A1GP was a nations-based single-seater series – dubbed the ‘World Cup of Motorsport’ – that travelled to some of the globe’s best circuits, including contemporary and historic F1 grand prix venues.

New Zealand’s most well-known luxury car magnate Sir Colin Giltrap acquired an A1GP franchise and gave the all-black car its iconic name ‘Black Beauty’.

Matt Halliday and Jonny Reid shared driving duties in the inaugural 2005/06 season, and Dick Bennetts’ West Surrey Racing ran the team under the A1 Team New Zealand banner.

Halliday took the team’s sole podium that year in the opening race at Brands Hatch.

That line-up continued for the 2006/07 campaign, but with the David Sears-run Super Nova Racing.

Reid won on three occasions that season – twice at Indonesia’s Sentul circuit and at Shanghai in China while Halliday took back-to-back third place finishes on the streets of Durban in South Africa.

All told, New Zealand finished second to Germany, with Nico Hulkenberg leading their efforts.

Reid was New Zealand’s only driver for the 2007/08 season – the final year with the fan favourite 3.4-litre V8 Zytek-powered Lola chassis.

Once again, the Super Nova-run Kiwis were second, this time to Switzerland’s Neel Jani. The highlight of that season included a win on home soil at Taupo, as well as two wins at Brno and one at Mexico City.

For the 2008/09 season, A1GP made the bold decision to ditch its Lola chassis for the far more expensive Ferrari-powered Dallara.

The series ultimately succumbed to financial issues after one year with the Ferrari F2004-inspired cars.

A1GP went into liquidation, and the cars never arrived for the start of the 2009/10 season at the Gold Coast for the SuperGP that was supposed to replace the Indy 300.

A1GP cars continued to race beyond the series in all-comers-style categories in Europe.

Black Beauty, meanwhile, was retired from competition and remained with the Giltrap Group.

The car became a showpiece, featuring at various events around the country and even took residency at the national museum, Te Papa.

On Wednesday, December 10, the car cut its first laps since 2008 in the hands of Reid at Hampton Downs, who said he got butterflies upon being reunited with Black Beauty.

Many of the key personnel from the A1GP era were present for the test.

They included engineer Mark Pilcher, Sir Colin Giltrap’s sons Richard and Michael, who run the luxury car business, Griltrap Group Motorsport boss Hamish Miller, and TV3 sports reporter turned Giltrap Group communications and PR manager Shaun Summerfield.

A bonus was Reid having his two young daughters trackside.

“It was just such a privilege to be asked to drive the car again and to hear it fired up,” Reid told Speedcafe.

“It just took me back to those race victories and podiums and all the international travel that we used to do as a team.

“It’s such a strange feeling. A lot’s changed in my life, but 20 years just goes like that, doesn’t it? Getting in driving the car, it still felt all the same to me.

“I’ve been lucky enough to still be driving in GTs and things like that, so it wasn’t like I’ve been out of the seat, but the thrill and the power-to-weight just took me back to the Paul Ricard test, which was 20 years ago.

“There were guys like Nelson Piquet Jr, Scott Speed from memory, Thomas Scheckter – I’m just thinking of all the other names – Nicholas Lapierre, Alex Premat, they were all some of the names that we were going up against at the time.

“There are so many others as well. I just can’t name them all. On the Aussie side, we had Will Davison, Will Power, and Ryan Briscoe. It was a cool series with cool people involved – like a travelling circus.

“Globally, it was a really recognised championship and there were a lot of people involved from different countries around the world.

“It was so much fun, wasn’t it? The cars, they sound so cool. They just don’t build them like that anymore.

“That 3.4-lite Zytek engine had a crisp note to it, but there was something special about that exhaust system and the way that it made the over-run crackle on the downshift and bring up that sound, which still appeals to people today.”

Black Beauty became a symbol of New Zealand motorsport, and was famously driven by Jonny Reid at Auckland Airport in a head-to-head race with a Boeing 777.

It was the first time in 42 years that the schedule at Auckland Airport had been adjusted for an event of its kind.

Another demonstration involved the car driving over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which caused a nose-to-tail crash in one of the adjacent lanes as drivers passing the scene tried to catch a glimpse of the show.

“They’re pretty hard to forget those ones. They were very unique, pinch yourself moments if you like in a career,” Reid said, noting the lengths Giltrap and Miller had gone to in organising the stunts.

“They were timed to perfection as well, right before the Taupo events.

“In 2007, we passed over the Harbour Bridge. There was a nose-to-tail on the traffic side of the barriers with people rubbernecking and running into one another. So it’s pretty funny to remember that.

“Driving over that Harbour Bridge, it was iconic.

“The other one with Air New Zealand, down the runway, promoting the 2008 Taupo event. We ran down the taxiway and raced off a 777 during its biofuel testing run.

“That was another moment where you just stop and pause and pinch yourself as you’re running out onto the runway.

“The only sort of health and safety I was told at the time was do not get anywhere near the back of the jet turbines. So, naturally, I adhered to that.

“The power to the weight of the A1GP car just absolutely blew the 777 away on acceleration, but at peak velocity just before liftoff, the 777 had a lot more speed.

“I remember looking up and I felt like this 777 was just on top of me. I’m doing about 300 kilometres an hour, and it was just this big shadow hovering above me. It was a special day, once again.

“I got to do some skids in front of the hangers. There were lots of people watching on, thinking what’s going on out there? Probably even wondering why their planes were maybe slightly delayed.

“As I say, it was one of those moments that comes once in a lifetime.”

There was a bittersweet element to the Hampton Downs test, however.

Sir Colin Giltrap, the architect of A1 Team New Zealand, suddenly died after suffering a fall in September, 2024 at 84 years old.

Giltrap had been one of the driving forces behind sourcing a new engine for the car to restore it and get it back on track.

“The Harbour Bridge was a special day and obviously winning races for the team, for the country, in particular at Taupo, seeing Sir Colin Giltrap’s face, who was the mastermind of it all,” Reid added.

“It was a really, really special time and cool to reflect on it, celebrating and shaking that car down again.

“It never would have happened without someone like Colin,” he added.

“I met him in 2004 and he was very passionate about what I was trying to do and form a single-seater career. Winning a Formula 3000 race at Brands Hatch set me up in that relationship and his beliefs.

“For him to pick up that team and take it forward — I look back, and I’m just really grateful that he was able to see that opportunity and also build a New Zealand team.

“Yeah, it was a very emotional day. With Colin, we’re celebrating 60 years of the Giltrap group and obviously 20 years since A1GP.

“He’s left a great legacy and the family are equally as passionate about the sport.

“You’ve got young Marco Giltrap doing very well in Carrera Cup this year in Australia, particularly at Bathurst he was a stand-out.

“Richard, his dad, and Michael, they’re great guys to carry on the legacy of the Giltrap name.”

Black Beauty is poised to feature on track in at least one NextGen NZ Championships event during the 2026 summer.