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The Winger Motors Story

The Winger Motors name is well-known in Waikato, originating in 1932 when the company was first established as 'Norman Winger and Lionel Squire'. In 1935 the company name was changed to WINGER MOTOR SALES and traded in Alexandra Street Hamilton with the Dodge, Standard and Rover agencies. A move to Collingwood Street in 1937 followed.

Sadly Lionel Squire was killed in WWII, but after the war Norman Winger was able to purchase the land in Collingwood Street. His son, Athol, joined him in the company in 1947 and they concentrated on building up the business. In 1948 they received the Volkswagen franchise, and with Norman's second son, Neville, joining the business in 1950, they were able to add the Skoda and Trecka franchises.

Disaster struck in the late '60s with a major fire that left the Collingwood premises almost burnt to the ground, but the family worked hard to rebuild the dealership.

On 31 March 1971 Norman Winger retired from Winger Motors leaving his two sons to run the company.

1972 was a significant year for the company when they were awarded the Subaru franchise. This makes making Winger Motors one of the longest-standing Subaru franchise holders in New Zealand. Shortly after, Neville left his brother Althol, and opened New Zealand's largest Christian Rehabilitation Centre on Great Barrier Island called 'Orama Christian Fellowship'.

1979 saw a major change for Winger Motors, as the company was sold out of the Winger family to Mr Grahame MacDonald. Grahame owned a number of motor vehicle dealerships in Hamilton, including MacDonald Mazda. During these 'Macdonald Mazda days' strong friendships were built and long-term business partnerships established with Wayne Leach, Gary Wiseman and Grant Vincent all working in the same team.

Grahame changed the company's trading name to Winger Subaru and the dealership made its first move of many, to the north end of Anglesea Street. In 1983 it then moved next door to the old Hamilton Lighthouse building where Jim Wright Nissan is today. In 1987 another move took Winger Subaru to a small site on Rostrevor Street.