In a previous article (read here) we introduced you to world-renowned technical expert David Vizard. This month we extract as much knowledge from him as we can!

Last month we spoke with David Vizard about the who, what, when, where and how he became a key player in the production of V8 DIY manuals. We’re still amazed at how an English accent muscled its way into the realms of America’s Holy Grail, but once again we won’t dwell on this point, just marvel at the tenacity of a person who infiltrated that closed society.

David mentioned last issue that he didn’t hold opinions; instead, he reckoned his dyno defines answers to all our performance related questions. It would be great to have unlimited access to this type of equipment, but in the real world, unless you’re seriously committed to making your hobby a business, mills, lathes, a dyno and airflow benches are out of financial reach.

That’s where David steps in. As long as you believe he has taken testing to its conclusion, then owning his literature (or reading it) is as good as having a workshop full of specialist equipment.

Gone are the days when selecting a cam meant going to the bottom of the page in a Crane or Isky catalogue. David’s testing of those 23,000 cam combinations mentioned last month pretty much says it all. If there’s another person out there with that much experience in valve timing, we’d love to meet them. And just to reiterate his experience, although it’s not widely known, at any given time David has upwards of 50 record-holders running round using his specified cam sequences.

It’s not just the speed equipment industry that uses his expertise, either. NASA had him on its payroll calculating the amount of fuel it would take to economically arrive at the moon. We’d say there was little room for error on that particular project… (more…)

Name: Mark Gapp
Company: Proparts
Job Title: Owner

Mark, you’ve been in the game for a while now. How did you get started?
I started back in ’92 I think, with a $200 car. I ordered 100 spark plugs and hoped I would sell enough of them for cash before I had to pay for them. I did 60,000km in that rusty old Corona, trekking around the countryside calling into workshops to see what I could help with. I ended up selling around 4500 plugs a month, then got into leads, oil filters, oil, etc, and things have just got a bit carried away since. We now have three stores, Palmerston North, Napier and recently Lower Hutt, with literally hundreds of brands and thousands of parts in stock, and access to almost any brand you can think of in the performance game.

You must have seen the whole scene change a bit since ’92?
Yes, we are seeing a higher standard of car being built nowadays, with a wider range of parts available, which are now more affordable due to better manufacturing processes and a stronger Kiwi dollar. In recent years we have seen a large number of cars come in from the States, creating a whole new market for restoration parts. Using our existing supplier network and our freight  systems, we usually end up saving our customers a significant amount on the freight and can supply the parts at very competitive prices.

Is the internet having any effect on sales?
Yes, we are selling more with the help of the internet, due to our new website that has just been launched (www.proparts.co.nz); and we have access to more information, which makes our job easier. And our customers are usually better informed from their own research. We now compete in a global market with the big USA-based warehouses. In most cases we match the price and we can ship it better with regular air and sea shipments out of the US and weekly out of Aussie.

With three shops, you must be one of the biggest players in the local parts industry.
Mmm, we still have a lot that we want to achieve, but we consider ourselves to be a significant player in the aftermarket performance and
restoration parts industry.

Do the shops tend to sell the same things, or are there different trends in all three areas?
In the most part we sell the same parts, with minor differences due to the type of motorsport in each area. For example, Hawke’s Bay has the dwarf cars and mod lites running at Meeanee, but we don’t see them at Te Marua or Palmerston North. All stores ship nationwide anyway, which tends to even things out.

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Michael Gilbert, or Gup as he’s known, is the man behind what is set to be the biggest event to hit NZ shores. He was in town recently, and we pinned him down to find out more about the upcoming event.

We know Powercruise is coming to New Zealand, but what is the event all about?

That’s a pretty broad question, mate. Okay, here we go.

Powercruise is all about doing all the things you’re not allowed to do on the streets anymore. You can cruise in your car no matter whether it is a hot rod, street machine, rotary, drift car, import, cruiser, drag car within reason, and so on. And you can cruise the track, race a few cars over short distances on the track, all with your mates in the car with you. Like I said, you can do all the things you’re not allowed to do anywhere else.

Powercruise is all about the cruising. It’s where you can just be casual and cruise around watching what everyone else is doing. Or you can line up your mate’s car and give him a run down the straights. It’s where rotaries can race the V8s, Skylines can race the rotaries, anyone can give anyone a run¦ It’s all about having fun in your car no matter what sort of car it is or how good it looks (within reason again) or how fast it is.

Powercruise gives everyone a go at what they want to do. That’s why we say you can cruise, race, drift and skid your way around a race track.

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John Meyer is Kicker’s technical representative and, when it comes to car audio, there isn’t much he doesn’t know.

Custom car audio systems are just starting to take off in the New Zealand V8 scene, so while legendary car audio guru John Myer was in town, we thought we would find out what he has to say about the American scene, being on TV’s Overhaulin’ and his thoughts on New Zealand.

NZV8: John, you’re well known in the US car audio industry ” tell us how it all started for you.
JM: When I was at elementary school age I loved to play with speakers. I would take the woofers out and put the boxes in different places around the room to see how it changed the sound. I found out that if I just had a speaker attached to a bit of board it sounded terrible, but if I slid it underneath my bed where it formed a box of sorts it sounded a lot better.

In junior high I started building my own speakers in woodwork and also playing with electronics. When I was 13 my neighbour was having problems with his radio and he couldn’t make it work. I had a play, got it going, and he paid me $20. You know, $20 when you’re 13 ” and remember this was 27 years ago ” wasn’t a bad deal. So I took all the woodwork and automotive classes I could, and in college I took electronics. I kind of put it all together and started running my own car audio shop in 1988. I was working at Kenwood before I moved to Stillwater Designs [Kicker] 10 years ago.

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Newcomer to the scene Custom Rods has created a huge stir in the car industry; join us as Todd sits down with Jan, Garth and Ben to find out what they are all about.

We first saw Custom Rods’ vehicles on display at the Hot Rod Nationals in Auckland last year. With their super-low airbag stance and fantastic body shape, the cars were a standout. Over the last few months we’ve seen the new company construct three vehicles, all of which are unique and available for sale. The coupe, hard-top and slam-back are all superbly finished, yet so different it was impossible for the NZV8 team to pick a favourite. This trio features Edelbrock crate motors rated at 239kW, although the cars can be built to order with almost any engine package. As the vehicles are built predominantly in-house at Custom Rods’ Onehunga base, every aspect can be tailored to the customer’s requirements. Read on to hear what the Custom Rods team of Jan Ubels, Garth Nielsen and Ben Ubels have to say about the cars, business and fishing trips.

NZV8: So who is Custom Rods, and what is it all about?

Jan: Custom rods is an idea Garth and I had on a fishing trip, ’cause we always talked about cars. We would talk about which hot rods we would build, what’s our favourite one, and every trip it would change slightly, but we’d always say, ’32, ’34 high-boy or something like that. So on one trip we’d gone away and Garth said, “Why don’t we build some hot rods?”. After I called him a tosser and everything else under the sun, we said, well, let’s do it! So we decided it wouldn’t be a hobby; we would build up-market, quality cars as a business. We decided the target market is guys our age (50s). They’ve been in business a bit, got a bit of money, want a nice toy, and a quality toy their partners would use with them.

I started looking and I thought, well, there are already a couple of firms that are doing ’32s and ’34s and doing them well, and there’s no point doing what they’re doing. So I kept looking and I came across this ’37 shape, and I thought I could do something with it. Being a former art teacher, I’m always looking at shapes and making sculptures, that’s what I’m really looking at, shapes. I tracked down these guys in Quebec we could get these bodies from and we started from there. So that’s who we are. Basically it’s Garth, myself and [Jan’s Nephew] Ben, our engineer, and we’ve got another guy who’s got some money in but we’re paying him out soon.

Do you come from a hot rodding background yourself?

Garth: I played around with hot rods when I was a teenager, used to hang around with Harbour City Hot Rod Club for many years, did all the shows et cetera. Before I left school I remember I used to go and work at Hot Rod magazine with Rob Campbell in the school holidays. So I’ve been in the hot rod scene for many years. Then I built a few cars and basically just drifted away from it really; I never lost interest in them, and eventually got back into it.

Jan: No, no, I wasn’t a hot rodder at all. I’ve had a big block Chev Blazer with a 454 in it, and I’ve got a Harley, but I’m not a hot rodder. Even now I look at these cars and think they’re fantastic, but I look at them as shapes rather than a necessity to own one.

Who do you see as your target market?

Garth: It varies, because you’ve got young guys with some serious money who are into their toys. But what we want to provide is an experience. You can spend $150,000 on a mid-range BMW which is going to lose half its value over five years, or you can buy something that is totally unique and has got a bit of style to it from us. What we’ve tried to do with these cars is build something which transcends old-school hot rods and modern cars, so they have quite modern lines to them. Predominantly though the market would be guys around our age group who have worked hard, made a few bucks and want to enjoy themselves.

So you’re not necessarily aiming at the hot rod market?

Jan: No, because I see an element with hot rodders, and with no disrespect to them but there is a Westy element to a hot rod, which is a bit of a counter culture. And I didn’t want to do that with this. As much as I love that, and ultimately I’d like to get around in a rat rod myself because they are so anti-aesthetic, but we didn’t see this as a hot rod. We’ve taken all the elements of a hot rod but tried to institute a bit of glamour and status, so it becomes a status vehicle whereas a hot rod isn’t a status vehicle, it is an interesting car. It’s a unique approach to cars, but they’re never considered as a status car. We see these as getting into that sort of range as well.

What is the range of body styles Custom Rods has available?

Garth: We’ve got the ’37 range, and we are also doing the ’39 Lincoln Zephyr in both a coupe and a sedan delivery. The body is being built in Indiana right at the moment. It will be a front-wheel-drive V8; you’ll be able to ride your Harley in the back of it!

Jan: The idea is a totally flat floor with no diff underneath it, so you can drop it to the ground and ride your bike straight in the back.

On Wednesday, Top Gear Live fired into life with a pre-event media launch held just hours before the first of many New Zealand performances at ASB Showgrounds over the 12th — 15th of February. As a teaser to the event, we were shown a couple of the acts from the show, additionally to being led about the display of uber-expensive cars and given the chance to take photos with the Top Gear Live team.

But enough from us, here’s some thoughts from the boys running the show (Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and Greg Murphy) about the NZ tour.

Richard, how do you feel about being in New Zealand?
RH: Very excited to be here. I’ve never been to New Zealand before, but it is great to come to a place where people really seem to get what we’re about.

Jeremy, you’ve said that New Zealand is one of the best countries in the world. Is this true?
JC: I have been here a few times before and have extremely good memories of it. That is everything; the people, the place, the food, the scenery, the wine, the place — I really love it here. A few too many Nissan Cedrics, but that’s about the only drawback.

Do you say that in every country you visit?
JC: I promise you that I do not say ‘this is the best country in the world’ in every country in the world or I would have to say it in Australia as well, and that simply is not possible. No, New Zealand and Iceland really are my two favourite countries in the world — because I like countries that are based on volcanoes.

I understand you’ve been on Waiheke Island?
JC: Waiheke Island was fantastic — right up ‘til the moment a bee carrying a knife and fork and a napkin attacked my arm and now a man pretending to be a doctor has put me on steroids and I’m going to be Governor of California in the morning.

Does that mean you’re going to be unable to perform?
JC: No, I’m just going to be performing with an Austrian accent and I’m going to say ‘get owwwt’ to him.

Greg, what are you expecting from being part of Top Gear Live?
GM: Just to enjoy myself and learn such amazing witty comments from two such well travelled gentlemen.

Has it been a good ride so far?
GM: I’m trying to keep up — I’ve got to play car football and try to successfully beat Richard’s team; England. Being that we are a rugby nation, I’m slightly concerned about our prospects there.

RH: So I’ll be playing soccer against a rugby playing nation — am I going to get killed???

Greg, are you having to teach the others (Jeremy and Richard) anything about driving?
GM: I’m not sure we’ve got enough time for that to be honest. But if they watch closely I think they’ll pick up a few bits and pieces.

Can you understand why so many kiwis like these two so much, to have bought so many tickets?
GM: Top Gear is a massive show here. People get their kind of humour down here for sure.

So Greg, are you frightened of the Stig?
GM: Yes! Well, he’s certainly a daunting figure — there are a lot of questions to be asked about the Stig.

Are you New Zealand’s greatest ever driver?
GM: Ahhh, hmmm — I’m the wrong person to ask¦ Ask a Ford driver.

JC: Maybe the Stig is New Zealand’s greatest driver. It is possibly that he is New Zealish?

RH: He could be — a lot of people think he is — in these parts.

GM: It is not me — I’m going to prove that it is not me though — in the show tomorrow.

Does it feel like you’re a rock band at the moment?
RH: Yes it does, it feels exactly like a world rock tour; if you were to take away any discernable talent, the looks, the money, the glamour, the fan base, the sense of purpose, those few things aside, it feels like that.

Jeremy, why did you go on a world tour?
JC: Because I wanted to know what it would be like to be a rock star.

Do you know now?
JC: Yes, fantastic, the best bit was having a girl throwing contest on Waiheke Island, and I won. I threw my girl almost the length of the pool.

Have there been some terrible antics?
JC: No, not yet, but as we come to the end of the tour, as we leave New Zealand we’ll start to crank up the rock star bit.

RH: I like the rock star question- if the opportunity comes, you’ve just GOT to do it. Who wouldn’t?

JC: But we do always brush our teeth before bed and get an early night — I’ve had four different types of orangeade this trip, and once I stayed up til midnight, and stuff like that — it’s been mental.

Have you boys got the best job in the world?
JC: No, because somebody is Angelina Jolie’s gynaecologist.

RH: That really is a job though. That’s a Monday morning you’d look forward to, isn’t it?

Well, do you have the second best job in the world then?
RH: Job? Are we working? I don’t know why everyone thinks we’ve got a job. We go and drive other people’s cars — quite badly.

JC: We get middle aged. We fall over. We catch fire. We drown. Everything we do goes wrong. We are ambitious, but an eternal disappointment to ourselves, our nations and our mothers¦. on a daily basis.

Does each country treat you differently?
JC: I’m not making this up. I really, really like coming to New Zealand. I’ve been like a little boy all around the rest of the world; Birmingham, Ireland, Jo’Burg — because I knew that soon I would be in New Zealand, sipping wine on this lovely terrace.

Here in NZ at the Top Gear Live media launch on Wednesday, we were treated to a true world first — a press conference with the infamous Stig. To be expected, this was a very honourable experience for all in attendance, and one that will go down in history. We recorded the questions from the floor, and have put it down for you to enjoy here.

Stig, what is your favourite type of beer?

Stig: ¦¦

Stig, what are the chances of a guy like you, and a girl like me ending up together? Sharing a bit of helmet time together?

Stig: ¦.

Stig, have you seen Greg Murphy anywhere? In the toilets maybe?

Stig: ¦.

What’s the staple diet of the Stig?

Stig: ¦.

Stig, you’re a talented driver, and have driven numerous high performance cars in your time. I guess what we want to know though, why don’t you show your face?

Stig: ¦.

Of all the cars you’ve driven, which is your favourite?

Stig: ¦.

Did you get your start in go karts, or was it in wings and slicks?

Stig: ¦.

Stig, I have here a printout that shows footage on youtube of the black Stig. What’s the deal there?

It was at this point the Stig stood up, slammed the microphone down on the table, picked up the piece of paper showing said footage, screwed it up and threw it over his shoulder as he left the room. None the less, the New Zealand media were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience: 5 minutes with the legendary Stig. Thanks for your time, Stig!