Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i NZ Hot Rod

BOB Anderson, from the age of 18, became interested in hot rodding soon after leaving New Plymouth Boys High School. His love of cars saw his entire working career involved in the motor trade, and he had his own car sales business for a majority of it, and while he may say he is retired, he still works one day a week at his good mate's car yard in New Plymouth. Bob built his first hot rod, a 1934 Ford Pickup known as Mr N Between, and in 1970 it debuted at Autorama in Christchurch. What was seen and not seen before was Bob had the exhaust pipes go up behind the pickup cab in a Church organ style. The ‘34 had only been on the road for a week,…

THEY say, “Once a Westie, always a Westie”, and Paul Hollard is proof of that. Growing up in New Lynn, West Auckland, his first car was a 1950 Ford Prefect that regularly broke axles. Nothing to do with his driving, of course…..! Paul's second car was a triple-carburetted Mk 1 Zephyr which went through six engines in six weeks. That was followed by a ‘48 Ford Bonus pickup, and then he changed to a string of Holdens as “I couldn't kill them!” Early in their marriage, he taught his wife Lorraine how to do wheelspin, and of course, he collected multiple tickets from the local constabulary. Of course, Paul doesn't live in a black T-shirt these days, but he is still well and truly a petrol-head, and when he decided…

THE 1936 Chrysler sedan gracing these pages is steeped in New Zealand Hot Rodding history. Take a ride back to the November 1970 issue of NZHRM, and you will find this car adorning those pages, completed by the original builder: Riverside Rodders member Harry Donker, wearing the darkest hue and the name ‘Black Tulip‘. Harry was active with the car on both rod run and show circuits, and many awards came the way of the rare Mopar 4-door sedan. Fast forward a few decades; the car had been completely disassembled to rebuild (a hot rod is never finished, right?), and around 20 years ago, Harry had sold the Chrysler to Mark Royal, who owned the car for about six months, and had come to the conclusion the total rebuild needed…

MIKE Williams never had a chance, really, growing up around hot rods and American cars, thanks to his dad Roy Williams, an East Coast Rodders original and current NSRA(NZ) rep for the Christchurch region. When Mike was a wee fella, dad had a pink ‘26 Model T Tourer with Chevy power, Jag rear and tube front axle. In fact, over the last fifty years, Roy has had many cool cars, a small selection of which is shown in this article. Young Mike, meanwhile, veered towards later model Aussie muscle, mainly Falcons. One of the cars Roy rebuilt was a ‘57 Ford Fairlane 500, which he bought in 2004, an original 3-owner, 113,000 mile, California car which had been garaged for twenty years with hardly any rust and still wearing its…

TO HONOUR a founding member, and beloved cousin, The Black Swamp Crew dedicated its annual hot rod event as The Mark Church Memorial Rod Run, with all proceeds going to Motor Neurone Disease Association NZ. By 9 am on Saturday, 7th January, the rumbling sounds of idling rods arriving at the Mangawhai Domain drew the attention of many keen to view the variety of cars on display. The forecast wet weather probably contributed to fewer registrations for the Run to Waipu, but thankfully it was all clear for the 11 am start. Mark Church would never have taken his 1957 Chev Bel Air out in the rain! Yet here it was, his pride and joy, the designated lead car with brother Andy at the wheel and his portrait in the…

LLOYD has been a keen hot rodder for the best part of his 61 years, and soon as he turned 15 years of age, he joined a local New Plymouth hot rod club, Scenic City Rod & Custom Club. Over the past 46 years, he has owned a few nice cars. Along life's highway, he did his apprenticeship in car painting and, for a period, owned his own Paint Shop business for several years. The opportunity to be employed by Resene Automotive & Light Industrial came up. It fits his and Meredith's lifestyles. During these teen and middle age years, along with his lovely wife Meredith, they became proud parents to three children and now grandparents to three ankle tappers. Meredith is a member of the Kiwitown Cruiser's Club based…

THIS year's Kumeu Hot Rod and Classic Car Festival had a great vibe; everyone appeared to be soaking up the sun and good times. A vast number and diverse variety of cars were parked and displayed for one and all to see. There's no doubt our Kiwi hot rod hobby is in a solid growth phase. Results…

THE 28th annual Kiwi Good Guys event took place on show weekend at Woodend Beach Campground. Many participants turned up on Wednesday night to drop off their caravans, campers and tents, with a few people staying that night, making an extra-long weekend out of it. Many more arrived throughout Thursday, and the beers were flowing by early evening. On Friday morning, everyone enjoyed breakfast before registration, where everyone got a goodie bag with a few wee treats. Mid-morning was the show ‘n shine with a great variety of vehicles on display. We had Rod Benders arrive in convoy as part of their anniversary run, followed by Vanz Unlimited, also celebrating their anniversary and joining in the fun. With close to 80 vehicles, it was a tight squeeze, but everyone managed…

IT was saddening to hear of the passing of rock guitarist Jeff Beck in January. As well as being one of the world's top guitar players, Beck was also an avid hot rodder, with arguably the most desirable collection of hot rods in the UK, many of which he built himself. Before making a name for himself with The Yardbirds, Beck worked in a panel and paint shop, learning many skills. The Yardbirds first tour of the USA fuelled Beck's passion for cars, and he bought his first Corvette. In 1969 he bought his first hot rod, a black ‘32 Ford Coupe, as well as a red T bucket, both Chevy powered. Beck was involved in a head-on smash in the T bucket, which has been sensationalised in various musicrelated…

GREENSTONE Rod and Custom club was formed in April 1973 by a bunch of keen young car enthusiasts, probably more like V8 boys, who lived on the West Coast of the south island. Most lived in Greymouth and surrounding areas. The club became incorporated on 22nd August 1973 and was accepted as a charter club to NZHRA on 25th November that same year. Larry Wehner was instrumental by doing much of the legwork with many handwritten letters; even the old typewriter was in action! The majority of the original members, although not necessarily directly involved in the club, are still around, with many present at this year's celebration prizegiving. The club held its first Rod Run in January 1975. It lasted six days and cost $10 single and $18 double,…

THE 1923 Ford Model T is 100 years old. The Roadster body, which hot rodders worldwide know as the T-bucket, was the same from 1921 to 1925. Of course, the Model T was produced for 19 years, from 1908 to 1927, during which time approximately 15,000,000 Model T cars were produced. Henry Ford revolutionised the automobile industry, mass producing a car many Americans could afford, with parts and used cars readily available. The Model T soon became a favourite with the hop-up enthusiast. You'd think the amount of available speed equipment for Model Ts would have been limited. But, in fact, it was the opposite. In the teens and twenties, hop-up gear for the Model T included ignition and magneto systems, camshafts, heavy-duty cranks, light rods, dozens of brands of…

I GUESS a good place to start would be to answer the question – where does the name LB Guzzler come from? It was a name given to me by some members of an unofficial car club called the Guzzlers. The Guzzlers are a group of guys who grew up in the Hutt Valley but now live in Perth, Brisbane and Wellington. In the pre-COVID days, we would catch up every couple of years for an AGM (Annual Guzzlers Meeting) where we would do car stuff, drink beer and, most importantly, have a lot of laughs. The LB stands for Low Brow, an art term describing my art style. Altogether, a lot more interesting than Dean Thompson. Growing up in Wellington, my main artistic influence was David Mann from Easyriders…

Ruapuna, 29th January WHILE the top of the north was getting swamped, Ruapuna was sweltering for the 82 competitors who battled it out at the 6th round of the National Drag Racing Series. All was going well until a large oil down halted proceedings for an hour, which is why a few final rounds were missed, including Super Sedan, Supercharged Outlaws, Comp Bike, Modified Bike, Super Street and Junior Dragster, to be run round 7, Motueka, the following weekend. Decided class winners at round 6 were: Modified: J Gregson, 9.912/122.83 Top Street: Scott Tolhurst, 9.694/110.76 Comp: Stu Henley-Minchington, 46.677/20.22 Screaming Eagle: J Welsh, 11.864/113.26 Thanks to Pegasus Bay Club's track announcer Todd Stevenson for supplying the computer printouts for qualifying and eliminations.…

YOU'VE heard of barn finds, but how about a tarp find? Bert Angulo grew up next door to the Kiwis living in Bakersfield and drove an Edsel to High School with the personalised plate NOTUGLY. Squeak Bell found this Cadillac in San Jose when he went to pick up his 1940 Mercury Convertible Sedan. Unfortunately, it was completely wrapped up in tarps, so it was not possible to identify the model. However, squeak mentioned it to Bert at the next pub night. And from here, Bert takes up the story. “I rang the owner, who informed me it was a ‘53 Coupe. I quickly made my way to his place, found the car and made the deal. Trailered it home. Quite simple to get it going, a basic tune-up, but…

The Body In The Trunk SOME of Roy Williams’ cars over the years were mentioned within the recent article on his son Mike's ‘57 Ford Fairlane, proof that Roy is quite fastidious at whatever he turns his hand to, be it hot rods and American cars, to martial arts. Even at 70 years of age, you wouldn't wanna mess with Roy. He was a bouncer at the Aranui Hotel over thirty years ago, and his slight frame was not to be underestimated. Among his many cars was his ‘26 Model T Tourer, which he first built in hot pink back in the nineties, with a smallblock Chevy, Jag rear and tube front axle. It was built in a tiny garage, not much bigger than a cupboard. Just before its first…