Site designer Dave Blyth, 56, has petrol and pixels in his blood.
A renowned automotive artist and total hotrod nut, Dave is also principal of Webdesign, an award-winning web company specialising in commercial websites for many of New Zealand’s top vehicle distributors and also numerous new and used car dealers.
Dave started out as a custom car painter at age 19, putting flames and graphics on many of Canterbury’s top rods drag cars and race boats of the day.
In 1987 he and his wife, Ingrid, headed off their big OE, an adventure that took them first to California - where they hung out with hot rod scene heroes – earning bucks by hand painting concept renderings of their cars in different paint schemes, this being in the days before computers. His clients then included movement superstar Boyd Coddington.
After this, a fresh chapter: Driving around Europe in a junky old American van while Dave found good money making a living from providing portraits of rich listers’ favourite personal drives: He drew a LOT of Ferraris. He then progressed to large scale artwork, painting huge race car murals on the flanks of race truck and trailer units, this being in the days before the advent of computerised vinyl sign writing.
In 1995 Dave came home and started up Webdesign; a prescient move: It’s now a major provider of websites to the national auto sales scene.
Life’s been good to Dave; he’s moved away from the Auckland rat race to the enjoy country quiet, overlooking Lake Taupo. His business operates from Taupo and, when not sitting behind a computer screen, he can be found tinkering with an ever-growing collection of classics and Hot Rods, which includes a 1978 Holden Sandman panel van (youth dream machine) that will find small screen fame as the Ted West’s work vehicle in the Outrageous Fortune prequel Westside 2.
Contact Dave