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Weekend WheelsWeekend

Bay of Plenty:

June 7-8: Top kart clash: Fagan’s ValleyThe country’s top karters will converge on Fagan’s Valley in Te Puke for the fourth of the six-round Rotax Max Challenge. Karters are battling for a place at the chal-lenge’s international grand fi nal against the best from around the world. For details, visit: www.kartsport.org.nz

Beyond the Bay:

May 23-24: Drifting series fi nal: Mount Smart StadiumThe fi nal standings in the national D1NZ drifting championship will be decided at this weekend’s sixth round of the drift series, with top Tauranga drivers Cole Armstrong and Drew Donovan determined to cement their place in the top 10. For details, visit: www.d1nz.co.nz

June 1: National Rally Championship: CanterburyAs the Brian Green New Zealand Rally Championship nears its half-way point, the excitement builds on Can-terbury’s roads with the third of six rounds. For details, visit: www.nzrallychampionship.co.nz

June 1: Rally Extreme opener: Hawke’s Bay The fi ve-round Rally Extreme series begins in Hawke’s Bay, with Tauranga driver Wayne Pittams among those lining up to contest the series. For details on the Tomoana Warehousing Rally Hawke’s Bay, go to www.hbcarclub.co.nz

In a world where classic cars are generally seen as only coming

in three fl avours – American, British and European – Mike

Burgess is used to being dismissed as an outsider.

The Papamoa Mitsubishi Galant Colt GTO enthusiast knows only too well how most car-lovers look down on anything Japanese, saying early Asian models are widely perceived as poor imitations of the Western marques – but he foresees this changing.

“It is quite frustrating when you go to these car shows and they turn you away with these ‘No Japanese Allowed’ signs,” says Mike, who is still irked by regular rejections including for charity runs.

“There are these Hillman Hunters and Mark II Cortinas taking part, which in reality are just pretty standard family cars, whereas the GTO has so much more.”

Mike fell for GTOs in his teens, saying he was envious of a few high school sen-iors who drove them.

“I couldn’t afford a GTO until I got my fi rst one in my mid-20s,” says Mike, who has since owned another eight.

His current model – a 1973 GSR he’s had for 10 years – is kept humming along in near mint condition, and occasionally taken out to add a few more miles to the 64,000 on the clock.

“The other GTOs I’ve had I would quite often buy them without a Warrant of Fitness and then work on them, replacing the brake lines and fi xing them up,” says the long-time Early Mitsubishi Colt GTO

Owners Group member. “I’d often drive them for a while, then

sell them on. Like they say, it’s good to have a project on the go.”

When released GTOs were far from a cheap car, with the ticket price of $5000 well beyond the $3500 being charged for a six cylinder Valiant Regal. But for the higher price the GTO came packed with many high-end specifi cations, which remains one

of the key appeals for Mike.For Mike, a key appeal is the high-end

specifi cations, which include fi ve-speed transmission, eight-track Lear Jet 8 track cartridge player (the cassette tape prede-cessor), twin carbs and rear backing lights. And the grunty two litre capacity with 125hp had almost double the power of the Ford Escorts and Cortinas many of his peers were driving.

Inspired largely by the American muscle car trend that Mitsubishi’s Hiroaki

Kamisago saw around him when studying design in Los Angeles in 1967, the GTO drew upon the likes of the Mustang, Firebird and Cougar.

“The whole styling of the two-door coupe was a major change to what Mit-subishi had been doing,” says Mike, who personally believes the Japanese auto-maker should release an updated version of the GTO – which were produced from 1970-1977.

“It’s a real pity that it’s not widely appreciated, but I think what Mitsubishi needs to do is put out a restyled model, like we’ve seen with the Mustang and the

VW Beetle. I’m sure it would change people’s view.”

Mike believes he’s already starting to see more interest in the model, saying quite a few of his friends have been buying GTOs to restore them, and he’s seen prices rise with demand.

Just last month he saw an unreg-istered and unwarranted GTO sell

for $6800, which is $2100 more than what he received for a restored model two years ago.

Mike believes people are more interested in restoring classics from their era, so he expects interest in GTOs will grow among his generation, but picks a fall-off among peers in buying vintage-era cars.

However, when it comes to restoring early Mitsubishis, he admits there’s one major challenge – fi nding parts.

“You can’t buy any of these parts off the shelf, so it does mean you sometimes need to have a good hunt around,” says Mike, who encourages anyone with an inter-est to get involved in the owners’ group. For club details, visit http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mitsubishicarclub

Challenging the stereotypes

By Hamish Carter

Papamoa’s Mike Burgess believes the Mitsubishi Galant Colt GTO is

an under-appreciated classic.


SPECS

A modern masterpiece

The GLA-Class is a spacious SUV, which gives you the feel of the tradi-tional Mercedes – solid and well made, but with a little surprise. This car han-dles like a hot SUV. It’s nimble, quick, and does exactly what you tell it to do.

I drove the entry-level model, with the 100kw diesel engine, and was surprised by how responsive it is. Some diesels

make you second-guess when pulling out of junctions, but this one gives you the confi dence to deal with the traffi c.

The power is smooth and consist-ently delivered, thanks to its pairing with a seven-speed auto transmis-sion. It also doesn’t cost the earth to run, with a mere 4.6L/100km – a challenge to most small cars.

There’s no doubt this is an attractive car, with its aggressive front-styling that Mercedes is becoming known for, but still undeniably executive and prestige.

This follows through to the inside, which is a defi nite break from the usually-subdued Mercedes interior – this one is modern, stylish and dare I say,

a bit funky. It’s very well-appointed, comfort-

able, and highly confi gurable to suit the driver. The all-round vision is excellent, which gives you a great feeling of confi -dence to manoeuvre.

This car seems to have sensors every-where. If someone gets too close to you, or indeed you get too close to them, warning lights and chimes will let you know something is getting a little too close for comfort.

Lights embedded in the mirrors (blind spot assist) will glow amber or red, depending on how close you are to impending doom. A little closer, and you start getting warning chimes. Closer still, well, you should have been paying atten-tion as you’ve just lost a wing mirror. You would literally have to fall asleep to have an accident in this car.

Even though we had the entry level model, it is still well-equipped. Leather seats and door trims, navigation system, dual zone climate control, iPhone/iPod integration, even paddle shift gears. The exterior, confi dently wearing 18inch twin spoke alloy wheels, tinted glass, roof rails and very attractive styling. It looks like

a small car from the outside, but as a six foot male, I was very comfortable up front, and had room to spare in the back. There’s even plenty of boot space for a suitcase or two, and a couple of bags. Defi nitely plenty of room for a week away at the ski slopes.

There’s also a raft of optional extras available, from electronic seat controls (standard on other models) right up to some AMG styling options. If you fancy a little extra though, there are two more models in the GLA range.

Firstly, the GLA 250 4Matic – an all wheel drive version with 2.0l 155kW turbo-charged petrol engine – starting at $76,900, and the GLA 45 AMG 4Matic which, as the name suggests, is the AMG styled-and-tuned variant which pro-duced a whopping 265kw from the same 2.0L turbo-charged petrol engine, from $99,900.

All in all, if you’re shopping for a good-sized SUV, you won’t go wrong here. Modern, stylish, with looks that won’t age – and plenty of confi gurations to make it your perfect car. Why not drop in to Ingham Sears Mercedes today for a test drive?

The new Mercedes GLA-Class seems a little left-fi eld for the German

automobile manufacturer. It’s not quite a family sedan or a small runabout like the A-Class – just somewhere in between. But

as soon as you look at the competition, it makes perfect sense.

By Jay Burston

GLA-Class 200 CDI

Engine: 4 cylinder, direct injection, turbo diesel

Displacement: 2143cc, 100 kW

Transmission: 7 speed DCT automatic

Drive System: Front wheel drive

Price From: $64,900

Dealer/contacts:

Ingham Sears Mercedes,

55 Totara St, Mount Maunganui.

Ph 07 572 8260

www.mbinghamsears.co.nz

A modern masterpieceMercedes GLA-Class 200 CDi


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

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

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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Growing up surrounded by all makes and models of cars, Reece Killingback always had the knack for recognising

every car’s strengths.

It was Reece’s gift to see hidden potential in modifying a Hillman Imp for racing that helped him win this year’s TradeZone NZGT Championships.

Looking back, Reece says he’s learned from years’ racing and time at his father’s car yard Alabama Autos.

The Mount Maunganui motoring enthusiast is “absolutely rapt” with his performance in the Independent Race Classes series, building on last season’s runner-up result.

“After coming so close last season, we were determined to win the championship this year,” says Reece, who in a David and Goliath-type battle beat all of the V8s in his Subaru WRX-powered Imp, with two wins and four other podium finishes in the seven rounds.

The baby blue Imp’s success was partly due to its top power-to-weight ratio that allowed it to fly past other cars to near the front of the pack within a lap of starting.

“It’s now officially retired, and sitting in my mate’s shed. We’d got everything we could out of the Imp.

“To be honest I didn’t see the point in doing it again when we had shown we could take the title; it was going to be a lot more interesting with a new project.”

A 1990 Mercedes 190E is parked up in his garage, with work underway to prepare the street car for racing. The roll cage has been fitted and Reece’s next task is to replace the 2.6 litre six cylinder engine with a 5.6 litre Mercedes V8.

“It’s going to make a huge difference in power,” says Reece, who aims to have the car under 1000kg, which with about 400 horse-power will give it a reasonable power-weight ratio.

“They aren’t as heavy as a lot of people think,” says Reece, who is scratching his head to why they’re rarely raced in NZ. “You see plenty of BMWs, but only the very odd Merc.”

“They have so much capability and so much proven experience on the track,” says Reece, who is modelling some of his modifications on the proven formula of Mercedes racing in Germany’s DTM series, including replacing his wheels with larger 18 inch rims.

In contrast to the Imp, which was let down by small wheels and brakes, Reece expects the Merc to boast far better braking and han-dling, which will be a particular advantage

on fast corners. “I definitely think it will be a serious con-

tender. On paper and in my head, at least, it all adds up.”

While the Merc won’t have the head-turning appeal of the Imp – which had many fans’ support up against the grunty saloons – Reece hopes his new car will attract reasonable inter-est.

“I don’t like following the general trends and doing what everyone else does. I really enjoy doing it my own way,” says Reece, who rates half the satisfaction as building the car himself.

While doing all of the work helps keep costs down, Reece thanks his sponsors for making his car projects possible, including Stadium Cars, Elf Lubricants, Macs Mufflers, Tyre Works and Holmes Industrial Supplies.

Racing hidden gems

By Hamish Carter

Following the success of winning the TradeZone NZGT Championships in his Hillman Imp

(inset), Reece Killingback is building a Mercedes to race in the series later this year.

Photo by Tracy H

ardy

��

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