Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i NZ Hot Rod

PETER Holwerda worked for over 33 years as GM at New Zealand's biggest commercial Greenhouse Company based in Waiuku. Peter was mad keen on hot rods and drag racing back in the day, but the best educational course you can do is the OE (overseas experience), which came along soon after his school days ended. Then came marriage, kids and mortgages and all of them kept any cool cars out of the Holwerda family garage. Recently, Peter retired, and Kaye still works and is employed by Kiwi Gutter Protection as an administrator. Rolling back 17 years, Peter went to the 2008 Beach Hop for the first time with friends, and that got him excited to get into a classic car of his own. Peter purchased a 1966 Ford Galaxie Convertible…

EGMONT R&CC is based in Stratford, and every two years, they host their ever-popular themed run, which has been happening since the ‘70s. This year, the theme was “Kings and Queens”, and it kicked off on Friday, the 18th of October, with registration, a light dinner and a get-together. At 6.30, there was a cruise along the main street, which was advertised locally. This carried on for an hour, and it was really cool to see the number of people out with their children lining the main street watching. Pickups from accommodation after this enabled the hotrodders to take their vehicles back to wherever they were staying and enjoy the rest of the evening at the hot rod clubrooms. The rest of the evening comprised of a continuous supper while…

STREET Machines Southland first event was scheduled to be held at Makarewa Domain in Invercargill. Due to long periods of inclement weather that turned most outdoor venues into muddy swamps, a last-minute lucky break allowed the organisers to relocate to an indoor venue at Wools of New Zealand, which was very much appreciated. With over 100 cars entered it meant that a bunch were displayed outside.…

BEN Dalton is an interesting guy. He was on the 1975 Hikoi Land March from Northland to Wellington, has held several senior Public Service positions, and has been an advisor to government ministers and the Prime Minister. On the other hand, he is a man of the land and runs his own beef farm, and for recreation is a proficient electric lead guitar player in a band. Growing up in Otara, South Auckland, he learnt to drive in his Dad's 1964 AP5 Valiant, which, in one of those strange quirks of fate, is a close cousin of the Plymouth Fury pictured here. He has always loved Ford Mk3 Zephyrs and Chrysler AP5 Valiants. His other passion has been motorcycles. He has owned more Triumph Bonnevilles than he can remember and…

WHAKATANE Rod & Custom Club's ever-popular Spring Fling saw entrants assembled at their clubrooms for brunch and coffee before heading off on a run around the Whakatane District. There is always plenty to take in walking around inside the clubrooms. Various novelty games were featured on the rod run to keep the drivers and passengers amused. The names of the games were just as amusing. Best At Head had contestants trying to get a slinky spring to sit on their heads. The run ended at the Ohope Beach Chartered Club for a few drinks, prizegiving and a band. As always, there was a good variety of cars, with contestants from as far away as Auckland and Gisborne.…

BACK in the early seventies, I boarded with my hot rodder mate Grant Palmer for a while. It was a time when hot rodding was booming. I owned a '38 Ford V8 Fordor sedan and Grant had a '37 Plymouth sedan. NZHRM's Project T spurred Grant to build his own, which he dubbed Santana. There was much camaraderie, and the antics and stories live on, often retold. One that's repeatable is Grant's revelation to me of a '34 Ford V8 Sedan located just a half mile up the road from his home in Avondale. Apparently, it had been there so long that the garage roof it was stored had collapsed and landed on the '34. It sounded like a tall tale, laced with myth and mystery, but Grant was positive…

THIS event is held yearly at Gladstone Park in Woodend, North Canterbury. The major sponsor is the Classic Workshop and it's run by the American Classic Car Club. Many stalls were scattered around, hourly competitors free draws with music supplied by Sign of the Firebird. After a Saturday night storm, the weather came out fine but with a bitterly cold wind at times. There is always a great range of cars on display.…

CAR enthusiasts wait with bated breath every year to see the amazing cross-section of vehicles on display. Every car club you can imagine seems to be represented. This year's themes included the celebration of the Ford Mustang and the Dodge. The main organisers are the Otago Post Vintage Club which always has the best part of 150 vehicles on display.…

TAUPO was the first town in New Zealand to host The NZHRA Street Rod Nationals in 1972. Since then there have been several Street Rod Nationals and Pre 49 Street Rod Nationals held in the picture postcard town. With Lake Taupo and the surrounding mountains at the southern end of Lake Taupo it has always been a perfect location for not only Street Rod events but many sporting events. Local NZHRA club, Taupo Rod & Custom Club, host a Snow Run each year and has a good depth of club members and some greatlooking custom cars and hot rods. Greg Astwood has been a member of the Taupo R&CC for the past ten-plus years; while he hasn't held down any committee positions, he lists “beer drinker” as a contributor to…

NEIL Anthony was most likely best remembered for his work at Hobday's Toy Shop (which he later owned), with its vast range and stock of AMT and Revell models. Neil was a car dude, and from the late sixties to the nineties, many Christchurch rodders purchased their smaller hot rods from Neil. Of course, there was more to Neil than toys: a lifetime love of owning, restoring and painting many Ford Zephyrs. Neil was a foundation member of the local Zephyr and Zodiac Club, which will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2026. Naturally, he still loved his models, even hand-crafting over 25 model cars over the years, including many Ford Zephyrs of similar scale to Grahame Berry's models. Neil passed away on 7 October following a brief illness with…

Got the Bug ON day one of the California Hot Rod Reunion, we bumped into ex-pat Kiwi Mike Peck competing in Nostalgia Funny Car. Fifty years ago - in the early ‘70s, Mike cruised Queen St in his '56 Bel Air 2-door hard top when it was one of only three in NZ. From Bruce Taylor and Murray Cammick. PS: Mike's '56 is currently owned by Darrel Bone. Pie Vans OUR hungry request for more Pie Vans prompted a response from Tiny Terror owner Kevin Granger, who, being an owner and purveyor of Pie Vans, sent us these two from his photo collection. Ford Factoid WHILE the Ford Eights, Tens, Prefects, Anglias and Fordsons were assembled in Ford's Seaview Assembly plant from 1936, the Ford Popular wasn't. When Ford's Upper…

IT is simple history when you look back and see the connection between hot rodding and sliding sideways in the dirt at the speedway. The Auckland Vintage Speedway Club is all about preserving speedway history, and the 2024/2025 opening meeting in October at Meremere had great numbers for a fun-filled day. Interestingly, there are several hot rodders who are active in the vintage speedway world. Notably, there are guys like John Stanley, Alan Smail, and Garth Hogan, and at the October meet, Ray Wilson was there, as well as Alan Smail in the Flattie V8 sprint car. Then Dave Graham shared the driving of one of Peter Cowley's cars. It was the debut meet for Ian Goodwin & Cath Ferguson, with Cath piloting the black V8-60 Kurtis Kraft. Other rodders…

ALTHOUGH the hot rod show circuit of the ‘70s and ‘80s now seems to be a thing of the past and a victim to the rising financial risk of clubs hosting events, that hasn't deterred Tararua Rodders from the small town of Levin from hosting a very good show biennially for the past 25 years. The first was held in a local park with mainly club cars, but now they have the great facility of the Horowhenua Events Centre. It has expanded and there is an emphasis on including a bigger variety of cars, and it's become more of a national event. There are few prizes and no prize or travelling money, yet the show attracts participants from as far away as Whangarei. The main hall features 60 cars, including…

CADILLAC'S 1959 models are an elusive, almost ethereal concept to understand, and that's especially true for Kiwis. The reason I say that is we grew up in an era of egalitarianism in this country where equal rights, equality and fairness were a significant component of our psyche. Everyone worked together to build a better life and country. Sadly, it was the foundation for the tall poppy syndrome, where those who stood up and stood out were shamed back down. In NZ our only real exposure to American cars of the fifties were the basic low-spec Chevs, Fords, Dodge's Plymouth's which were austere four door sedans. There were a handful of '59 Cadillacs that came to NZ either new or near new as private imports. “The '59 Cadillac's place in history…

BILL Nagels' affinity with automobiles began in his schoolboy years when he attended Hamilton Hot Rod Shows staged at the Claudelands Showgrounds. Those shows sparked a passion for 1932 - '36 Fords and all post-depression cars, which had shed their boxy looks for more swept styles. Over time, his tastes were distilled down and refined into the '34 Ford 3 and 5-window coupes. Bill thought Ford's chief designer Bob Gregorie, who had previous experience designing yachts, had got the Coupe's style spot on. Bob Gregorie's design got its start in the UK in 1932 as the Model Y. The design was so popular in Europe that Ford brought it to the US for the ‘33 Model. It was a real bonus that it was available with the first affordable V8…

THE 2024 Kevin McInroe Challenge was combined with Pegasus Bay Drag Racing Club's competition points round. It ran smoothly with mild weather, but with small fields all round, it meant that from 2.30 pm, the track was opened up for grudge racing or anyone wanting a single pass to test themselves against the clock. Garden City Rodders took out the McInroe Challenge with seven wins. Weirdly, while many previous Kevin McInroe Challenges are now vague memories from the distant past, the actual passing of Kev at Ruapuna Drags in December 1997 still seems like yesterday. RESULTS McInroe Challenge: Garden City Rodders, 7 wins, Americars Rod Club, 6 wins, Falcon Fairlane Club #2, 6 wins, Falcon Fairlane Club#1, 5 wins. Super Sedan: Russell Lorimer, '00 Mustang, 9.597 @ 143.18. Super Street: Lewis Partington, '03…