The Nissan Mobil 500 may be a distant memory, but it still has made its mark on the city – check out the way that Jervois Quay feels more like a chute designed for cars to hurtle along at high speed than a pleasant harbourside city street.

But those wishing the relive the glory days can do so over at YouTube, where petrolheads have uploaded a selection of choice clips. My favourite is "One lap Dick Johnson" from 1990. While this would be a perfectly good name for a porno, it’s actually a dashboard cam of driver Dick doing a lap of the circuit.

It ends up being a really good snapshot of Wellington’s waterfront environment before the big regeneration of the ’90s – no Te Papa, the Museum Hotel is still down by the water, Waitangi Park is full of warehouses, no Meridian building, no Kumutoto stream revival, no City to Sea bridge, and no lovely pleasant harbourside walk.

Vrrm vrrrrrm:

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWx4sljvFVI]