Articles in ‘Motoring’

What a summer it was huh? Get jabbed for summer was the catch cry and by February we were flicked into a RED light setting as per the government Covid mandates. This setting based around the Omicron variant has played havoc with event promoters and clubs for all forms of sports and activities. The world of hot rodding has been no different with a summer full of constant…

It was great to say goodbye to 2021 and mark 2022’s beginnings with a couple of great events in Whangamata and Waihi respectively. Hosted by Noddy Watts of Beach Hop fame and his supportive partner Andrea Ross. car and bike enthusiasts were treated to the World’s First Car and Bike Show on New Years Day at the Whangamata Club. Over 100 vehicles travelled from all over to attend…

We have kissed goodbye to 2021 and are we ready to roll on to a better and brighter 2022, events are still being hampered by Covid 19. The latest one as this was written is the annual Repco Beach Hop at Whangamata. The Whangamata Beach Hop Rock’n’Roll Festival Committee early December to discuss how Repco Beach Hop 22, scheduled for 23rd - 27th March 2022, can operate under the…

As this is written, we are “enjoying” the continuing uncertainty of Covid but now with the all-new government imposed traffic light system. Anyway, it’s been sad but totally understandable to see various events coming up either postponed or canceled. I would dread being an event promoter right now playing the guessing game of what level we could be at as to whether or not an…

Preview of a delayed Hot Rods & Horsepower Show & Swapmeet Hosted by Pukekohe Hot Rod Club and Napa Auto Parts Dragway Like most things which haven’t been cancelled totally by Covid restrictions imposed by our government, the Hot Rods & Horsepower Show hosted by Pukekohe Hot Rod Club & Napa Auto Parts Dragway has been delayed. The new date will be the weekend of the 11th-12th…

Not many motoring enthusiasts will argue about the game-changing influence of the Porsche 904 when it was unveiled in January 1964 – over 50 years ago. It had several innovations that caused other great names in car making to actually copy; not an admission any of the other proud European makers brands can ever admit to lightly The Porsche 904’s fibreglass body, was one of the…

We all knew another Level 4 Covid 19 lockdown was coming across New Zealand and each lock down brings out new or past hobbies to help pass the time. No matter how much the news told us it was coming, I guess it was always a matter of time as the whole world seems to be going through similar madness from a Covid perspective as well as racial, political and climate change topics.…

Last month we previewed the Hot Rods & Horsepower Show hosted by Pukekohe Hot Rod Club & Napa Auto Parts Dragway. This month we preview one of the cars which will be displayed at this fantastic show in August. Allow us to introduce the B&M/Brizio Project Car 1932 Ford Tudor direct from the USA and now owned by Ian & Iqbal Taylor of the Pukekohe Hot Rod Club. This car was built…

It was back in 2017 when the Pukekohe Hot Rod Club and Napa Auto Parts Dragway hosted their popular Hot Rod & Horsepower Show and they’re doing it again in 2021. Get along to the Indian Hall, Ward Street, Pukekohe over the weekend of the 21-22 August for a public indoor display of mostly Pukekohe Hot Rod Club and Napa Auto Parts Dragway members vehicles with a few invited…

The strength or success of anything in life is measured in numbers and the annual Repco Beach Hop in Whangamata is no exception. After 21 years it has become Australasia's largest event of its type catering for automotive fun and rock and roll music. With last year's Covid delayed event being held in November, it gave the Beach Hop crew only a few months between this year's event…

For the third year now, Chris Hornblow and Shane Adlington have organised the annual Model A Day at Chris & Raewyn’s fantastic property in Oratia, West Auckland. This year on Saturday 27th February, there were 48 cars in attendance which included one Model T that snuck in and additionally there was also a Fordson tractor! The diverse mix of restored or barn found stockers through…

Wild Bunch drag racing is strong and its return is in its second year and is starting to dominate the drag racing calendar. Back in the late eighties/early nineties at Champion Dragway (now Meremere Dragway), a new class of quarter mile drag racing was sweeping the nation – WILD BUNCH! This class essentially took the street appearing two door saloon car and stuffed it full of…

The world may be crippled by Covid 19 but in New Zealand, the Jalopy Dust Up was a dusty but fun way to see in 2021. Hosted by Noddy Watts of Beach Hop fame (Australasia’s biggest hot rod, classic car and rock & roll festival) and his partner Andrea, the Dust Up was just what the doctor ordered. Let’s face it, 2020 in New Zealand consisted of two lock downs, numerous cancelled…

Covid 19 sure put the handbrake on 2020 and as a result is a year that many of us would rather forget. The worldwide pandemic created havoc through all aspects of everyday life including the fun we have with cars. Fortunately for us all here in New Zealand there has been a sense of normality or an appreciation for a "new normal". A Covid delayed Beach Hop in Whangamata was no…

The Covid19 pandemic was something I thought I would never see in my lifetime and I bet many people can say the same thing. When the country went into Level 4 lockdown it was only businesses of essential services which could keep pressing on. New Zealanders had to adapt to a whole new type of normal with new terminology where days were measured by case numbers and isolation and…

With the Corona Virus pandemic sweeping the world it was only a matter of time before New Zealand would be affected. Since the first confirmed case in New Zealand we have had constant media thrashing on the subject and as the world has started shutting down country by country the media hype has heightened. Is it hype or is it precaution? Is it a virus or is it politics? There are…

Once again I was called up to join the judging team for the prestigious America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award. This has been running since 1949 at the Grand National Roadster Show held on the last weekend of January at the Pomona Fairplex in California, USA. Last year was my first time on the judging team which comprises of industry movers and shakers such as noted hot rod…

Time sure flies when you are having fun! It seems like yesterday that we attended the annual Rebel Round Up at Pukekohe Park Raceway and it’s on again Saturday 15th February. The hot rod and custom car themed event tips its hat to the whole culture around it celebrating days gone by with live bands, retro fashion and of course the old style hot rods and customs themselves. The…

The Classic Motorcycle Festival is set to be bigger than ever this February. Last year, 3,500 racers and spectators descended on the famous racetrack in Pukekohe in the first week of February. Over 300 racing machines from the 1940’s through to the 1990’s came to compete from all over New Zealand and the world. The Festival, which is in its 42nd year, is famed as being the…

Cast your mind back to the late eighties/early nineties at Champion Dragway (now Meremere Dragway), a new class of quarter mile drag racing was sweeping the nation – WILD BUNCH! This class essentially took the street appearing two door saloon car and stuffed it full of supercharged methanol fuelled drag racing goodness. Crowd appeal was huge as these cars were something people…