Former Fairfax motoring editor Dave Moore, one of New Zealand's longest-serving and most respected motoring journalists, died suddenly on Wednesday in Wanaka.

Moore, 67, died in the town while attending an industry event along with a number of other journalists.

His successor at Fairfax, David Linklater, was among those at the event and said Moore collapsed after breakfast in a cafe and could not be revived.

FAIRFAX NZ Dave Moore on the job.

Moore joined the company in 1986 and started writing about motoring while working in the commercial department at Christchurch's Press newspaper in the 1980s. He became the full-time motoring editor in 1992, eventually shifting into a national role after The Press became part of Fairfax Media.

Moore won more than a dozen Qantas and Canon Media Awards awards during his career in journalism.

He was a design artist and copywriter in the art department of the Christchurch Star newspaper from 1979 to 1986.

FACEBOOK Dave Moore is survived by his wife, Patricia, and two adult children.

His first writing job was for Motorcycle Sport magazine while he still at school, reporting on local scrambles and track races. His first road test was a Kawasaki 900 motorbike in 1971.

Fairfax Media acting managing director Andrew Boyle worked with Moore from 1998 in the marketing and creative department of The Press newspaper.

"He was a very talented and creative designer and copywriter. He was a household name as a motoring writer, but he had lots of talents," he said.

"He was a lot of fun and never shy to tell you what he thought. I enjoyed his company."

Moore regularly appeared on broadcaster Mark Sainsbury's Radio Live show to talk about motoring. Sainsbury said he was much loved.



"It was the most popular segment of the whole week. People were ringing in today saying they hated cars, but they loved Dave because he made it so interesting and he was never condescending."

"He had such a lovely sense of humour and was very funny and generous."

"Everyone was in tears in the office today when we got the news. I am absolutely gutted."

NZ Motoring Writers' Guild president Robert Barry said Moore was a member of several Car of the Year judging panels and one of two Kiwi judges on the Global Car of the Century panel.

"Dave was a constant figure in my motoring career for the last fourteen years, he was a passionate advocate for small cars, and a great dinner raconteur, his quick wit and good humour was well known and appreciated by both journalists and vehicle distributors," Barry said.

Moore left Fairfax in 2015, but continued as a motoring commentator and writer.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and two adult children.