The most popular Trade Me motors listings of 2021 are in
Monday, 20 December 2021
The most popular listings on Trade Me Motors for 2021 are in, and they’re as weird and wonderful as ever.
First up is a Land Cruiser that was shipped out to the Scott Base Antarctic research facility. It made many trips around Scott Base and out onto the ice shelf, used for transporting people and cargo short distances.
Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to be modified much for Antarctic duties. The auction listing said it underwent regular servicing and minor maintenance work during its time at the base, and is not currently registered for road use.
Second is a ute that will probably become iconic in its own way. Labour MP Kieran McAnulty sold his trademark red Mazda B2500 after deciding to commit to EVs, with the ute eventually selling for $3400.
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It was serviced every 5000km, but the canopy has no rear door, the heater only works at setting 3, the speedo isn’t accurate, it blows smoke occasionally and the radio sometimes doesn’t work. The engine is also a bit tired, as the listing says it is “real slow up hill.”
Next is my personal favourite, a fully restored 1973 Mazda RX3 Super Deluxe. It hasn’t been given a ridiculous straight pipe exhaust system, or a humongous turbocharger, instead getting a full nut-and-bolt restoration to factory standard.
The front guards had never been removed, so it had never been crashed, and the engine bay retains the original paint. Every mechanical part has been replaced or rebuilt apart from the steering box, including the brakes, tie rod ends, ball joints, wheel bearings, pitman/idler arm and driveshaft universals.
In an interesting display of Kiwi ingenuity, someone decided to hack up an old Honda City and turn it into a ute, “to avoid fringe benefit taxes and because utes are the biggest selling type of vehicle in NZ”, the auction says.
It has chunky off-road tyres from a quad bike, a winch, 50mm snorkel, and a light bar. It looks fairly capable off-road too, although it doesn't seem like any four-wheel drive system is in place, so it might pay to bring a friend that can help extract you. Just in case.
Next, probably unsurprisingly, is a Holden. Specifically, it’s a Holden Monaro LS Coupe, which sold for a hair over $50k. According to the auction, it has the original 308 engine with a three-speed automatic, but the engine has unfortunately seized.
The car also needs floor pans, door, boot flor and sill repairs, along with other fixes.
A Ford Ranger XLT was also mentioned, coming with custom wheels and tyres, a 33-inch custom rollbar, a custom push bar, LED light bar, window tints and a full orange wrap. It sold for $47,500.
Finally, a pair of older Japanese models round out the selection. One is a 1981 Nissan Skyline, called the “next best thing” to the ‘Kenmeri’ C110 Skyline or the iconic C10 ‘Hakosuka’ Skyline. It needs some rust repairs and small cosmetic replacements, but seems to be mechanically sound.
The other is a Toyota Starlet from 1996, using the 1.3-litre turbocharged engine (the best of the bunch at the time). It produced a whole 103kW, but considering the Starlet weighs about as much as a ham sandwich, Toyota said it would clip 100kmh in 8.2 seconds.
This one is fettled too, with boost upped to 12psi. The listing doesn’t specify power, but expect it to be a fair bit more than stock.
The other two listings on the top ten list aren’t really our area of expertise, being boats, but are still quite interesting.
One is an RB30-powered jet boat, which is very cool, and the other is a 1999 Bakewell-White RHIB Police boat, which was listed immediately following the America’s Cup.