Muscle Bros Museum caretaker Nelson Eves with Scott Dixon's car. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Muscle Bros Museum caretaker Nelson Eves with Scott Dixon's car. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Motorsports legend Scott Dixon is one of the most successful Kiwi racing drivers to make it big overseas - now, one of his iconic red race cars has made its way to his home country and to the Waikato.
The Target-branded 2005 Panoz G-Force Toyota IndyCar has found a permanent home in the private collection of Cambridge’s Ross Brothers Muscle Car Garage Museum but will have its first public outing at Hamilton’s Frankton Thunder automotive festival in March.
Frankton Thunder organising committee head Ken McGeady is very excited about the “unique opportunity”.
“Mechanically, it is a race car, [but] it’s an extremely unusual car to see in New Zealand. Those Indy cars are so much bigger than other race cars. It’s a bloody beauty of a car,” McGeady says.
However, he stresses the car is not only special because of its beauty.
“It’s such a rare and historically important vehicle,” McGeady says.
“It’s the vehicle of one of New Zealand’s top sportsmen.”
Motorsport legend Scott Dixon was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009 and was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019. Photo / NZME
Australian-born and Auckland-raised Dixon is the only New Zealander to win the famous Indianapolis 500 (Indy500) race. He has also won the American IndyCar championship six times and is still an active racer at 42 years.
During his 35-year career, Dixon has won a total of 52 races and achieved 126 podium placements.
McGeady says: “He is a Kiwi. It’s time to celebrate his huge success.”
Frankton Thunder will be the first time the car is showcased outside the museum since it arrived in November. McGeady says the event is an opportunity to show the car off to car enthusiasts and others at the festival.
New Zealand has Hamiltonian and Ross Brothers Muscle Car Garage (Ross Bros Museum) custodian Nelson Eves to thank for getting his hands on one of Dixon’s cars.
Scott Dixon's 2005 Panoz G-Force Toyota IndyCar. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Eves has long been involved in the motorsport scene and his connections got him all the way to Dixon’s team at Chip Ganassi Racing in Indianapolis.
“I don’t think Scott has been given the recognition he deserves in New Zealand. He is the fittest driver in the field ... you only have to look at his record and see what he has achieved.”
This is the argument that convinced Ganassi himself to sell one of the cars to the Ross Bros Museum, but Eves wouldn’t say for how much.
“We wanted one of the Target cars because Dixon is known for racing [this] car.”
Eves says Dixon raced Target-branded cars for 13 years before PNC Bank became his sponsor.
Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon when he won the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 automobile race in 2008. Photo / Reuters
To Eves, having one of Dixon’s race cars in New Zealand is a “pretty big deal”. “We believe it is the only Scott Dixon car outside the US.”
Eves even tried to get Dixon to come to the museum and sign the car.
“When we rang Scott, he couldn’t believe we had the car. ‘Chip won’t sell anything’, he said. I had to send Scott a photo to show him it really is here,” Eves says.
Although the car remains unsigned for now, due to Dixon’s busy racing schedule, the museum is over the moon with its latest exhibit.
“We’re so proud to have it here,” Eves says.
The Ross Brothers Muscle Car Garage, also known as Ross Bros Museum, is at 162 Hannon Rd, Cambridge.
It is a private collection of classic muscle cars, vintage trucks, race cars, motorcycles and heavy machinery and belongs to earthmoving company C & R Developments which is run by the Ross brothers Mike, Tony, Tim and Simon. The public is able to visit the museum by appointment.
Frankton Thunder is an annual automotive and community festival in Hamilton. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Other Frankton Thunder highlights
Hamilton’s automotive and community festival Frankton Thunder is back from its Covid break last year with some new additions.
The event will rev up on Sunday, March 12 from 9am to 4pm around Commerce St and organising committee head Ken McGeady says the festival is now “coming of age”.
“People understand now what we are doing.”
For the first time, Frankton Thunder will run a vehicle competition called the Repco Frankton Thunder Hot 20 competition.
McGeady says: “Anyone can enter a vehicle that they think is world-class, one-of-a-kind. It has to be something fairly spectacular. Then we will select the top 20.
“The vehicle can be a car or a motorbike, a Steampunk machine, a military vehicle, Hotrod, pretty much anything on wheels.”
This year, the festival will also have an extended space and will stretch to the Lake Rd/Commerce St intersection.
Frankton Thunder, overseen by a charitable trust, is a charity event for the St Vincent De Paul Society (Vinnies). The event’s supporters include Repco, LJ Hooker, Ross Brothers Muscle Car Garage, Tron Records, Road and Sport Motorcycles, and the Classics Museum.
The LJ Hooker Frankton Thunder Cruize-in and Toys for Charity run, for cars and bikes, will assemble at the Cambridge raceway, Taylor St Cambridge, on the day at 8.30am and leave for Frankton at 9.30am.
Additionally to the Cruize-in, there will be the usual display of cars, motorcycles and special-interest vehicles, Steampunk, markets, military re-enactment, Miss Frankton Thunder, the Thunder Ink tattoo competition, live music and food stalls.
