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Neville Crichton

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Neville Crichton
CNZM
Born
Neville Alexander Crichton

(1945-06-04) 4 June 1945 (age 79)
Otago, New Zealand
NationalityAustralian
OccupationEntrepreneur
Spouse
Nadi Hasandedic
​
(m. 2017)​
Australian Touring Car Championship
Years active1985–1990
TeamsJPS Team BMW (1985)
Volvo Dealer Team (1986)
Dick Johnson Racing (1987–88)
Tony Longhurst Racing (1989–90)
Best finish4th in 1985

Neville Alexander Crichton CNZM (born 4 June 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian businessman who was also a competitor in Australasian motor and yacht racing.

Early life and background

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Born on a dairy farm in Otago, New Zealand, Crichton developed a skill for selling bicycles and left Rotorua Boys' High School,[1] aged 14 years, to start selling tractors and hay balers, door-to-door.[2][3]

Career

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Automotive industry

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Crichton entered the automotive industry in his local Ford dealership, where he was promoted to sales manager. A short time later, he became general manager of a General Motors dealership. In 1972, he acquired an ailing used car operation;[4][5] and in 1977 he acquired the Mazda distributorship for the state of Hawaii.[4][3] Crichton sold his Hawaiian interests in 1982 and moved back to New Zealand where he acquired a group of Ford dealerships that were in difficulty. Under his stewardship, he turned them into the country's largest Ford dealership.[4]

In the early-1980s Crichton immigrated to Australia and acquired[4] the Ateco Group that has historically imported Alfa Romeo, Audi, Chery, Citroën, Fiat, Ferrari, Foton, Great Wall, Kia, Lotus, Maserati, SsangYong, Suzuki, and Volkswagen motor vehicles into Australia and New Zealand.[6][5][7][8] As of 2023, in Australia, Ateco imports Alpine, LDV, Maserati and Renault motor vehicles as well as remanufacturing RAM Trucks into right hand drive for sale in Australia and New Zealand; and in New Zealand, Ateco distributes BYD battery electric and the Stellantis range of motor vehicles[9] (that includes Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Mopar, Opel, Peugeot, RAM Trucks, and Vauxhall).

Competitive touring car racing

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In the 1980s, Crichton was a regular competitor in Australian touring car racing. As well as racing full-time in the Australian Touring Car Championship driving a JPS Team BMW 635CSi in 1985 and a Tony Longhurst Racing Ford Sierra RS500 in 1989, Crichton competed at the Bathurst 1000 in 1986 for the Volvo Dealer Team, 1987 and 1988 for Dick Johnson Racing and at the 1987 Spa 24 Hour for the Holden Dealer Team.[10][11][12][13][14]

Australian Touring Car Championship

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
1985 JPS Team BMW BMW 635 CSi WIN
2 		SAN
5 		SYM
3 		WAN
4 		AIR
4 		CAL
3 		SUR
5 		LAK
6 		AMA
9 		ORA
Ret 		4th 149
1987 John Andrew Motorsport Ford Sierra XR4Ti CAL
10 		SYM LAK WAN AIR SUR
Ret 		SAN AMA ORA 31st 1
1989 Benson & Hedges Racing Ford Sierra RS500 AMA
12 		SYM
9 		LAK
8 		WAN
8 		MAL
7 		SAN
9 		WIN
DNS 		ORA
Ret 		12th 12.5
1990 Benson & Hedges Racing Ford Sierra RS500 AMA SYM PHI WIN LAK MAL WAN
9 		ORA 18th 2

World Touring Car Championship

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1987 Australia HDT Racing P/L Holden VL Commodore SS Group A MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPA
Ret 		BNO SIL NC 0
Australia Shell Ultra-Hi Tech Racing Team Ford Sierra RS500 BAT
Ret 		CLD
ovr:13
cls:9 		WEL
Ret 		FJI

† Not registered for series & points

Bathurst 1000

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1985 Australia JPS Team BMW Australia George Fury BMW 635 CSi C 68 DNF DNF
1986 Australia Volvo Dealer Team New Zealand Graham McRae
Australia John Bowe 		Volvo 240T B 156 11th 4th
1987 Australia Shell Ultra-Hi Tech Racing Team Australia Charlie O'Brien Ford Sierra RS500 1 2 DNF DNF
1988 Australia Shell Ultra-Hi Tech Racing Australia John Bowe
United Kingdom Robb Gravett 		Ford Sierra RS500 A 26 DNF DNF
1989 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Tony Longhurst Ford Sierra RS500 A 27 DNF DNF

Sandown endurance

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1985 Australia JPS Team BMW Australia George Fury BMW 635 CSi A 129 2nd 2nd
1987 Australia Shell Ultra-Hi Tech Racing Team Australia Dick Johnson
Australia Gregg Hansford
Australia Charlie O'Brien 		Ford Sierra RS500 B 86 DNF DNF
1989 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Tony Longhurst Ford Sierra RS500 A 87 DNF DNF

Spa 24 Hours

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1986 United Kingdom TWR – South Pacific Racing Australia Ron Dickson
New Zealand Dave McMillan 		Rover Vitesse Div.3 31 DNF DNF
1987 Australia HDT Racing P/L Australia Peter Brock
Australia David Parsons 		Holden VL Commodore SS Group A Div.3 206 DNF DNF

Bathurst 12 Hour

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1992 Australia BMW Australia Pty Ltd Australia Alan Jones
Australia Tony Longhurst 		BMW M5 C 251 2nd 1st
1994 New Zealand Neville Crichton Australia Alan Jones
Australia John Bowe 		BMW M3 X 120 DNF DNF

Ocean-race sailing

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Crichton also had a distinguished sailing career, having owned ocean-racing maxi yachts Alfa Romeo I, Alfa Romeo II and Alfa Romeo III. Crichton skipped the line honours winning yachts in the 2002 and 2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races.[15][16]

He was also the founder of Alloy Yachts, which he incorporated with the same team that, in 1985, built Chanel, his 28-metre (92 ft) sailing yacht. Over 29 years, Alloy Yachts launched sailing yachts in excess of 67 metres (220 ft) and motor yachts up to 47 metres (154 ft) in length. The company ceased trading in 2016.[17]

Personal life

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In 1978, aged 29 years, Crichton was diagnosed with throat cancer. He underwent 30 operations and eventually had his voice-box and oesophagus removed. Doctors told him it was unlikely he would ever speak again, however he was one of the first people in the world to receive an artificial voice box during experimental surgery in Indianapolis.[5] This would lead to his nickname of "Croaky".[7]

Aged 71 years, in 2017 Crichton married his fourth wife,[18] Nadi Hasandedic, aged 38 years.[19][20] They live in Point Piper.[7][21][22]

Net worth

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Crichton appeared in the National Business Review's 2016 list of wealthiest New Zealanders, with an assessed net worth of NZ$130 million.[23] It was also reported that Crichton's net worth increased from NZ$165 million to NZ$175 million.[1] As of May 2023, The Australian Financial Review assessed Crichton's net worth at A$1.06 billion, in the 2023 Rich List.[8]

Year Financial Review
Rich List 		Forbes
Australia's 50 Richest
Rank Net worth ($A) Rank Net worth (US$)
2022 163 Decrease $798 million Increase
2023[8] 137 Increase $1.06 billion Increase
Legend
Icon Description
Steady Has not changed from the previous year
Increase Has increased from the previous year
Decrease Has decreased from the previous year

Awards and honours

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In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, Crichton was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to yachting and business.[5] In 2015, he was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Rotorua's richest revealed". Rotorua Daily Post. n.d. Retrieved 12 August 2023 – via New Zealand Herald.
  2. ^ Stahl, Michael (30 December 2018). "Robb Reader: Neville Crichton". Robb Report. Australia and New Zealand. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b Corby, Stephen (24 July 2016). "Neville Crichton interview". Which Car. Wheels. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "Popular drivers from NZ: Neville Crichton". Historic Racing. 4 June 2006. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "Queen's Birthday Honours 2012: Neville Crichton". New Zealand Herald. 4 June 2012.
  6. ^ "About us". Ateco Group. n.d. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Davis, Tony (3 January 2020). "The man who beat cancer (and market crashes)". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (26 May 2023). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Brand partners". Ateco Group. n.d. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  10. ^ Normoyle, Steve (1986). The Great Race 5. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. ISSN 1031-6124.
  11. ^ Normoyle, Steve (1990). The Great Race 9. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. ISSN 1031-6124.
  12. ^ Normoyle, Steve (1987). The Great Race 6. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. ISSN 1031-6124.
  13. ^ Normoyle, Steve (1988). The Great Race 7. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. ISSN 1031-6124.
  14. ^ Normoyle, Steve (1989). The Great Race 8. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. ISSN 1031-6124.
  15. ^ "No race record but Crichton still delighted". Sydney to Hobart. 28 December 2002.
  16. ^ "Jubilant Crichton glad its all over". Sydney to Hobart. 29 December 2009.
  17. ^ "Alloy Yachts". Boat International. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Skipper trims waist as well as sails". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  19. ^ Hornery, Andrew (13 May 2017). "$6 billion guest stable as millionaire car importer Neville Crichton ties knot". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  20. ^ Gibson, Anne (16 May 2017). "Glimpse inside Kiwi rich lister Neville Crichton's lavish Sydney wedding to Nadi Hasandedic". NZ Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  21. ^ Macken, Lucy (14 December 2017). "Neville Crichton buys $45m Point Piper mansion next door to Malcolm Turnbull". domain.com.au. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  22. ^ Macken, Lucy (3 April 2022). "Medical entrepreneur makes $60m return to Sydney's trophy home market". Domain; The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  23. ^ Gibson, Anne (6 May 2017). "Rich list Kiwi car mogul, 71, to wed fiancee, 38, in Sydney". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  24. ^ "Past laureates". Business Hall of Fame. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
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Ateco official website

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