The Kiwi Coupe

25/08/2026

Apologies in advance. Great coverage of the Kiwi Coupe campaign in the September issue of NZ Hot Rod Magazine...except for the photos. Edited through my new computer, I didn't realise their resolution was completely compromised. Pushing against a deadline, there was no time to correct them to my usual standard or procure others. Many thanks to Paul Grace who was able to tweak the photos enough to publish. Totally my mistake. And apologies to Jill Iverson for the wrong name attached to her photo. Cheers Jenni.

17/08/2026

It was a sad day for Chris and Jenni on the last day of racing, Friday 7th August, because although we will remain part of the Bonneville "Family" we have retired from the Kiwi Coupe due to health circumstances.

We have always considered ourselves to to be caretakers (since purchasing from creator Steve Williams RIP) and now full ownership and custodianship passes to Llew Gray and his team. Llew has the resources, time and team to keep the momentum of the Kiwi Coupe going forwards.

We are a bit envious that Llew now has the car nestled amongst other salt cars near Salt Lake City and he is preparing the car for another outing at Bonneville...possibly at The World Finals next month (September 26th - 29th).
We wish Llew and his team all the best. Go Fast, Go Safe.

Chris Barnes [email protected]

08/08/2026

And that's a wrap...Bonneville speed week what an incredible opportunity.

Kiwicoupe team have done an amazing job, the long days, fixing and improving right up to the start line. Kiwi attitude shining through.

Our fastest speed for the meet was Llew at 224 mph which is incredible!!

Massive shout out to all the supporters and pit crew we have had the whole way on this journey right from the bottom of New Zealand to here, we are super grateful and excited for the future of our wee coupe.

Kiwi's can't fly but they sure can try 🇳🇿🇳🇿

07/08/2026

Woowee today was a cracker!!

Llew achieved 224.541 mph super duper awesome.

Definitely worth all the hard work, incredible team work, and salty sweat 😂😂

Tomorrow is our last day on the salt, we are going to adjust some jetting in the carb then give it a last run 🇳🇿🇳🇿🚀🚀

07/08/2026

The Land Speed Racing live feed has captured the Kiwi Coupe running on Track #1 today...(the other tracks have shut down).
Skipping through the day's footage you can catch us at approx. 1:20, 8:04 and 9:26. Not sure where "Seldom Seen Slim" the announcer, is getting his information from but he's a bit incorrect re driver and the class record. All good stuff though.

Join us for Day 6 of Bonneville Speed Week 2026 LIVE as competitors...

06/08/2026

The perfect B license pass for Bruce Thornton at 189.95. Now, on the last day of the meeting for us, again, the Kiwi Coupe has no reason to slow down. Llew is up next! Kudos again to the work Shane and the rest of the crew have achieved.

06/08/2026

Had an successful day out on the salt 👐

Kiwi coupe is all prepped on the line now ready to go in the morning with no mechanical work needed! Pit crew have been working hard to get to this point!

Let’s hope it holds for the day so we can get a few clear runs in tomorrow.

Llew achieved his 175-199mph license so can now go for his 200-249mph license.
Bruce achieved his 175-199mph license also, so all on now.

Fabulous stuff all around the board....expect the 40°C heat 🥵 definitely jealous of the snow in nz at the moment 😀

06/08/2026

Kevin Christie from Mossburn/Te Anau who is with team Kiwi
Coupe, filmed this today. One of Llew's runs.

05/08/2026

Little coupe that could..taking Llew to his next licensing level 150-175mph.

Our Kiwi coupe attracted alot of attention and kudos today with its traditional hot-rodding style, very cool especially as we are surrounded by very impressive feats of engineering.

We had to retire early today with an issue with the oil gasket leaking all over the motor leaving the poor drivers with no visibility in a cloud of smoke.

Thankfully our incredible pit crew are on it, getting it sorted for running tomorrow!

04/08/2026

First Run of the week!

After completing their rookie orientation course this morning, Llew and Bruce were issued their driver's armbands. Then it was off to course 2 to join the line-up.

Llew achieved his Rookie license with an excellent pass keeping the Coupe >125mph and