Euro Car Club Tunnel Run - 3/3/23

-

I rarely get a weekday off at work, but when I do, I go carspotting. This time wouldn't be the usual dealerships though, as I had a few friends to visit in the CBD. Though I didn't see many supercars bar this Mclaren GT in Orange, I still did manage to find a few cars I did like.


This Suzuki Jimny was decked out in this cool black & white scheme with a G-Wagen light bar and a Land Rover Defender side mounted luggage compartment, which I found super awesome. There was also this old shape Jeep which I just had to take a picture of, since you don't see these often this central!

I was at the arcade playing Wangan Midnight with some old colleagues, when my good friend, Ann, asked if I was going to the Euro Car Club. As I wasn’t driving, I gladly accepted their offer to take me to the run.

Having never been to an ECC event before, I didn’t know what to expect. I also hadn’t carried camera with me that day, so please enjoy some flash photography from my phone!

My friend pulled up in what I think is the coolest looking, non-JCW, new (BMW) Mini. It had a full Good Smile Racing livery with Hatsune Miku as the character. This form of livery originated in Japan and is called Itasha, with cars plastered in Anime-themed wraps…but more on that topic in another article!

When we got to the meeting location, a few other cars were already there. And as per usual, a plethora of Volkswagen Golf GTi’s and R32’s were present, as well as multiple BMW M3 models, mostly consisting of E36 and E46 models. 


 

There were a few notable examples though: a classic red Mini Cooper (which we parked next to, given we were a Mini too) which belonged to the photographer for the night, a Fraser-based Lotus 7 in purplish-blue mated to an F20C (which comes in the Honda S2000), a Megane Renault Sport II RS250 Cup, which was differentiated from the standard RS with Red calipers instead of silver, 235/35R19 tires instead of 225/40R18’s; and most surprising to arrive was a Ferrari F12berlinetta in Grigio Titanio Metallizato (thank goodness it wasn’t red!)





Overall it was a great night, we did 2 laps of the Waterview Tunnel there and back; and though they removed all manner of speed cameras, we were still sticking under the speed limit, just in case a cheeky undercover police car was there! There was also this awesome Nissan Skyline GTS Type S Series 2.5 (HR33)! It was painted white, but was originally KN6 Dark Grey Pearl, which meant it that if it was kept in its original state, it'd be 1 of 29 Automatic Coupes of its trim level ever made!


Again, many thanks to Ann for taking me along for the ride! Here's their Instagram if any of you guys want to check out their account!

Location: Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2023 Ellerslie Concours D'Eleganza Highlights - 30/04/23

-
Image
Over the weekend was the annual Concours show held in Ellerslie! I had been going consecutively for the past few years, but because of COVID, it was cancelled during the last 2 years. Some hope finally returned when I heard that it would be happening during February just past. I was also incredibly excited that the MR2 club wanted me to be in the show for display! However, at the time, i had planned to be in Japan, and so I would miss out on said event. Unfortunately, due to the severe cyclones during December and January, my trip ended up being cancelled. I was both devastated but happy that I could attend Concours with my MR-S. Then bad luck struck again, when another cyclone arrived the week Concours was to be held... I had just spent a fortune getting my car detailed, and it was to no use... Truly the worst series of events... So when the organizers gave us the postponed rain date in April, I crossed my fingers and hoped it would really happen this time, and thank goodness it did!
Read more

May 2023 Monthly Toy Haul - 05/06/2023

-
Image
I know this one's a little late, but I received my last package just recently, so here we go. If you thought last month's 25 cars were a lot, get ready for another whopper of an article. I had just set up a little importing business, so I have a whole lot of new stock that isn't just Hot Wheels. It's now mainly 'True:64' like Mini GT, Paragon Models and Tomica! My first package arrived midway through the month from Hong Kong and was my first large scale order of Paragon Models. I knew what to expect since I had previously bought 2 Paragon Models' Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 rally cars. The attention to detail on those cars were on another level! With accurate livery, badges, lights, wheels and ever reflective stickers on the wing mirrors! First up, is some Hondas starting with the brand new 2023 Civic Type R (FL5) in Championship White! It had a much more subdued design than the previous FK8 generation, but it was equally as cool. Though is had the same engine as
Read more

Coachbuilt Concepts: Gruppo Bertone in the 60's

-
Image
What has long fascinated me about cars is their designs. And Gruppo Bertone was one of the first of the big coachbuilders to suck me into the world of design, and also one of the factors that made me pursue a Bachelors of Architecture, dreaming that one day, I could too, influence a whole generation the same way Gruppo Bertone influenced me. Though the 70’s was really when futuristic Italian design came into play with the Countach and Carabo, we have to start at the beginning of the 60’s: The foundation and what Bertone did to evolve from the voluptuous shapes of the 50’s to the wacky wedges and brilliant boxes of the 70’s Going in chronological order, we start with the year: 1960: 1. Ferrari 250 GT Prototype Enrico Wax At the start of the 60's, Nuccio Bertone began looking to set up new deals with more manufacturers. This led to a series of great cars, including this Prototype 250 GT, also known as the Ferrari 3000. The car was a one-off, and it was created on the direct commissio
Read more