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.

WingerOn 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 was. In 1987 another move took Winger Subaru to a small site on Rostrevor Street.

In January 1989 Wayne Leach and Gary Wiseman took the plunge and purchased Winger Motors from Grahame, the company then holding the Subaru, Skoda and Fiat franchises.

Despite the struggling to raise the deposit, they believed they had what it took to run a successful dealership. Wayne and Gary decided not to purchase the Skoda franchise and moved the business back to Anglesea Street next to the fire station and, from that point, there was no looking back.

Having elected not to continue with Fiat in 1991 and placing their faith in the Subaru product as their sole franchise, Wayne and Gary worked hard to build up the business. Then in 1994 they were offered the opportunity to take on the Suzuki franchise, which they did.

April 1996 brought further changes - Wayne bought Gary out, allowing Gary to spend more time with his family. Having been with the Winger team since September 1989 selling new vehicles, Grant Vincent took up the opportunity to invest in the growing company.

Wayne and Grant had worked together for over 16 years at that point, and their strong business relationship is based on a mutually-agreed direction for the company and respect for each other's experience and knowledge of the motor vehicle industry. Winger Motors Today

Look at the way the Internet is influencing our lives now. Being able to browse through a selection of current used vehicles via this website or finding out about new model details - it couldn't be more different to the way Norman Winger first started off with this company. But the personal touch is always going to be vital and that's why we will never lose the emphasis we place on having a fantastic team of people at our dealerships who know what they're talking about. Our people are people you want to do business with, because they're interested in helping you find the best vehicle for your lifestyle.

What else will the future bring for Winger Motors? Who knows, but we'll have a great time getting there, because we're driving one of the fantastic new models available from Wingers!