New Zealand was founded as a distant, isolated colony of England, with all the benefits and disadvantages that this entailed. In the early settlement days New Zealanders had to be self reliant, basing their economy on what they could make themselves or what could be shipped in at great expense from England. Motor vehicles of all sorts were an expensive luxury, with high duties and taxes imposed by the Government in their attempts to preserve precious overseas currency.

As a result cars, trucks and buses were viewed as valuable assets to be preserved, maintained, used sparingly, and rebuilt as they wore out. This led to a thriving local industry in car assembly, with vehicles being imported CKD (completely knocked down) and assembled in local plants to minimise import duties. Most British cars were imported and assembled locally in this way, in particular the BMC brands (Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Riley), plus Ford, General Motors (in its local variant the Holden), and even Triumph and Jaguar sedans. Trucks, buses and even train carriages were also assembled locally, as they still are today. Trucks and buses were imported either CKD or as a driving chassis with no body. The bodies were then built by hand with a wooden frame and aluminium or steel paneling (or even fabric in the very early days). This art of coach building was a thriving profession that peaked in the pre- and post-war days and has continued to survive, although in a much reduced form.

New Zealand is now world famous for the quality of its workmanship, whether in the field of classic car restorations, boat building or motor racing.

The Classic Car movement in New Zealand is alive and strong, with more cars having been preserved than almost anywhere in the world. English cars predominate but American cars also have a strong following, particularly in the muscle car arena. Classic Cars are driven regularly and it is not at all unusual to see collector's cars such as Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Triumph, MG, Packard and similar used for daily transport.

Motor racing has been a part of the national psyche since cars were invented. Many famous names originated from New Zealand with stars such as Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and Chris Amon being dominant in the Formula 1 and CanAm circuits of their time.

In the 1950's and early 1960's the Formula 1 entourage came to New Zealand at the end of the European season for a final round of races called the Tasman Trophy, with household names such as Stirling Moss, Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, Jim Clarke, Graham Hill, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart and many others racing their cars on our tight and twisty circuits. At the end of each series it was common practice for the manufacturers to sell that season's cars locally rather than ship them back to Europe. This lead to an amazingly diversified local racing scene based on Formula Libre principles.

Jaguar C-Types and D-Types were a common sight, racing alongside exotic imported cars such as Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus, BRM, Brabham, Cooper and many more.

Motor racing, Classic Cars and all things mechanical are bred into New Zealanders from an early age.