Fiona and Grant Rivers with mechanic Dean Scott and Jock the dog are celebrating 30 years in business.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Fiona and Grant Rivers with mechanic Dean Scott and Jock the dog are celebrating 30 years in business.
Photo / Bevan Conley
The Rivers family of Whanganui has plenty of reasons to celebrate this week.
As a drag racing team of dad Grant, daughter Nicole and son Adrian, they have recently chalked up a number of NZ Drag Racing Championship victories - but on a quieter note, they are celebrating 30 years of running a successful family business.
Rivers Speed and Spares in Hatrick St has an international reputation for building and tweaking performance engines for a range of motor sports, but 30 years ago it was a humble business performing service checks and repairs for Whanganui motorists.
"We started the business in rented premises in Maria Place in 1990," says Grant who had served his mechanics apprenticeship with Rod Campbell at Guyton Service Station.
"Nicole was just three weeks old when we opened and she would be in her bassinet in the showroom."
Fiona Rivers, the quiet achiever in the family, looked after her baby daughter and 2-year-old son Adrian while greeting customers and handling all the administrative tasks for the business.
"It was Grant's vision and love of cars that was the decider in going into business, but I was 100 per cent committed to supporting Grant in developing the business that was his passion."
After four-and-a-half years in the Maria Pl premises, the Rivers bought land in Hatrick St to build their own premises.
"We had a lot of support from my parents," Grant said.
"Dad wasn't a mechanic but he loved helping out in the workshop."
Grant trained apprentice Craig Johnson who would work with him for 10 years before heading across the Tasman to join Australia's 888 Supercar team as lead engineer.
Having worked on his own for a year after Johnson's departure, Grant was joined by his current offsider and fellow drag racer Dean Scott in 2001, and together they perform a range of services including engine building, tuning, fabrication and chassis work.
Rivers Speed and Spares not only service road vehicle engines but they also work on motorboat engines and hydroplanes, in particular, having a long association with the Lupton and Alexander families and the Annihilator Race Team. Grant also develops circuit racing cars and has a long-standing relationship with Michael Eden from GDM Group Ltd.
In 2010, Grant installed a Superflow Dyno 901 in his workshop.
With years of experience in building both regular and high-performance engines, he now has the ability to dyno a diverse array of engines from 130 hp 4 cylinders through to 1800 hp supercharged V8s.
Adrian Rivers and Dean Scott use the Superflow Dyno 901 at the Rivers Speed and Spares workshop.
Photo / Bevan Conley.
Rivers Speed and Spares also has the ability to re-build classics like a Cam-Am '73 Vauxhall - a labour of love which took 18 months.
As an authorised vehicle certifier with the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association (LVVTA), Grant has a contract with ACC to provide vehicle modifications and also works with Enable and the Ministry of Health to provide vehicle modifications for drivers with disabilities.
