Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i NZ Hot Rod

IF you've read the Upcoming Events page or perhaps gargled the Internet, you may have noticed that Nelson City Rod & Custom Club is celebrating their 50th anniversary in October this year. I recall their tenth anniversary in 1983, a brilliant weekend that included a mammoth poker run, packed lunches every day, hot meals each evening, and a rip-roaring Saturday night social. Nelson's Club Sheriff Warren ‘Blue’ Green found plenty of excuses to ‘fine’ almost everybody, culminating in special guest Rob Campbell presenting awards at prize giving. Here are a few snaps from the event, recently discovered……

I FIRST met Trev Halstead in the late sixties when he lived in Dunedin. In those days, most rodders’ cars were normally Fords or Chevs, and the Mopars were almost classed as oddballs. Then along came Trev, and his interest lay deeply with Studebakers. In those days, I don't think many people took him too seriously, as he was undoubtedly in the minority, but over the years, things certainly changed. Having always had a bit of a zany sense of humour, at an early Tornados Rod Run, around 1979, I cut out a giant cardboard propeller and attached it to a certain flamed 1951 Studebaker Champion, as these were affectionately known as “bombers”. I just made it look more realistic! But, thinking back, I am unsure if he saw the…

WHEN Brett Stinson was a little kid, he was taken to hot rod shows, which was instilled in his brain for years. So when he left school, he took up a job at King Street Panel and Paint in Hamilton and learnt the skills of panel and paint. He ended up buying the business and ran it for several years before venturing out just on his own. Around ten years ago, Brett, who goes by Bretto, heard of a ‘41 Chev cab for sale. It was originally off a long wheelbase flat deck NZ Army truck located in Ohakune, so he decided to go and look to see if he could make something of it. Two of his brothers and his father were in the NZ Army, so he decided…

COMPETITION Meeting 4 was the penultimate round of the local series, which saw 94 entries racing the clock across seven classes. Fastest was Ross Brown from Whangarei. His 407ci Chev powered F/E DRAGSTER cut a 7.004@ 192.58 pass. RESULTS…

Better Late Than Never AROUND the turn of the century, New Brighton Rod & Custom Club was founded, and over the next ten years, hosted the Father's Day Zilch Run, usually attracting 30to-40 cars. Similar to a Poker Run, which uses playing cards, Zilch uses six dice, with various stops during a car trial to toss them. Scoring dice are ones worth 100 points, fives worth 50 points, and/or three of a kind. The game of Zilch was introduced to us by Todd Foley of Kustom Car Club. The Father's Day Zilch Run wasn't a money-maker, yet it had some great sponsored and donated prizes and always had cool trophies for the winners. Sunday, 5th September 2010, was earmarked on the coming events list for New Brighton Club's Zilch Run.…

LES LARKING is a real character and a real “coaster” through and through. He is adamant he's not one of the originals, having only been in the club (on and off) for 49-1/2 years! Greymouth Rodders celebrated its 50th anniversary at the start of the year. In the early days (the Greenstone era in the seventies), Les built up a Singer 9 powered by a 283 Chevrolet and auto and later managed to shoehorn in a 402 big block. Project two began by finding the remains of an Essex coupe body in the Reefton dump, and the rear body from an old Chrysler found its way onto the back of it. Les still had the big block lying around, and the next hot rod was born. It was later sold…

CYCLONES and unseasonal summer rain washed out access to Northland, resulting in two postponements for the annual Waipu Car and Bike Show. Undeterred, the organisers and sponsors pressed on, and on the day, 450 cars and 80 motorbikes rolled in through the gates to provide one of NZ's most diverse displays of automobiles. Approximately $20k was raised for charity and also for the spirits and mental health of the local community as they recovered from the weather bombs—a great summer's day cruise which is not to be missed for next year.…

WHEN Streetscene Rod & Custom Club began in 1982, they didn't just cater to one specific, but rather, anyone interested in rodding, drag racing, modified street cars or just rare oddball stuff. They've been through various phases, including some serious drag racing. Back in the late eighties and nineties, if it hadn't been for Streetscene Club, Ruapuna Drag meetings would've been much less patronised, particularly in the street classes. In 2005, Streetscenes’ clubhouse opened in Brooklands, just northeast of Christchurch, in a converted scout den, with the grand opening ribbon cut by celeb’ Maude Fairbairn. However, a few short years later, the Scouts’ Association wanted their land back, so Streetscene moved to their current location in Mairehau, opposite the high school. It's a great little hut that resembles a barracks…

THE 73rd annual Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS), presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts, is called the granddaddy of all show's for a good reason. Originating from the Oakland Roadster Show in Northern California and now in Pomona, Southern California, the GNRS is the longest-running indoor car show and by far the most popular. This year it was pushed out to the first week of February, and it filled the halls of the Pomona Fairplex to capacity. Indoor across the halls, there were over 700 cars on display, and 100 of them were pickups, trucks & vans in the “Keep on Truckin” theme hall. The Suede Palace had a waitlist to get in, I kid you not, and the outdoor display of cars was sold out at over 1200 visiting vehicles…

McGee Roadster BACK in the late 1940s, noted California hot-rod builder Bob McGee's Deuce Roadster created an aesthetic that quickly became nearly ubiquitous in the hot rod roadster community. That revered, incredible piece of history is currently caretakered by renowned car collector Bruce Meyer. He recently handed over the keys to his ‘32 Ford “McGee Roadster” to Terry L. Karges, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum. As a result, the famous hot rod will become part of the Petersen's permanent collection. It will ensure that generations to come can enjoy one of America's quintessential hot rods. “One of the most freeing things we learn in life is that we don't like everyone, everyone doesn't like us, and that's okay.” David Bohl Miles of Smiles IMAGINE our surprise when we spotted…

DUE to Covid disruptions last year, the previous Beach Hop was held barely four months ago in November. Then we had many storms, including the huge ones that inflicted devastation on Northland, Gisborne and the destruction in Hawkes Bay. Add onto this the turmoil that the Coromandel received, destroying much of its roading infrastructure. Then to top it all off was the unreliability of the interisland ferries causing many entrants to cancel at the last minute! I believe it was totally amazing we were able to have a Beach Hop. Undaunted, Noddy and his team pressed on. Initially, we all thought the numbers would be hugely down, and sure, it was down a bit, but there were still plenty of cars and people to have a great time. Most of…

A FINE sunny day greeted 135 entries from near and far who lined up for the final round of the 2022/2023 National Drag Racing Series. A highlight of the meeting was witnessing Robin (Silky) Silk's final ride on the quarter mile. Cory and Tamara Silk ran side by side, then popped the chutes simultaneously through the traps releasing his ashes. RESULTS…

THE 2023 March Meet will be remembered for a series of strong earthquakes that certainly rattled those who had never experienced an earthquake before. This event just seems to keep growing, and my estimates were no less than 500 people there by early Saturday evening. As always, you will see cars here that you won't see anywhere else, and the work-in-progress cars are always good to see. In fact, March Meet actually motivates a lot of people to get their car there. The concrete drive where Squeak actually encourages people to lay rubber on tends to sort the men from the boys. The surface has a lot of “bite” and requires a reasonable amount of horsepower to smoke the tyres. Great for lifting the front wheels. This year the Retro…

IT WAS early March when the sixth annual Model A day was held in Oratia in West Auckland. Hosted by Chris Hornblow and Shane Adlington, this great day is a casual afternoon to celebrate all things Model A the Hornblow way. Close to 50 Model A cars attended, including one Model T powered by Model A. The furthest travelled was Kev Topham from Masterton with his Model A coupe which he drove up within seven hours. The casual afternoon is an excellent way for friends, new and old, to catch up and talk about all things, Model A and everything else in between over a cold beverage and a barbecue dinner. The vehicles that showed up ranged from barn-find original cars to fully restored, show quality cars to fullblown hot…