Who we are

Dean Evans, Editor

Growing up at Amaroo, Oran Park and Mt Panorama racetracks while both his parents raced motorcycles, Dean started his motoring journalist career in 1992, on magazines including Fast Fours, Wheels and MOTOR, even starting his own award-winning performance motoring magazine, Tarmac, in 2008.

In parallel, his enthusiasm for car racing and competitive streak earned him three Australian national titles in circuit racing and tarmac rally, including a Lotus last-to-first-in-one-lap race around Bathurst that’s been viewed more than 10 million times.

A trained mechanic and electrical engineer, he also helped chassis development for car brands, has raced in Japan three times, set a 9m:51s lap around the Nurburgring in a Golf GTI, has visited Pikes Peak, Indy 500, Daytona, the fatal crash site of his (middle) inverse-namesake James Dean, viewed a Space Shuttle launch, moved to NZ in 2015 with his Kiwi wife and growing family, and joined the DRIVEN team as Editor in 2019.

Owns: Nissan Pulsar GTI-R

Wants to own: Porsche 959 SC.

David Linklater, Deputy Editor

David holds a Master of Literature (MLitt) degree but decided early on that he’d prefer to use words to describe cars.

With a background in magazine feature writing and production, starting in 1994 his work has appeared all around the world, including a four-year stint at Autocar UK, the world’s oldest motoring publication.

He moved rapidly into digital for the 21st century, while maintaining strong ties with print. As a freelance contributor he was part of the team that launched DRIVEN back in 2011, reporting from Italy on the launch of the Ferrari FF.

After moving to other titles, David returned to DRIVEN in early 2020 as deputy editor, helping steer DRIVEN.co.nz, DRIVEN’s weekly print publications and numerous video projects.

Owns: Suzuki Ignis manual with far too many accessories.

Wants to own: Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

Andrew Sluys, Digital Writer

Coming from a rural Waikato background, Andrew is the self-proclaimed “bogan” of the DRIVEN team, and has a taste in cars that reflects this.

His media journey began at the New Zealand Broadcasting School, where he received a Bachelor of Radio Broadcasting, but quickly realized that writing about cars was something that came a lot more naturally than talking about pop culture. He spent three years working across NZME radio brands such as ZM, Radio Hauraki, and Flava. While working in the digital sector of radio, he gained a wealth of knowledge towards sourcing stories online and creating diverse content which resonates with the New Zealand public, whether it be written or video-based.

Andrew has been with DRIVEN for just over a year and is quickly sinking his teeth into road testing cars, a job that has been a lifelong dream of his.

Andrew is focused on making the online buying process easier for kiwis. He’s a regular writer of ‘how to’ articles and hand-picks a weekly selection of DRIVEN’s ‘best-buy’ listings to assist New Zealand car buyers.

Owns: A clapped-out BMW E36, and a painfully-low 1970 Volkswagen Beetle.

Wants to own: Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.

Brand Ambassador & Contributor: Sam Wallace

Sam’s 20-year media career terrifyingly started by educating the nation’s children on the iconic kids show Sticky TV, before becoming a household name as Sam the weather man. In 2019, he outmaneuvered a cast of C-grade celebrities to win Celebrity Treasure Island. He now resides at the Coast FM breakfast show with Toni Street and Jason Reeves.

His passion for motorsport began on a Yamaha Blaster 200cc quadbike, before graduating onto dirt bikes, superbikes and he now races a Can Am X3 that runs on alcohol and 30psi of boost (as does the driver, at times...). Sam's passionate about anything that burns copious amounts of fuel, anchors the weekly Zooming with DRIVEN vid/podcast and is still to be convinced about the electric future.

Owns: Audi RS4 B7 V8 manual, but with twins on the way, making way for a more family friendly car

Wants to own: Range Rover Sport HSE or Mercedes AMG GLC63s