Neville Alexander Crichton is a New Zealand businessman who was also a competitor in Australasian motor and yacht racing.

Biography

Born in New Zealand in 1945, Crichton left school aged 14 and entered the automotive industry. In 1972, he opened a used car dealership.Queen's Birthday Honours 2012: Neville Crichton
''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' 4 June 2012 In 1978, at the age of 29, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Crichton underwent 30 operations and eventually had his voice-box and oesophagus removed. Doctors told him it was unlikely he would ever speak again, but he became one of the first people in the world to receive an artificial voice box during experimental surgery in Indianapolis. This would lead to his nickname of "Croaky". In the early-1980s Crichton immigrated to Australia founding the Ateco Group that imports

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

Chery Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., trading as Chery and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, ''Qirui'' (), is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui, China. Founded in 1997, it is curr ...

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

, Foton,

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...

Lotus,

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. ...

and

SsangYong The SsangYong Motor Company ( ko, 쌍용자동차 주식회사) is a South Korea–based automobile manufacturer. It traces its origins back to a manufacturer established in 1954. The name SsangYong appeared in 1988, after its acquisition by the ...

cars into Australia and New Zealand. 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 The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...

driving a

JPS Team BMW JPS Team BMW is a former Australian motor racing team that ran from 1981–1987. The team's main focus was touring car racing but also ran in sports sedans and GT cars as well. The team, under the management of former British Touring Car Cham ...

635CSi in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and a Tony Longhurst Racing

Ford Sierra RS500 The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, Crichton competed at the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

for the

Volvo Dealer Team The Volvo Dealer Team was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian touring car racing in 1986 winning the Australian Touring Car Championship. The team was managed by John Sheppard and had its base at the Calder Park Raceway ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

for

Dick Johnson Racing Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske), is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team currently fields the #11 and #17 Ford Mustang GTs for Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison respectivel ...

and at the

1987 Spa 24 Hour The 1987 Spa 24 Hour was the fifth round of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship. The race was held for cars eligible for Group A touring car regulations. It was held from 1 to 2 August 1987 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, in Francorc ...

for the

Holden Dealer Team The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and Sports Sedan races during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer T ...

. Crichton also had a distinguished yachting career, having owned ocean-racing yachts ''

Alfa Romeo I ''Alfa Romeo I'' (formerly ''Shockwave'', ''Rambler'', currently ''La Bête'') is a fixed keel maxi yacht, launched 2002, which placed first in the 2002 Sydney-Hobart race and the 2003 Giraglia Rolex cup regatta. She was designed by Reichel ...

'', ''

Alfa Romeo II ''Alfa Romeo II'' (rechristened ''Black Jack IV'') is a maxi yacht designed in 2005 by Reichel/Pugh for yachtsman Neville Crichton. First-to-finish in the 2009 Transpacific Yacht Race ("the Transpac"), she also set a new elapsed-time Transpac rac ...

'' and ''

Alfa Romeo III ''Alfa Romeo III'' (also known as ''Shockwave'') is a "mini-maxi" built to compete with other boats of the same size in shorter distance races under IRC rules. As ''Alfa Romeo I'' and ''Alfa Romeo II,'' she was also designed by Reichel/Pugh and ...

''. Crichton skipped the line honours winning yachts in the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The 2009 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, was the 65th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. It began at Sydney Harbour at 1:0 ...

s.Jubilant Crichton glad its all over
Sydney to Hobart 29 December 2009 He was also the founder of Alloy Yachts, which he incorporated with the same team that built his 28m sailing yacht ''Chanel'' in 1985. In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, Crichton was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to yachting and business.

Career results

Australian Touring Car Championship

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

World Touring Car Championship

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † Not registered for series & points

Bathurst 1000

Sandown endurance

Spa 24 Hours

Bathurst 12 Hour

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, Neville Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Living people New Zealand racing drivers New Zealand male sailors (sport) 1945 births Australian Endurance Championship drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers