Automotive magnate Sir Colin Giltrap was known for his generosity and sharp memory. Photo / Steven McNicholl
Automotive magnate Sir Colin Giltrap was known for his generosity and sharp memory. Photo / Steven McNicholl
Kiwi car and motor-racing enthusiasts remember Sir Colin Giltrap as an outstandingly generous benefactor, forking out many millions of dollars in his lifetime to support up-and-coming motorsport talent.
Worth $475 million, Sir Colin, who died aged 84 last night, was well known in philanthropic circles, donating to manycharities and institutions including the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, Starship, the coastguard, the SPCA and the Malaghan and Liggins institutes.
There was nothing Sir Colin didn’t know about the automotive industry, with motorsport being one of his great loves.
Fellow motorsport enthusiast Maurice O’Reilly, of Tauranga, said Sir Colin was the number one benefactor for motorsport in New Zealand for decades, supporting almost every young international driver, including Scott Dixon, Richie Stanaway, Shane van Gisbergen, Earl Bamber, Liam Lawson, Brendon Hartley, and Formula E driver Mitch Evans.
“We’re talking many millions of dollars,” he said.
Sir Colin, knighted for services to motorsport and philanthropy in 2012, was also known for his extraordinary photographic memory with colleagues saying he could remember the name of every customer, what car they bought and even the registration number.
Those who worked with Sir Colin remember him looking out the window of his office in Great North Road, seeing a car he recognised go by and reciting the name of the person who bought it, the date, price paid and the rego.
He was extremely knowledgeable about anything automotive, O’Reilly said.
“The Giltrap Group has grown to be the largest in New Zealand on the back of his ability.”
Auckland classic car enthusiast and businessman Philip Horrocks remembers Sir Colin as “a car guy through and through”.
Horrocks met him in the 1960s when he was a teenager writing a motoring column for the Wanganui Chronicle. He used to borrow cars to test drive from Sir Colin and fellow car dealer Neville “Croaky” Crichton who ran Fleetwood Motors in Hamilton (later Monaco Motors) and went on to buy a number of cars from him over the years.
“He was a really good guy. He was sharp as a tack but very fair and very straight to deal with.”
After Sir Colin relocated to Auckland he began buying other dealerships including John Andrew Motors and Coutts, largely to secure import licences.
He also bought dealerships located at strategic sites, later selling off the real estate and keeping the car business.
“That gave him the capital to expand his vehicle import side,” Horrocks said. He cornered much of the premium car market and at one stage had dealerships overseas.
The Giltrap Prestige showroom in Auckland.
Aucklander David Haddrell worked for Sir Colin for 35 years as an assistant, selling cars and networking with contacts. Haddrell, ex-King’s College and a member of Royal Auckland Golf Club and the Northern Club, provided his boss with a conduit to a large network of wealthy buyers.
Colin Giltrap, the boy from Waikato, wasn’t remotely interested in joining the clubs, wasn’t particularly social and was known to be shy. Instead he’d ask Haddrell to take important clients out to lunch “at one of your swanky clubs” or play golf with them.
Sir Colin is survived by his wife Lady Jennifer, his sons Michael and Richard, and their families. His teenage grandson, Marco Giltrap, is now competing in motorsport having raced karts for many years.
Jane Phare is a senior Auckland-based business, features and investigations journalist, former assistant editor of NZ Herald and former editor of the Weekend Herald and Viva.
