Beginnings (1985-86) The race was first proposed in 1984 and first took place a year later, albeit with a different layout from that to the original proposal. Initially dubbed the
Nissan Cue 500, the first event in 1985's title was changed at the last minute to the Nissan Sport 500 due to
Cue Magazine's demise in the week preceding the event. The following year
Mobil became a naming sponsor and the Nissan Mobil 500 name was born. The Nissan Mobil 500 was actually a two-event series with the first round being held at the Wellington Street Circuit and the second at
Pukekohe Park Raceway south of
Auckland, known as the
Pukekohe 500. The event was run to the
Group A touring car regulations of the time. Despite the event name, the distance was on occasion less than 500 kilometres due to the slow average speed of the circuit. For the first race in 1985, the
FIA delegate who inspected the Wellington Street Circuit was
1960 Armstrong 500 winner
John Roxburgh from Australia. He voiced serious concerns about the narrowness of the circuit as well as safety and the circuit did not pass inspection. For the race to be able to go ahead the promoters had to re-write the regulations turning the event from an international race to a national race, thus eliminating the need for FIA approval.
WTCC round (1987) In
1987, the Nissan Mobil 500 Wellington Street Race was a round of the inaugural FIA
World Touring Car Championship. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own Group A rules. Both the factory backed
BMW Motorsport (
Schnitzer) and
Ford (Eggenberger) teams were disqualified from some races for technical infringements. Also,
Formula One boss
Bernie Ecclestone had been given power over the WTCC at the last minute over the original organisers, the NZ based Strathmore Group. Ecclestone imposed a
US$60,000 registration fee per car which saw only a small number of cars eligible for championship points. With some races decided by stewards hearings, the WTCC generally descended into a farce by the end of 1987 and the series was not run again in 1988. An Eggenberger
Ford Sierra RS500, which had been disqualified from the
1987 Bathurst 1000, won the
1987 Wellington 500.
Continued international exposure (1988-92) Despite the WTCC's demise, the race maintained a point of interest for international teams and drivers in the years following the WTCC event with the popularity of the Group A regulations. The 1988 event was a part of the inaugural
Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship. Schnitzer Motorsport dominated the event in this period, winning four consecutive times for
BMW. With three different co-drivers, each of these were won by
Emanuele Pirro who became the most successful driver in the event's history.
End of Group A and final sprint rounds (1993-96) Following the end of Group A regulations, a combined
Super Touring and
production formula was used in 1993 and 1994. The 1993 event was the final 500 kilometre race held, with sprint races used in 1994 and 1996.
Demise Despite its popularity, the race never returned after 1996. The
Wellington City Council cancelled the event in part because the construction of the
Te Papa national museum and the
Queen's Wharf Events Centre clashed with the layout of the race track route. In addition the main sponsors Mobil requested a higher level of rate payer subsidy from the City Council.
Failed revival plans In 2004, there were plans to revive the race as a V8 Supercars event, to feed on its high popularity in New Zealand, with many popular New Zealand drivers competing in that series in
Australia. As the roads where the circuit used to be have now been demolished to make way for a museum and other buildings, it would have had to be run on a new course. There was a new proposal in 2006 with a new layout. Both of the 2006 proposals were revoked through the
Resource Management Act 1991. The proposed race was eventually dropped in favour of the
Hamilton 400 at the
street circuit of
Hamilton, which hosted V8 Supercars from 2008 to 2012 before the series returned again to Pukekohe. ==Layout==