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 14:38

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NZ is pretty popular over on Speedhunters . So much so, that when I think of batshit-crazy rotary tuners, Kiwis are the first thing that comes to mind.

EDIT: LOL that I choose this car before I cilcked the link in the article. (It's the same car). So, here, have a 4-rotor Lexus instead:

BATC42 > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 17:49

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Oh that's awesome ! I got a question. Beause providing everything goes perfectly (ie I pass the IELTS) I'll be studying in New Zealand for a year starting february 2015 at University of Auckland (to get a master in engineering).

So I was wondering, do used car cost a lot down there ? I'm wondering if I'm going to need a car for my year there, but since I'll be in Auckland....

avens > RooWills 08/09/2013 at 20:35

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Might be a bit late, but my internet knowledge (from Might Car Mods) is in New Zealand people are allowed to import any car and taxes aren't prohibitive, plus it has great driving roads all over the land, making it in theory a car enthusiast paradise like no other in the world (Japan and England being close second).