Neville Crichton

Neville Alexander Crichton (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 Born on a dairy farm in Otago, New Zealand, Crichton developed a skill for selling bicycles and left Rotorua Boys' High School, and in 1977 he acquired the Mazda distributorship for the state of Hawaii. 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. (that includes Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Mopar, Opel, Peugeot, RAM Trucks, and Vauxhall).

Competitive touring car racing 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.

Australian Touring Car Championship (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 WIN2 SAN5 SYM3 WAN4 AIR4 CAL3 SUR5 LAK6 AMA9 ORARet 4th 149 1987 John Andrew Motorsport Ford Sierra XR4Ti CAL10 SYM LAK WAN AIR SURRet SAN AMA ORA 31st 1 1989 Benson & Hedges Racing Ford Sierra RS500 AMA12 SYM9 LAK8 WAN8 MAL7 SAN9 WINDNS ORARet 12th 12.5 1990 Benson & Hedges Racing Ford Sierra RS500 AMA SYM PHI WIN LAK MAL WAN9 ORA 18th 2

World Touring Car Championship (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 Holden Dealer Team Holden VL Commodore SS Group A MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPARet BNO SIL NC 0 Dick Johnson Racing Ford Sierra RS500 BATRet CLDovr:13cls:9 WELRet FJI Not registered for series & points

Bathurst 1000 Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1985 JPS Team BMW George Fury BMW 635 CSi C 68 DNF DNF 1986 Volvo Dealer Team Graham McRae John Bowe Volvo 240T B 156 11th 4th 1987 Shell Ultra-Hi Tech Racing Team Charlie O'Brien Ford Sierra RS500 1 2 DNF DNF 1988 Shell Ultra-Hi Tech Racing John Bowe Robb Gravett Ford Sierra RS500 A 26 DNF DNF 1989 Benson & Hedges Racing Tony Longhurst Ford Sierra RS500 A 27 DNF DNF

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

Spa 24 Hours Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1986 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Ron Dickson Dave McMillan Rover Vitesse Div.3 31 DNF DNF 1987 Holden Dealer Team Peter Brock David Parsons Holden VL Commodore SS Group A Div.3 206 DNF DNF

Bathurst 12 Hour Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1992 BMW Australia Alan Jones Tony Longhurst BMW M5 C 251 2nd 1st 1994 Neville Crichton Alan Jones John Bowe BMW M3 X 120 DNF DNF

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

Crichton was also the founder of Alloy Yachts, which he incorporated with the same team that, in 1985, built Chanel, his sailing yacht. Over 29 years, Alloy Yachts launched sailing yachts in excess of and motor yachts up to in length. The company ceased trading in 2016.

Personal life 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.

Aged 71 years, in 2017 Crichton married his fourth wife, Nadi Hasandedic, aged 38 years. They live in Point Piper.

Net worth Crichton appeared in the National Business Reviews 2016 list of wealthiest New Zealanders, with an assessed net worth of 130 million. In 2012, it was reported that Crichton's net worth was 175 million. , the Australian Financial Review assessed Crichton's net worth at 1.14 billion, in the 2025 Rich List.

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Awards and honours 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.