Take a trip around Port Road, sideways...

Here is a video of last weeks sprint event at Port Road near Eastbourne from the perspective of a drift car. The car in question is a red Nissan 200SX fitted with an SR20DET piloted by Shane Windley. Enough from me, let the footage do the talking!!!

Video credit: Shane Windley

Why New Zealand is lucky (carwise)

Here in New Zealand we are very lucky when it comes to cars. There is a huge variety of vehicles to choose from and our import laws aren't as strict as other countries such as America which means we can get pretty much anything here.

A great example of the cars that we can get here is the Nissan Skyline GTR R32. Up until recently, countries like America could not get these cars there due to their 25 year import rule which means that plenty of other high performance cars are not allowed in America as well. Thankfully though, the GTR is now allowed and a few have ended up residing over in the big ol USA.

It wasn't just Japanese imports we were lucky to get. We also got sporty British cars like the Ford Escort, some of which were actually assembled here in New Zealand. These cars were never sold new in America either and have become quite legendary due to the great rallying success that the cars enjoyed.

New Zealand also has a rich muscle car scene that caters for all sorts of cool classic American cars. This includes iconic vehicles such as the Chevrolet Camaro and Chevelle, Dodge Charger and Ford Mustang and also cruisers like big old Chrysler 500's and Plymouth Fury's. You name it and it's probably in NZ.

Last but not least, there is a surprising amount of racing cars and a huge car culture here which covers pretty much every conceivable type of vehicle you could think of. There are many events held nationwide and there is always something on for every car fan.

Overall, New Zealand is pretty lucky when it comes to cars. Of course NZ isn't the only country to have cool automotive stuff as most countries have a good car scene. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for future articles.

Upcoming Events: Port Rd Street Sprint

The Port Road Street Sprint is on once again this sunday with some excellent cars entering. It is worthwhile checking it out for a look at the awesome selection of cars that compete. The event takes place at Port Road, Seaview and roads will be closed for pretty much all of the day leading to the area. You are welcome to watch though!!! (Photo is not of event :))

5 Cheap Classic projects for under $5K

With the rise in the popularity of classic cars, it is getting increasingly difficult to pick up a retro ride for relatively cheap. Luckily, there are still a few classics that can be had for under $5,000 but as projects of course. Here are 5 examples of what you could get for your money:

1. Subaru Brat

The Subaru Brat is a much loved JDM ute that has been used for hard work by many farmers over the years. The little flat four powered truck may not win awards for towing ability but it sure is one heck of a cool vehicle. You can normally pick an average one up for only a couple grand or a project for as little as a few hundred dollars.

2. Honda Civic (EB1/2)

The humble Honda Civic has been around for many generations and has become one of the most iconic cars ever to be produced. This trend started off with the original 1970's EB Civic which can thankfully still be picked up rather cheaply with good condition road legal cars going for around $1,000 - $3,000 and projects from a few hundred dollars.

3. Datsun 120Y

The Datsun 120Y is another one of those cars that were once cheap runabouts but are now sort after classics. The highest trim model, the SSS, has become pretty much unobtainable these days due to limited build numbers but a project 120Y coupe or sedan is usually around $3,000.

4. Toyota Corolla (KE Series)

Pretty much every early rear wheel drive Toyota Corolla has become highly sought after due to the drift movement and their downright coolness. The only way you can get your hands on one is to buy a project which you can get for about $3,000 to $5,000 depending on what state the car is in (Road legal cars go from around $5,000 to around $20,000 or more depending on what state it's in)

5. The Mighty Mini!

The humble Mini is possibly the most iconic car in history. These awesome little cars are a great vehicle to start building and can be picked up for a pretty decent price as a project. Completed Mini's normally fetch near the $10,000 mark with projects normally costing anywhere from $100 to $5,000 depending on what's included with the sale. Just don't bother trying to get a Cooper S for cheap as they go for exorbitant amounts of money.

Are you interested in owning your own classic car? You can try local auction sites like Trade Me to look for any in your area. Start your search by clicking here.

Here's an awesome shot of the Matt Gaskin Motorsport Nissan Skyline R32 at the 2015 Targa. The gold colour scheme looks perfect on this car and presents nicely in the sun.

$50,000 for an RX3!!!

Here at Home Built, we have a bit of a fascination with the glorious Wankel Rotary engine. For a start, it has a funny sounding name but it is also an excellent design as it utilises less moving parts than the conventional piston engine resulting in a more efficient engine (but definitely not fuel efficient!). We found this wee gem on Trade Me while going on our usual hunt and could not believe the price it is up to, $50,600 with 67 bids! (At the time of writing)

It's sort of easy to see why people are prepared to pay so much for these today. They were once a fairly common car that could be snapped up and done up reasonably cheaply back in the day, but since they proved to be quite competitive and popular they have pretty much almost disappeared from our roads. This particular car is in excellent shape for its age and appears to be largely original apart from the period bodykit, wheels and 12A Rotary engine. It has also had a respray to its current black colour which suits the RX3 shape quite nicely.

The RX3 is powered by a stock 12A but the car was actually a 10A when it rolled out of the factory. The engine is said to be good but may need a rebuild shortly as it blows smoke when cold. This is backed up by a 5 speed manual and the combination was installed back in the 90's.

The interior is dead stock and looks like it has just rolled out of the factory. It's always good to see classic cars that retain all or most of their classic features as they are a part of automotive history.

The wheels are "telephone dial" style wheels that actually suit the car quite well. They look like they are period style as well which adds to the cars nostalgic appeal.

Overall, this RX3 is a really nice little car. 50 grand is a lot of money for a car but it is such a nice piece of history that people are prepared to pay so much for it. The car is located in Lower Hutt near Wellington. Click here to view the listing.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more awesome articles!!!

Remember the awesome widebody Nissan Pulsar we featured a while back? We saw it at the recent Shelley Bay Sprint and it now features a new and improved aero system incorporating a new rear wing and rear diffuser. The Pulsar appears to be sprouting new parts every time we see it!

Is this the best junkyard in NZ?

Yesterday we went for a trip to Palmerston North to visit what is possibly the best junkyard in the whole country, Olds Cool Autos. Here are some of our finds.

This was certainly an interesting find, an old Toyota Corolla wagon that was sitting rather high with some off road wheels and tyres.

This KP Starlet has obviously seen better days and by the looks of it having an old 4 & rota sticker and some random spray painted decals on the back, has been thrashed. The car sits on some cool wide steelies with some old and worn tyres.

On top of an old van was a FB RX7 with a "tasteful" bodykit and side skirts. This car was well past it and was incredibly rusty.

Here's a munted MK1 Ford Capri which is not surprising as these things rust out like mad.

This is the remains of a 70s Corolla SR Coupe which looks like it could be salvaged if you spent quite a bit of time and money on it. Note the period side stripes which look awesome.

Now this is an incredibly sad sight, a MK1 Ford Escort coupe. There were two of these and it was pretty sad to see an iconic British car just left to die.

There were a couple more SA RX7s there as well with one of them being stacked on top of a MK2 Escort sedan.

Overall, the junkyard was an awesome place to look around at and is pretty unique due to the large variety of old cars that were once common but now rare. Thanks to the guys at Olds Cool for letting us look around their junkyard.

NZ Motorsport: The Shelley Bay Sprint

Welcome to another article of "NZ Motorsport". In this issue we cover an awesome event that is held each year by the Wellington Car Club, the Shelley Bay Sprint. The sprint is held on a stretch of road along the Shelley Bay coast in Wellington which makes for a challenging and dangerous event.

We were incredibly lucky to be able to go for a ride in Tim Sillay's excellent Nissan Silvia 180SX/240RS which was lightning fast and gripped the corners like glue. Thanks Tim!!!

The Silvia is running a Twin Cam FJ20 that breathes through twin carbs and sounds exquisite. The sound is actually reminiscent of Ford's BDA motor that powered the angry Escort rally cars.

That Widebody Pulsar was also running in this event with his new and improved aerodynamics. Note the modified rear wing and the new and improved and mental looking rear diffuser. Click here for our review of this crazy little car.

This awesome looking AE85/86 Levin sounded incredibly awesome from it's 4AGE and went quite quickly

What was unusual and slightly ironic though is that the car rolls on Datsun Motorsport 240RS wheels which are immensely hard to find and aren't normally seen on Toyota's!!!

Remember Mr Shifta? We featured this car a little while back in an article of "Trade Me Finds". This was an incredibly entertaining car to watch and sounded awesome. Click here to go to the original article on this car.

This BMW rocked an awesome colour scheme that was reminiscent of the BMW touring cars and had some retro looking mesh wheels that looked like they were off a Hot Wheels car.

This FC RX7 was another excellent sounding car with a nice and loud rotary engine, it definitely sounded right and went like the clappers. The sound of rotary echoing through the hills was an awesome sound.

There were a couple of accidents on the day as well with this quick Mitsi Mirage having a bit of an off and one of the Team Home Built NZ cars was also rather broken after an encounter with the wall. Footage to come shortly of the accident.

Overall, the sprint made for an excellent day out and was really good apart from the two accidents. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more cool car stuff!!!