Next Level: Speed-obsessed innovator trying to build world's fastest single seater car in North Canterbury

June 4, 2021

David Dicker hopes his hefty investment in Rodin cars will become a worldwide hit.

Hidden away in the middle of nowhere, an empire is being built.

Rodin Cars is located in Waiau, North Canterbury, and boasts 550 hectares of innovation which is all being fuelled by a passion project to build the fastest single seater in the world.

The man at the centre of it all, founder David Dicker, said the drive behind the idea is fairly simple.

“I always wanted to build my own car,” Dicker told 1 NEWS.

“Even when I was a kid and the problem, of course, is it's very expensive and you gotta make the money first.”

Lucky for Dicker, the money did come - in the billions.

Dicker built his IT distribution empire and now the 67-year-old is pumping his profits into a motorsport obsession he calls a one-stop shop built for speed.

“Right from the castings up we're going to make entire engines,” he said.

It's a true Kiwi enterprise; Dicker's lead engineers all come out of Canterbury University and how's this for innovation - everyone from the gardeners, to the tour guide, and the brains that build the cars are on the same salary.

Dicker said it’s all in pursuit of creating something incredible.

Come December, Rodin Cars hope to launch the F-Zero – a car that will be going faster than any F1 car, which Dicker reckons will go close to 400 kilometres an hour.

“We reckon the car needs to be able to do a 39 second lap here to be quick or as quick as the F1 cars would be,” Dicker said.

“And then we'll take the car to Sipang in Malaysia where the F1 guys race and then we'll verify it.”

The seed for speed was planted in 2004 when Dicker bought Wattle Downs - an historic sheep station near Mt Lyford which, over the years, he’s transformed properties one piece at a time, through earthquakes and other setbacks, to now boasts high-tech manufacturing facilities and three custom built tracks.

And, of course, you can’t forget his collection of fast toys - from Ferraris to Lamborghinis, McLarens and more.

But it’s the new toys his team are making that intrigue him more. He told 1 NEWS he’s the first to test any of the creations, completing thousands of laps just to nail that top end speed.

Once that's done, he calls in the likes of Greg Murphy and Liam Lawson to push them to the next level.

“It's a challenge to drive these sort of cars 'cause they’re difficult,” he said.

“Especially if you want to push it up to the level they could go cos they're fast. I want to prove you can build cars better than the Italians or Poms can do and I want to prove you can do it here.”

They have the tracks, the tech and the team.

Now all that’s left to do is take it to the next level.

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