Around 18 years ago Ross Maxwell decided that he’d like to buy himself a cool car that he could mess about with on the weekends. Being friends with an up-and-coming race car driver at the time, he turned to him for a bit of advice on what he should look at. That young driver was Andy Booth, at the time an unheard-of-youngster with big aspirations.

Following Andy’s advice, Ross soon purchased a big-block 1973 Corvette. Andy being Andy, and Ross being a sucker, it wasn’t long before Andy had convinced him that the (more…)

Our latest issue has hit stores today, and it’s bursting with content.

Feature cars include one of the coolest Mustangs you’ll ever lay eyes on, complete with injected quad cam motor and 6-speed. Next up is what has to be the countries tidiest Valiant, complete with 426ci power. We’ve also got a wild drift spec VZ Commodore, and a very touigh big block Corvette.

Besides tehc ars, there’s an interview with Karen Hay, plenty of drag racing news, coverage of the Nitro Nostalgia Reunion and Kumeu Car Show.

Grab a copy at a store near you, or hit the ‘Shop’ button above to buy your copy online.

Every now and then, a car comes along that defies convention, and pulls a big middle finger to normality. Dave Best’s 1965 Corvette is one such car, and while it may be new to us, Dave’s owned it and tinkered with it for over two decades now. Mind you, it’s never been as angry as it is in its current guise.

Dave tells the car’s history — “I found it in the late ’80s in Bakersfield, California. It belonged to the owner of Manuel’s Body Shop at the time and had a tunnel-rammed small block in it. It had previously raced at the ’76 Winter Nationals in Pomona. I couldn’t secure a deal at the time, and had to head home, so I entrusted Willie Roach to try and persuade the owner to sell it to me, which eventually happened right around tax time.”

Over the next 15 years Dave was continually playing with the car, and has lost count of the (more…)

I’ve got an addictive personality. If I like something, I like it a lot,” says Robbie Allen. And when you lay eyes on his 1976 Corvette, it’s pretty easy to see what he’s talking about.
While some people would say the car is overkill, to Robbie it’s pretty much perfect. The build has been an ongoing labour of love for 14 years now, and in that time it’s continued to grow and develop to represent Robbie’s personality. As he rightly says, he’s worked hard all his life for his toys, so he may as well make them how he wants them and get the maximum enjoyment from them. The road to automotive perfection hasn’t been an easy one though, and we’re pretty sure it hasn’t been a (more…)

For Chevrolet fans the next-generation Corvette can’t come around soon enough, but it’s not scheduled to arrive 2013 as a 2014 model. While it’s still a few years off, there is plenty of wild rumour and speculation about exactly what form the new model will take. Will it use a turbocharged V8 engine, will it have a retro-inspired split rear window design? Nothing is certain, but recent reports have been leaking out from GM sources that it might not be as exciting as fans hope.

The reports are stating that the design of the next Corvette will be more evolutionary than revolutionary. The design won’t include anything as far out as a standard split window, and it probably won’t be offered as an option, either. The rumored new 5.5-litre V8 may not happen and the new Corvette could push on with the tried-and-true 6.2-litre V8 as its base engine. The rumour of a mid-engine layout was always a bit fanciful and has also been denied. (more…)

A lot of people out there think that the days of barn find cars are over, but they’re wrong. If anyone needs proof this highly collectible Corvette pace car has just been uncovered in a Detroit storage facility.

It’s history begins back in 1978 when Chevrolet celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Corvette by pacing the Indianapolis 500 and releasing a handful of special-edition pace car replicas to the public. Just 6,502 of the black and silver Corvette models were built and unsurprisingly the vehicles sold out quickly. Seeing the potential of this model as a future collectible, the original owner of this 1978 Chevrolet Corvette pace car bought the car and immediately tucked it away in his garage for safe-keeping.

There is sat for many years until in 1995, the owner sold his house and had the Corvette pace car transferred to a Detroit-area storage facility, where it was locked away again – this time under a pile of boxes. It stayed in storage until it was uncovered recently, it is now on sale with just 13 miles on the clock through a dealer in New England, U.S.A. According to the dealer website, the original tyres still hold air, and the engine still runs. (more…)

There’s few things as sweet as getting a bonus after a job well done. A few extra grand at the end of a contract can make all the hours of hard work worthwhile. But what’s better than a few grand? How about a mint 1969 Corvette.

Actor and all round cool cat Johnny Depp received a surprise Corvette gift on the set of his upcoming movie The Rum Diary. In the film adaptation of a Hunter S. Thompson novel Depp drives a 1959 Corvette and was apparently quite taken with the classic. When production wrapped, the film’s director Bruce Robinson gave the ’59 Corvette to Depp as a “thank you” gift for all the actor’s hard work on the film.

Upon receiving the Corvette present Depp was pretty blown away by the gesture. Meaning it is possible to find a gift for someone who has everything. (more…)