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Friday 23 May 2014

Putting the SUV in suave Mercedes GLA-Class 200 CDi

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Friday 23 May 2014

Friday 23 May 2014

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Challenging the stereotypes In a world where classic cars are generally seen as only coming in three flavours – 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 seniors who drove them.

“I couldn’t afford a GTO until I got my first 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 fixing 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 specifications, which remains one

Papamoa’s Mike Burgess believes the Mitsubishi Galant Colt GTO is an under-appreciated classic. of the key appeals for Mike.

For Mike, a key appeal is the high-end specifications, which include five-speed transmission, eight-track Lear Jet 8 track cartridge player (the cassette tape predecessor), 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 Mitsubishi had been doing,” says Mike, who personally believes the Japanese automaker 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 unregistered 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 – finding 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 interest to get involved in the owners’ group.

For club details, visit http://homepages. paradise.net.nz/mitsubishicarclub

By Hamish Carter

Weekend Wheels Bay of Plenty: June 7-8: Top kart clash: Fagan’s Valley The 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 challenge’s international grand final against the best from around the world.

For details, visit: www.kartsport.org.nz

Beyond the Bay: May 23-24: Drifting series final: Mount Smart Stadium The final 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: Canterbury As the Brian Green New Zealand Rally Championship nears its half-way point, the excitement builds on Canterbury’s roads with the third of six rounds.

For details, visit: www.nzrallychampionship.co.nz June 1: Rally Extreme opener: Hawke’s Bay The five-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

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Friday 23 May 2014

Friday 23 May 2014

Weekend Sun Friday 23 MayThe 2014

Bay Driver

A modern masterpiece Mercedes GLA-Class 200 CDi

The GLA-Class is a spacious SUV, which gives you the feel of the traditional Mercedes – solid and well made, but with a little surprise. This car handles 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 confidence to deal with the traffic.

The power is smooth and consistently delivered, thanks to its pairing with a seven-speed auto transmission. It also doesn’t cost the earth to run, with a mere 4.6L/100km – a l challenge to most small cars. se ie od jection, turb in t There’s no doubt this is an ec ir d , ylinder Engine: 4 c t: 2143cc, 100 kW atic attractive car, with its aggressive m en Displacem n: 7 speed DCT auto front-styling that Mercedes is o Transmissi : Front wheel drive becoming known for, but still em Drive Syst $64,900 undeniably executive and prestige. : m Price Fro s: ct ta This follows through to the n co r/ , Deale rs Mercedes aunganui. ea S inside, which is a defi nite break m a h g In t, Mount M from the usually-subdued 55 Totara S 260 8 Mercedes interior – this one is Ph 07 572 hamsears.co.nz g in b .m w modern, stylish and dare I say, ww

The new Mercedes GLA-Class seems a little left-field 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.

SPECS

DI

00 C 2 s s a l C A GL

a bit funky.

It’s very well-appointed, comfortable, and highly configurable to suit the driver. The all-round vision is excellent, which gives you a great feeling of confidence to manoeuvre.

This car seems to have sensors everywhere. 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 attention 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, confidently 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.

Definitely 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 produced a whopping 265kw from the same 2.0L turbo-charged petrol engine, from $99,900.

All in all, if you’re shopping for a goodsized SUV, you won’t go wrong here.

Modern, stylish, with looks that won’t age – and plenty of configurations to make it your perfect car. Why not drop in to Ingham Sears Mercedes today for a

By Jay Burston test drive?

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

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Tel: 07 578 1166017 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui.

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The 2014 Weekend Sun Friday 23 May

Bay Driver

Racing hidden gems Growing up surrounded by all makes and models of cars, Reece Killingback always had the knack for recognising every car’s strengths.

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Photo by Tracy Hardy

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 Goliathtype 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 Following the success of winning the TradeZone fitted and Reece’s next task is to replace the NZGT Championships in his Hillman Imp 2.6 litre six cylinder engine with a 5.6 litre (inset), Reece Killingback is building a Mercedes Mercedes V8. to race in the series later this year.

“It’s going to make a huge difference in power,” says Reece, who aims to have the car on fast corners. under 1000kg, which with about 400 horse“I definitely think it will be a serious conpower will give it a reasonable power-weight tender. On paper and in my head, at least, it ratio. all adds up.”

“They aren’t as heavy as a lot of people While the Merc won’t have the head-turning think,” says Reece, who is scratching his appeal of the Imp – which had many fans’ head to why they’re rarely raced in NZ. “You support up against the grunty saloons – Reece see plenty of BMWs, but only the very odd hopes his new car will attract reasonable interMerc.” est.

“They have so much capability and so much “I don’t like following the general trends and proven experience on the track,” says Reece, doing what everyone else does. I really enjoy who is modelling some of his modifications doing it my own way,” says Reece, who rates on the proven formula of Mercedes racing in half the satisfaction as building the car himself.

Germany’s DTM series, including replacing While doing all of the work helps keep costs his wheels with larger 18 inch rims. down, Reece thanks his sponsors for making In contrast to the Imp, which was let down his car projects possible, including Stadium by small wheels and brakes, Reece expects Cars, Elf Lubricants, Macs Mufflers, Tyre the Merc to boast far better braking and han- Works and Holmes Industrial Supplies. dling, which will be a particular advantage

By Hamish Carter

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