Hulme SuperCar - the name behind the badge

Clive Hulme’s tolerance to imminent death for long periods and his complete calmness in the face of overwhelming adversity quite legitimately made him appear superhuman to his comrades and his legend grew. War records count the number of snipers he killed at 33 before he was seriously wounded.

The Dictionary of NEW ZEALAND biography records, that Clive Hulme was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross – the ultimate medal of gallantry, for his “outstanding and inspiring qualities of leadership, initiative, skill, endurance and most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.”

He returned home as a national hero, was often outspoken on political matters and had a successful business career.

There are a few obvious Hulme family character traits. The willingness and confidence to continually take highly calculated risk without raising the heart rate was one and another was “devotion to duty” – the willingness to put the interests of the greater good, or in Denny’s case, the team above themselves.

Denny famously drove a championship endurance race with his finger-tips burned to the bone because the team needed him. It was during the immediate aftermath of the death of his friend and fellow New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Without the driving services of owner Bruce McLaren, the cash-strapped McLaren team needed him driving at such a critical time in the company history, and Denny delivered in true Hulme fashion.

There is also an intertwining of the McLaren and Hulme legacy that will become part of the Hulme IP – McLaren and Hulme were competitors, co-drivers and dear friends. Hulme had travelled to Europe by virtue of winning a Driver-to-Europe series in his home country of New Zealand – the same series which launched McLaren to racing stardom two years earlier. McLaren’s legacy turned out to be his contribution as one of the great automotive engineers.

The final acknowledgment in the appropriateness of the name becoming an automotive marque should go to Denny's widow, Greeta Hulme. She penned the following letter which can be read on the site.: I was approached by Jock Freemantle on behalf of Hulme Supercars Limited in early January 2004 with his proposal to name their New Zealand Supercar “HULME” in honour of Denny.