THE COVER STAR! – MAD MIKE’S FURSTY 808 WAGON
Another creation to roll out of the Madlab doors, but this one hits differently. It smells like 2004 Manukau Velodrome smoke, has probably been plastered on your wall, and carries a legacy forged through decades of tyre smoke, scars, and madness. This is the story of FURSTY — the OG wagon that turned a young, broke, rotary-addicted Mike Whiddett into the ‘Mad Mike’ that the world knows today
There’s a photo Mike always checks when he rolls up to the start line: young him, hanging out the side of the 808 at Skidfest ’04, a reminder of where it all began and why rotaries have always held a place in his world. Everything that’s happened, good or bad, is part of the journey. FURSTY came back for one reason: to finish that story and show anyone watching that, no matter how it started, you can change the script.
THE SOUND OF SIMPLICITY – FATHER AND SON KP61 STARLET BUILD
In a performance car world so wrapped up in prodigious power, gargantuan grip, and tremendous technology, sometimes it’s nice to take a breath and step back to the basics. Agile, frothy, engaging performance on a budget — sorta the full-sized car equivalent of plonking your butt among a bunch of tubes and a two-stroke, then heading to the kart track
Lightweight, rear-wheel–drive, and a perky, naturally aspirated powerplant. These are three of the key ingredients that have gone into the mixer to create Logan Martin’s lithe KP61 Toyota Starlet, a platform arguably better suited than any to earn the ‘go-kart for the road’ title.
EVOLUTION OF THE GOAT
– 1000HP ROLL RACE WEAPON
NZ’s wildest Evo VI? Over 1000 horsepower, sequential gearbox, and a hint of nitrous, Lockie’s GOAT6 doesn’t hold back!
Some builds are easier to explain by listing what they don’t have — and in the case of GOAT6, that’s definitely the situation. Don’t let the subtle, perfectly clean white exterior fool you. This is one serious Evo VI with one mission: be the best Evo VI in New Zealand … if not the best Evo, full stop.
REBOOSTING AN ICON – BLOWN RX-7 STREETER
Haden Wasley’s chopped tubbed and blown RX-7 mixes the best of street rodding style with a whole lot of brap!
“This car reminds me of the old muscle machines I had as a kid — big shiny blower out the bonnet, staggered wheels, low roof with little headroom… it’s low, loud, and makes all the right noises,” says Haden Wasley, owner of this radically different 1979 Mazda RX-7.
STREET LEGAL – 1.5JZ JZX100 STREET CRAWLER
We check out Shiv’s JZX100 Chaser — once just an automatic fresh import, now a built 1.5JZ street-crawler
BLAST FROM THE PAST – 2TMPTU IS BACK!
Once the king of the show scene, this harlequin-coated icon returns to remind us why it raised the bar!
Every now and then in this scene, a car comes along that stands out from the rest. That could be due to the stance, the power, the creativity, or something else entirely. This GTI-R is one of those cars — a machine ahead of its time that firmly cemented itself in the history books as one of the greatest cars of its era.
EURO TUNED – AIRED OUT PASSAT
Not your usual Passat. Bagged, caged, and stacked with rare bits — Kyle Finch shows how it’s done.
CRUISE MODE – BAGGED AND SMALL WHEELED 180SX
180SX, Type X kit, small wheels, air suspension — does it get any better? Tauranga’s Ronio Cahyadi’s is one that ticks all our boxes
WEEKEND WARRIOR – K-SWAPPED AND BOOSTED HOT HATCH
Avesh Mahadeo shows us his labour of love: a candy-red and carbon, boosted K-swapped EG Civic built for both the strip and the track.
C’S GARAGE – ROAD TO FINAL BOUT
Since 2007, C’s Garage has been a household name in Kiwi drifting. After a standout run in the US, they returned with one of grassroots drifting’s biggest trophies, further cementing New Zealand on the global map
MAD MIKE’S SUMMER BASH 2025
Mad Mike’s Summer Bash hits its eighth rotation and shows just why it is now a global destination event
AND MUCH MORE!
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