The annual Petrolhead Fathers’ Day Drags is the biggest and fastest street car meet on the local drag racing calendar and it’s kicking off this Sunday (Sept 5) at the Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere.

Hosted by the American Muscle Car Club, it’s always well run and has become a must attend event, not just for dads but for everyone. There’s also a Thrill Performance top 8 shootout and, of course, a burnout comp because who doesn’t dig a big smokey burnout on a Sunday afternoon?

The competition has really heated up over the last few years, and we know there are a few drivers who are going to fight hard for this year’s title.

If you attend only one drag race meet this year, the Fathers’ Day Drags should be it.

Entry is $20 with kids under 12 rolling in for free. Gates open from 7am and qualifying begins at 10am.

If you’re driving around Auckland City this weekend be prepared to face serious delays on and around the Newmarket motorway viaduct. The Newmarket viaduct will be shut down this weekend to all southbound cars. It’s not great news considering it’s Father’s Day this Sunday, so if you have a family engagement to attend – choose your route carefully.

Transit New Zealand says that this Sunday’s closure is likely to hit 80,000 cars. Southbound lanes will be closed all weekend (September 4 and 5) as the first major step in the $215 million viaduct upgrade project.

This weekend’s road works action is all about keeping the southbound lanes shut for 36 hours while the newly built section is prepared for use from next Monday (6 September). Some on-ramps in the area will be closed too, including Hobson and Khyber Pass as motorway management attempts to limit the traffic getting around.

So what’s in it for me, you might ask? Well, from Monday the Newmarket viaduct will have four southbound lanes meaning traffic should flow better through the area.

The Newmarket Viaduct replacement work has been frustrating Aucklanders since June of last year but will ultimately lead to the southbound section widened to four lanes and the northbound section stay the same with three. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2012.

If you want to learn more about the changes to the Newmarket Viaduct, click here to visit the NZTA website.

Lotus has certainly been busy leading up to this year’s Paris Motor Show. The iconic marque will be releasing a new pair of Evoras and it will also be officially unveiling two front-engine hybrid vehicles. The new hybrids are in keeping with the automaker’s promise to offer more gasoline/electric sports cars. Apparently, one of these hybrid cars will be a four-door hatchback and the other will be a two-door coupe.

Lotus first debuted a hybrid concept earlier this year in the form of the Evora 414E Hybrid (pictured). However, unlike most of Lotus’ mid-engine vehicles the two new concepts will be front-engine models utilising a 47-horsepower 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine specifically designed to provide power to electric-drive hybrids.

More details will be revealed nearer to the Paris show later this month, so stay tuned.

If you’re in the market for some low-mileage rare vintage muscle for your car collection, then Volo Auto Museum based in the States has something perfect.

Pictured above is a fine example of a 1969 Shelby GT500 which represents the last model-year of the original Shelby Mustangs (although ’69 models were given new serial numbers and sold as 1970 model-year cars). It’s one of just 335 GT500 convertibles built, and one of only 21 produced in this distinctive colour combination.

The Mustang has had just four-owners in its lifetime and has just 56,000 miles on the clock.

Considering the low miles, and the fact that it’s been entirely restored over a two year period, it’s not going to be cheap. Priced at $155,998 (223,000 NZ) it’s apparently a bargain because it has been appraised at a cool quarter-million USD. The 1969 GT500 convertible had a base price of just over $5,000 USD when new. This fine example includes a white deluxe interior signed by Carrol Shelby himself.

Packed under the bonnet is a 428 cubic-inch (7.0-litre) Cobra Jet V8 with Ram Air that originally produced a factory-rated 335 horsepower. It’s matched up with a Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission and a 3.50 Traction Lok rear end. Extras include power steering, power disc brakes and even a power top.

Check out the gallery below for more images of the GT500. Read full story…

The very first example of Ford’s fastest selling performance car in the UK is set for a slower pace of life after joining the company’s heritage collection.

The Focus RS500 was unveiled as a limited-edition model of 500 retail units plus 12 models produced for demonstration and press purposes. Just 101 right-hand drive Focus RS500 models were made available in the UK and they sold out within days of being launched.

The first right-hand drive press unit in the UK, number PR001, has featured widely in motoring magazines and will now join the company’s Essex-based fleet of heritage vehicles. Sitting alongside such icons as the 1970 London to Mexico winning Ford Escort, the Ford RS200 and the 2005 Ford GT supercar, the Ford Focus RS500 will be put on public display at motor shows and Ford dealers.

UK Ford corporate affairs manager, Brian Bennett, said: “The heritage collection is the largest collection of roadworthy historic Ford vehicles in the UK and includes some of the industry’s most famous vehicles such as the Ford Model T and the Ford Cortina. Performance models feature strongly and the Ford Focus RS500 was an obvious choice to include as a future classic.” Read full story…

A station wagon is not exactly something this writer ever expected to feature in the Future Classic column of NZ Classic Car magazine, but in 1994, Volvo set lightweight race wheels in motion that would eventually see me do exactly that. At the time, the British Touring Car Championship had been running since the ’60s in one form or another, and was hard fought by various coupés, sedans and hatches from the world’s top manufacturers.

Just prior to the start of that season, Volvo dropped a proverbial bombshell on the racing world with the unveiling of its TWR-prepped Volvo 950 T5R estate race-car and its subsequent entry into the BTCC. The move proved to be a very fruitful one for the Swedish manufacturer, gaining the company endless coverage in the press – and a brand new surge of interest from the public.

No one quite knew what to make of the large, brick-like machine muscling its way through the notoriously brutal BTCC field, but it wasn’t long before it became a well respected race machine and, although it only lasted a couple of seasons due to changes in BTCC rules, the T5R/850R production models that the racer was based on have since become a cult favourite. Whether you appreciate Volvo’s styling – or lack thereof – or not, there is no denying that this super-station wagon defined an era in European motor sport, and is destined to become a classic due to its stonking performance, durability and the substantial mark it has left in motor sport history.

They don’t come up for sale all that often here in New Zealand, but if you do see one floating around with a for sale sign, it could just be one of the best investments you ever make.

Public Approval Read full story…