Supercars meet superfans at sell-out Auckland event
Fans queued for up to 20 minutes per session at the Starship Supercars show. Photos: Liz Dobson
It was a one-of-a-kind Koenigsegg, to the 'Holy Trinity of Hypercars’ and even the new Skoda police car that attracted 6000 car fans to Giltrap Prestige’s inaugural Starship Supercars show in Grey Lynn, Auckland on Sunday.
Organisers confirmed overnight that all six 90-minutes sessions had sold out. As a result, the event is on track to raise more than $200,000 dollars for the Starship Foundation.
The event had at least $100-million of vehicles on display; from cars owned by Giltrap dealerships such as Audi, Skoda, and the Giltrap Prestige brands, to stunning supercars leant for the day by owners, including a Lamborghini Countach and a Bentley Brooklands.
A Lamborghini Countach was on display, one of two in the country.
The Giltrap Prestige building’s mechanics level was turned into pit lane and included the ex Michael Schumacher Benetton F1 car, Mad Mike Whiddett’s Lamborghini Huracan Drift, and The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which won the New Zealand Endurance Championship.
"I am overwhelmed by the passion, not just from car fans, but the owners of these incredible cars, and to The Heart of Racing, who have contributed $100,000 to this fundraising effort; along with creating a stunning motorsport display for the Supercar Show," said Michael Giltrap, Joint Managing Director Giltrap Group.
The Koenigsegg Agera S Hundra got a lot of attention.
Supercar fans had travelled from as far away as Christchurch to see what is the finest collection of vehicles ever seen in the Southern Hemisphere. Among the crowd favourites were three of the most spectacularly fast and technologically advanced road-going cars ever produced.
This included the 'Holy Trinity of Hypercars': the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 and Ferrari La Ferrari. All three boast revolutionary hybrid power-trains and earth-shattering performance. Both the La Ferrari and P1 have a top speed of 350km/h, while the 918 will dispatch 0-100km/h in just 2.6 seconds, going on to a top speed of 345km/h.
The Bugatti Veyron proved popular with all ages of fans.
Along with the New Zealand debut of the McLaren Speedtail (403 km/h) and the Bugatti Veyron (408km/h), the one-of-a-kind Koenigsegg Agera S Hundra (400km/h).
Aston Martin NZ boasted its own exclusive vehicle, the DBS Zagato. It was one of only 25 right-hand-drives made out of 99 in total and one of only five in the world with the exterior colour of Lava Red. The New Zealand owner “won’t ever sell it”.
The Bugatti proved one of the most popular vehicles on display from fans of all ages, and it was great to see a variety of ages of car fans there. Queuing for our 90-minute session, two young brothers ahead of us were just keen to see all the Lamborghinis on display, while a couple of young friends we encountered had to see to the police Skoda Superb car.
The Bentley Brooklands sat pride of place at the event.
