The Smoking Tire is Going to New Zealand!

This is a picture of the roads in New Zealand. That really should be enough, but I don’t think most of the world understands quite the level of obsession Kiwis have with the automobile and speed. New Zealand is a petrolhead’s dream. Some of the finest racers in the world come from New Zealand, as well as some of the most creative homebrew engineers. The entire Millen family of racers, for instance, calls New Zealand home. John Britten built a superbike from scratch, even designing and casting his own engine, in his garage in New Zealand, flew over to Europe, and beat all the big names in major racing series in the mid-1990’s. There are more Ferrari’s per capita in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world. All engine swaps are legal. Let me just reiterate that:

ALL ENGINE SWAPS ARE LEGAL IN NEW ZEALAND. The country is a JDM or Euro importer’s dream, and a literal melting pot of chassis, engines, crazy ideas, and welding skills. Without exaggerating at all, I can say that New Zealand is probably the most exciting country in the world to be a car guy.

This looks like a Peugeot, but it’s not. Alex Kelsey built this car from scratch

in his garage in New Zealand. It has a Formula Renault engine. 

We never thought we’d get to go. There just isn’t the budget for that sort of thing, which you know by now.

Until we got a call from some software developers down there, who are making a game called Automation. It’s an auto industry simulation game for gearheads, and the gist of it is that you start and run your own car company. We like it because everyone criticizes car companies, and now you can see if you can do any better! These are some real petrolheads who are doing a very cool thing, and they are most generously sponsoring our trip to New Zealand.

We will be bringing back a ton of amazing footage to give all The Smoking Tire fans a wide spectrum of the crazy shit that goes on down there (yes, they will be “pretty films”), and the only way we could do it is with the help of the creators of Automation. So, do us, yourself, and everyone who enjoys free content a favor and go “like” these guys on social media, subscribe on YouTube for updates, check out the App when it comes out, and support the people who support your favorite car show.

www.automationgame.com

www.facebook.com/AutomationGame

www.youtube.com/AutomationGame

For all our New Zealand fans, we cannot wait to meet you! We will be hosting a TST Meetup in Auckland the first week in February. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Thanks

Matt

The Smoking Tire
The Smoking Tire’s YouTube Channel