Auckland, New Zealand’s Prowear Chrome Showcase 2025 was a big-arse car show at an exhibition centre. Sure, that may not exactly sound like a bold new concept, but when it’s run by a bloke like Azhar Bhamji and his Premier Events crew, you can always expect a show that delivers beyond your expectation. His job is car events, and he’s damn good at it.

“We want to tick boxes for everyone, which is how this event has come about,” Azhar explains of the impetus behind Chrome Showcase. “This has been something that’s been on the agenda for a little while. We always have three elements for our events – for 4 And Rotary, we used to have Nationals, Champs, and Jamboree, and it’s the same thing for Chrome – we’ve got the Chrome Horsepower Festival and Chrome Nights, and now Chrome Showcase.

“Chrome Nights is community-based: you come in for free and hang out. With the Horsepower Festival, everyone comes to let loose in the controlled environment of a legal venue. And now, everyone can showcase their pride and joy here!” he says.

Azhar reckons that Auckland has been crying out for a top-flight car show since before COVID. “Before this event, there used to be Big Boys Toys and Speedshow. I looked at the recipe: Big Boys Toys was a dreamer’s event – things there were not necessarily affordable, but more to aim for or aspire to. Speedshow had a good twist, covering all facets of motorsport,” he recalls. “So some elements from both came into Chrome Showcase – we’ve got the Speed Hall, and the Elite 50.”

The latter came about through getting the New Zealand Hot Rod Association (NZHRA) involved. “Having a sanctioning body being part of something unique in New Zealand was a trust thing; it took years to get onto them and it wasn’t an overnight process,” Azhar says.

That Elite 50 show was by invitation or application only, with an array of stunning builds on display. “I’ve been in the game for over 28 years, and some of these cars I’d never seen before in my life!” Azhar marvels.

Of course, the whole point was making it an event for everyone, and the halls featured a broad span of styles and genres, from lowriders and Japanese street-car builds to drag cars, hot rods, burnout cars, parts suppliers and more. A bit of everything, in other words.

Azhar’s history is with performance imports, but for at least the past decade, he has made enormous efforts to bridge the gaps in the New Zealand automotive scene, and the results are really beginning to show. We noted an airbagged, genuine HSV VF GTSR; a Subaru Legacy with an engine-load of Process West billet; several of Dustin Ng’s wild rally-spec Toyota Yaris builds; Tim Robinson’s wicked ’32 coupe; and Steve and Sue Keys’s incredible Texaco tanker restoration – all scattered through one hall.

This was also a show for a few new builds to be unveiled, one of which was the hotly anticipated supercharged, LS-powered Range Rover Sport burnout car from Kirkwood Motorsport, revealed in its new guise as MSRLPH. Originally built as the Tom Baz JST WCH burnout car, the rolling body was brought home and given a big, eye-catching freshen-up and a new LS up front.

Making something for everyone is much easier said than done, but judging by the offerings at this first Chrome Showcase, you’d have to say ‘mission accomplished’. Just to enter the show hall, you’d have to walk past the Link ECU Live Action Arena, which was alive all day with tyre-shredding displays from the likes of Dave West’s big rig, and drifters like Cam Vernon, the Jenkins brothers, and a raft of female drivers including Kim ‘Drift Mama’ Thorley, Claire Trundle and Jo Maulder. As the stands and barriers stayed packed with spectators as long as the action was going, this seemed to have been a crowd favourite.

So, what’s the verdict on the first Chrome Showcase? Far better than you’d normally expect for an inaugural event, and the way Az and his team run things, it looked like the start of something big for the local events calendar. See you next year!

HIGHLIGHTS:

Aaron Grieve
1937 Hudson Terraplane

It’s A big call, but Aaron Grieve’s Hudson Terraplane sled was perhaps the most visually striking car in attendance. A six-year build, the car has been complete for about three years and covered around 16,000km.

“I had a ’39 Ford coupe that we thought about doing it with, but it’s a very run-of-the-mill car, so when we saw a Hudson Terraplane body pop up on Trade Me, I thought I could work with it,” Aaron said. “There was next to nothing, but it was enough for me to crack into it.”

It’s now chopped, with a sloped and extended roofline, custom fender skirts and running boards, and new glass to suit the roof chop. The chassis retained its factory rails, but a Jag XJ6 front end was grafted up into the chassis to allow it to sit low. The rear is C-notched and runs a parallel four-bar with Watt’s link.

As he intended to clock up the miles in the car, Aaron installed a GM 6.0L L77 and 6L80E transmission, along with a Haltech Rebel ECU and a PSI TCM transmission controller.

“I really like the multiple paint themes. A friend of mine, Robert Duff at Radical Refinishing, is a true artist, and the amount of time he spent on it is insane,” Aaron said. “I don’t think many people in New Zealand could do it – it’s a world-class paintjob.”

It could be yours, too, if you’re in the market for something like this.

“It’s time to build another one, I think. We’re still using it, but I’ve got some other plans,” Aaron said. We’re not sure what those plans are, but we’d like to see them come to fruition!

Trevor Halstead
1951 Studebaker Starlight

Top honours for this year’s show? Trevor Halstead and his beautiful Studebaker Starlight, which took home the 2025 Mothers Shine award.

Trevor is a prolific builder of custom cars and well-known as a Studebaker guy, and this coupe is well travelled, having claimed many awards across NZ. It’s definitely his best to date, built and painted at home in his shed, and Trev estimated he put around 3500 hours into it, only outsourcing the stitching of the upholstery.

Built in the vein of a traditional custom, it’s been chopped and channelled, although with such a unique profile, it required custom rear windscreens to be made, not to mention innumerable other mods that appear factory – unless you’re a Studebaker nut, you wouldn’t pick up on most!

It’s all finished with Trevor’s signature attention to detail, and that includes the jewel in the engine bay – a detailed and chromed Studebaker 299ci V8 with twin Strombergs on top.

Apparently, Trevor may have a new build to display at Chrome Showcase next year, too – guess we’re just going to have to watch this space!

Slammed Camaro

Dale Williams’s epic Camaro was already a pretty well-known street car in its previous guise, and Chrome Showcase was its first outing following a big refresh.

After purchasing it half-done around four years ago, Dale and some mates chopped the back end out, mini-tubbed it, and went for airbags to get that perfect stance over the big Simmons rims. But when he blew the motor up last year, it was time to step things up.

“The motor was a crate 572, and it had only done 1500 miles, but I drive my cars pretty hard,” said Dale. “Reece Fish has rebuilt the motor and Carl Jensen at C&M Performance has redone all the headers, exhaust and wiring.”

As Dale is a panel beater by trade, the bodywork is flawless, and the same can be said for the paint, laid on by Alex at European Style before Luke Cosford sanded it right back and buffed it. “It was flow-coated, as we wanted it like glass,” Dale explained.

Ian Neary’s ‘Eruption’

Heralded as NZ’s greatest muscle car build, Ian Neary’s ‘Eruption’ 1968 Plymouth GTX (SM, Aug ’18) packs a Viper V10 and more custom touches and labour hours than any sane person could rationalise. Years later, it’s still looking the goods, albeit now with 5500 miles on the clock.

“I sold my trailer last year, so I’ve gotta drive it,” Ian laughed. “I have done some shows recently – I did Concours d’Elegance in Ellerslie in January, and then I drove it down to Mopars in Morrinsville in March.
“My most memorable drive would probably have been to the Street Rod Nationals in Palmerston North in 2019, down and back – stunning,” Ian continued. “It was just beautiful to drive.”

‘NUTOUT’ Commodore

Hayden Wilby’s blown VT Commodore, NUTOUT, has twice been Down Under to skid at Summernats, with last year’s Aussie stint also including the Wagga Burnout Party and Brashernats. Sadly, that jaunt was plagued by mechanical issues.

“We’ve redone the ignition system and found an issue with aftermarket coils, so we’ve reverted to factory coils and leads and changed the pulley to underdrive the alternator to extend its lifespan,” Hayden said. “After a few false starts, the Powerglide feels strong after its last rebuild in Australia.”

Hayden plans to tear the VT’s LS mill down shortly to give it a freshen-up after five hard years of abuse, and then the pair will be ready to compete at Muscle Car Madness in Rangiora in January.

Real Rides Camaro

Michael Crawley’s ’81 Camaro was pieced together by Real Rides Ltd. “Michael wanted to turn something ugly into something really cool,” explained Real Rides’ Kayton Coughey.

The Real Rides team began by sculpting the rear end to house Michael’s desired 2015 Camaro tail-lights, also adding a metal spoiler. From there, it was onto crafting steel flares, sill extensions, a carbonfibre front splitter, and a whole raft of other mods.

It packs a 572 big-block, backed by a Tremec TKO600, while underneath is a full suite of Baer brakes, Hotchkis suspension, and a Krysler Shop 9in hung off a Detroit Speed four-link.

Pro street Pontiac

“I needed more horsepower,” said Darryl Ingham of the impetus behind his wild pro street Pontiac GTO build. He was keen for it to stay Pontiac powered – hence the 535-cube Butler Performance mill – but being a ladder-bar car at the time, passing certification for Kiwi street legality proved difficult.

“I’m actually glad that happened, because I wanted to put a four-link in there anyway, so it went off to Choppers Auto Body Shop,” Darryl said. “This modern technology – fuel injection and ECUs – just makes it so nice to drive.”

And it’s a stunner to look at, too. “It’s actually a GM colour used on third-gen Camaros,” Darryl said. “There was a pro street GTO in the States the same colour. I spoke to Charlie at Charlie’s Custom Paint & Pinstriping; he threw a few ideas at it and that was it.”

‘Uncertain T’ tribute

The 1960s was a crazy decade for hot rod builds, and when American Steve Scott unveiled what would become ‘Uncertain T’ in 1965, he probably didn’t expect it to become the icon it now is.

Half a century later, Martin Bennett built this tribute to the car (SM, Nov ’20), inspired by a scale model he’d assembled, before debuting it at SEMA 2019. The unconventional body was built out of a wooden buck by Clive Plumtree, which was then fibreglassed for paint. Martin has kept the Buick Nailhead power of the original car, albeit with 401 cubes and topped with polished Hilborn mechanical injection stacks, backed by a 727 and Winters Quick Change.

Martin’s kept his tribute as faithful to the original as possible by sourcing innumerable vintage speed parts, or making them himself, and half a decade on from its unveiling, it’s still as attention-grabbing and awe-inspiring as ever.