Magoo's Kiwi hot rods take off overseas

A Masterton hot rod company is ready to set the international market on fire with its special range of high-quality ‘toys’.

Magoo’s Street Rods was founded in Masterton, located in the Wairarapa region near Wellington, as a backyard business nearly three decades ago by New Zealander Lloyd Wilson. It now has an annual turnover of more than NZ$1 million and employs six full-time staff.

Wilson says Magoo’s Street Rods is the biggest builder of custom hot rods outside of the US. They export specialist hot rods all over the world, and are fast gaining a solid international reputation for quality and reliability.

"I grew up in Levin originally with motor racing, and then as a teenager I saw a hot rod in a magazine and I thought ‘these are pretty cool, I want one of these myself’, and it just grew out-of-control from there."

Coveted award
Magoo’s Street Rods first received worldwide attention in 2008, when Wilson and his mates custom-built a 1930 Ford roadster pickup, which went on to be used as a push car for a Kiwi racer at the famous Bonneville Salt Lakes in Utah.

Wilson became the first person outside of the US to win the coveted Stroker McGurk Award for his modified Ford. The award is named after a character drawn by cartoonist Tom Medley, an influential hot rod magazine editor. The recipient of the award is chosen because their vehicle embodies the spirit of the original hot rod industry.

High-class hot rods
Lloyd Wilson says his hot rods are definitely for people with a discretionary income who appreciate quality, but that the cost is more than justified for hot rod fans.

Magoo’s has custom-built 23 cars in the past eight years for a price tag of about $250,000 each, often custom ordering parts from the US. The company’s solid reputation on the international market means that they have interest from all around the globe - recently even restoring a hot rod for a customer in England.

Wilson regularly attends hot rod events in the US, home of hot rodding, so he can keep up with the latest news and innovation from the industry.

"Our hourly rate is realistic, and we maintain a regular liaison with customers including detailed photos and accounting to monitor progress on projects," says Wilson.

World’s Fastest Indian
New Zealanders have long had a love affair with speed. The legendary Kiwi racer Burt Munro, famous for setting an unbroken world record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on a modified Indian motorcycle, was born and lived in Invercargill, in the South Island.

Burt Munro's life story was turned into a film starring British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2005. Munro was famous for using Kiwi ingenuity to create custom parts in his backyard, making them out of recycled materials such as old tins and spokes.

Background: Hot rods
Hot rods are modified American cars used for racing. There is a huge worldwide community of hot rodders, ranging from North America to the UK, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.

Hot rodders are famous for using recycled parts to build up their cars, but there is often a divide between traditional hot rod enthusiasts and newer ‘street rodders’, who prefer using brand-new parts.

More information
The World’s Fastest Indian