GO magazine

GO

Discovering the dreams that drive us

The road ahead

A word from Managing Director of
Honda New Zealand, Nobuya Sonoda

Welcome to the latest edition of GO magazine. I’m excited to share another wonderful issue with you, filled with the unique stories of inspirational people from across New Zealand, each living their dreams.

I take great joy in reading about their passions and experiences, and as I do, I am reminded of our future aspirations at Honda, including our goal of achieving zero traffic collision fatalities worldwide by 2050. Through existing and future innovations, we are actively working to make this dream a reality.

There is so much joy to be found in the freedom of driving and we want to make our roads safer for everyone. That’s why, here in New Zealand, we are working towards supporting initiatives that foster safer driving by young drivers and people new to the country who are learning to drive on our roads. 

Globally, Honda continues to maximise safety in our vehicles by enhancing mobility performance. In 2001, we opened our multi-directional, vehicle-to-vehicle crash test facility at our Tochigi Research and Development Centre in Japan. It is the world's first indoor, all-weather facility of its kind, enabling us to capture decades of data that informs sophisticated safety technologies and designs. 23 years on and we continue to apply our learnings from this amazing facility.

These have included significant advancements across a suite of safety measures. Many of these are already being enjoyed by our customers, including the advancement of Honda Sensing® and Honda Connect technology, which create cars that are safer, help mitigate collisions, and are more responsive to your needs. I strongly believe safety is the most important thing to consider when choosing a car, important for you, your family and others sharing the road with you.

Honda’s safety goal is an ambitious one, as is our global safety philosophy, ‘Safety for Everyone’. It is a sentiment that embodies our commitment to protecting drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike – so we can all move safely. No matter where we’ve come from or where we’re going, I’m sure we can agree that a safe world is something we all aspire to.

So with that in mind, and with the summer season on the horizon, I wish you joyous holidays and safe travels, wherever the journey takes you. And of course, happy reading!

Signature

Come on in

Living the dream

Timeless treasures

Living the dream

Tiny yet mighty

Living the dream

Learning by heart

Living the dream

A peace offering

Living the dream

Tools of the trade

Our wider world

The race is on

Our wider world

Accelerating carbon neutrality

At your service

Handy tips to get the most from your Honda

View all
56s

At your service

Getting the height just right
1m 22s

At your service

That fresh air feeling
1m 27s

At your service

Set and forget the walk away lock
2m 17s

At your service

Keeping up to date
1m 43s

At your service

Keep your windscreen sparkling
1m 21s

At your service

How to activate your automatic park brake
1m 4s

At your service

Take off with Sport Mode
1m 19s

At your service

Bring your key fob back to life
1m 6s

At your service

What does that tyre pressure light mean?
35s

At your service

How to save with Eco Mode

From Edition #4

Living the dream

Timeless treasures

From a 100-year-old icon to a fleet of classic Hondas, farmers Katy and John Parish own an extraordinary car collection. With retirement on the horizon, yet no signs of slowing down, these collectors are just getting started.

Happily married for 40 years, Katy and John are quite the car-loving pair. From their first encounter at The University of Canterbury to their current life as sheep farmers in the South Island, their journey so far has been nothing short of one great adventure.

Photography by Jack Prebble

“If you go to the shops and you can't park straight outside, you're a bit annoyed,” John says jokingly of he and Katy’s love for the rural life. “And the roads are less busy. So using older cars, it's better for that.”

Calling from their farm near Gore, John holds the conversation while Katy listens in the background. He lovingly calls her ‘dear’, she thoughtfully chimes in with missed details as he shares. While some couples can develop different interests over time, a mutual appreciation for cars, farming, and adventures has only brought these two closer together.

It’s often said that farming isn't just a job but a way of life, one with little time for much else. But Katy and John make time – mainly for cars, now that their children, Emma and Stuart, have grown up and left home.

“There's certain car events that tie in with the farming and the farming has to tie in with the events sometimes. So, when you put the ram out depends on what car rallies are on,” John says with a chuckle, alluding to lamb breeding season being dictated by their love of vehicles. “Normally, there's an event in November that we go to post-lambing, after all that work.”

Car rallies are the couple’s thing. Earlier this year, they drove their 100-year-old Bentley all the way from Gore to Warkworth and back again. “We managed to survive,” John says casually. That 100-year-old car holds immense sentimental value, not only because “it was New Zealand’s first Bentley,” as Katy adds, but also because it belonged to her late father. “When he passed away, he had three cars,” John explains. “The sons were left the farm and the cars were left to the daughters.” Katy’s two sisters weren’t particularly interested in cars, so she and John acquired them. And so the baton was passed.

On recent count, John estimates there’s a dozen cars in their collection. Of the ones that go, that is; there are a few projects on the go, too. Aside from the 1923 Bentley, 1965 Bentley and 1964 Jaguar E Type Series 1 Roadster that came from Katy’s dad, the couple proudly own a suite of iconic Hondas.

Among them is a tiny trailblazing 1964 S600, the sleek sports car revered by enthusiasts for being one of Honda’s first cars. John likens it to a “bumblebee” for its high revving engine. “It was the car that Denny Hulme won Honda's first motor race victory in 1964,” he shares. “It's not very good for long road trips. It's better for ’round town and short trips.” Another joyful ride is the bright yellow Honda S2000 earmarked as Katy’s, and there’s a Honda NSX for John. “Honda's attempt at making a supercar in the 90s,” he says.

John and Katy maintain that their passion for driving vintage cars is as much about the journey as it is the destination. “We like to get where we're going but you can't stress about things, you want to enjoy your trip.” John says. With Katy cheekily adding: “We don’t push it… but it depends what you’re driving.”

Evidently, the husband and wife duo have obtained quite an impressive line-up, but it’s hardly unusual where they’re from. There’s lots of car collectors down south, John reports. “We don't feel too bad because the guy across the road has a shed with 70 in it,” he says with a laugh. By those standards, he maintains: “We're being very restrained.”

As they look ahead, John contemplates the transition from farm life to retirement: “Hopefully, within the next five years, we'll have sold off the farm, and be retired. Whether it's here or whether it's somewhere else, we're not sure,” he shares. Although their fleet is staying put for now. “If you want another car, you’ve got to sell one. So which one's going to be sold? Generally, we can't agree! So nothing gets sold.”

With freedom fast approaching, Katy and John are looking forward to more scenic adventures: “We’ve been from one end of the country to the other, and there's always something new. There’s still a lot of New Zealand we haven't seen.” By all accounts, once these two have hung up their tools, the next leg of their journey will be just as exciting.

We make the world a happier place. People smile when they see an old car go past.

Share this story

Living the dream

Tiny yet mighty
Category
Edition