The biggest and most diverse automotive and motorsport event in New Zealand broke its own attendance records with the 2014 edition of CRC Speedshow attracting 34,700 show-goers during the two day event earlier this month.
The eighth edition of CRC Speedshow took place over the weekend of 19 and 20 July at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds with the attendance numbers representing a 14 per cent increase over the 2013 event. Along with the record number of members of the public fuelling their passion for all kinds of cars and motorcycles, this year’s show saw a record number of new car and motorcycle brands – 28 – represented which further enhances the event’s reputation as New Zealand’s de facto motor show.
Ross Prevette, director of The Event Company Ltd which owns CRC Speedshow, says the support of sponsors and exhibitors helped take the event to a new level this year.
“Since its inception in 2007 when it was established by race driver Keith Sharp and his wife Jill, CRC Speedshow has been bigger and better each and every year,” Prevette says. “My wife Brenda and I saw incredible potential in the whole Speedshow concept when we bought the show in 2012 so it’s a real boost to our small team to see Kiwi automotive and motorsport fans continuing to flock to the show.
“The comment that CRC Speedshow has really grown up was said to me by more than one person over the weekend. The sheer range of exhibitors with links to performance cars, motorcycles or motorsport, and the array of New Zealand-focused displays we were able to put on with the support of sponsors and car enthusiasts from around the country certainly gave this year’s show an extremely positive feeling, with a sense that there really is something for everyone no matter what sort of motor racing, what type of car or what category of motorcycle you’re into.”
The 2014 CRC Speedshow featured some significant new model launches with Auckland-based Ferrari dealer Continental Cars unveiling the very first example in New Zealand of the Ferrari 458 Speciale which was released in Europe in recent months. There was plenty of attention for Polaris Industries, already established as a firm favourite with their Victory Motorcycle range, when they took the opportunity to launch the brand-new Indian Motorcycle models to the New Zealand public. The third major reveal came from Matamata Panelworks as they drew the cover off a stunning, electric blue ‘Eleanor’ Mustang which has been completely hand-crafted in steel by the Waikato firm for a Taumaranui customer. The Mustang, which the owner and builder hope to take to the US’s famed Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show, won the people’s choice award in the Castrol EDGE / Teng Tools Custom Show, which was part of CRC Speedshow for the second time.
“Proving a popular new addition to this year’s show were the original and restored classic cars and motorcycles shown in the Classic Cover Insurance Classic Show,” Prevette adds. “The display of around 40 classic vehicles helped add an important new component to the show and certainly attracted many positive comments.
“Show-goers have told us how much they enjoyed meeting the 20 Kiwi Young Guns, backed by Total Lubricants, who created a fine display of race vehicles from rally, speedway, drag racing, motor cycle circuit racing, motocross, off-roading and drifting from around the country. It was absolutely fantastic to host these rising motorsport stars at this year’s show and they demonstrated their commitment to furthering their sporting careers by engaging with fans during the autograph signing sessions and joining in any opportunity race a kart or radio-controlled racer. It’s been really nice to hear from many of them about how much they appreciated the chance to showcase their form of motorsport and their achievements at the show.
“Everyone also enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ford Mustang and the 100th anniversary of classic Italian marque Maserati with two special displays in the Meguiar’s Car Crazy Zone. Meguiar’s also took their charity cruise to a whole new level this year with 110 hot rods, street machines and performance cars taking a scenic route to the show. Together CRC Speedshow and Meguiar’s ensure each cruise entry fee is donated to charity and Meguiar’s also made a donation for every vote cast for the fans’ favourite cruise vehicle to raise a spectacular $6,450 for the Starship Foundation.
“In yet another first at this year’s CRC Speedshow, Auckland Transport utilised the Ideal Wheels live action arena to highlight road safety issues and built-in safety features in late model vehicles by dropping a car from a crane to simulate a car crash. This simulation certainly got people talking about road safety,” says Prevette.
Now that the last of the safety barriers are packed away from the very popular Right Karts Celebrity Charity Kart Challenge which featured star Kiwi V8 Supercar driver Fabian Coultard, Prevette and his team can look to the ninth edition of CRC Speedshow which is scheduled for 18 and 19 July 2015.
“You come out of one show full of ideas for the next one, so we’re already getting great feedback from exhibitors, custom and classic show entrants, and show-goers from the post-show survey. Then we’ll be getting stuck into sorting the feature displays and hall layouts for 2015. All I can say is it’s going to be bigger and better, once again!”
