Innehållsförteckning för December 2022 från NZ Hot Rod

TARARUA Rodder's biennial Chrome and Custom Auto Festival was, in simple terms, a knockout. Over 100 stunning, hi calibre cars from across the spectrum were displayed in two halls over two days. Patrons were not disappointed, and post-show social media erupted in positive feedback. Local charities benefitted from the financial success, and we look forward to the next show in 2024.…

IT was a sad day when we all learned of Ross Fisher's passing. Ross was the kind of person that would help anyone who asked for advice, lending a hand or just a conversation. Ross was an auto electrician working for H K Heatons when he and Ruth joined Sulphur City Rod & Custom Club in 1975. Ruth, a schoolteacher, was also very involved in keeping photographic records of the club's activities. Then, as life rolled on, along came the children, Lance and Delaney, moving the Fishers in other directions. Ross was building his T-bucket, which turned out to be his pride and joy. A winner everywhere he took it, widely seen and loved “Misty Blue.” From 1977 to 1980, Ross became Treasurer of Sulphur City R&CC, and then from…

THE Egmont Rod & Custom Club based in Stratford Bi-Annual Rod Run was held on the weekend of 28 - 30 October 2022. The theme for the event was the “American Graffiti Rod Run” to celebrate the club's 50th Anniversary, 1972 - 2022. On Friday, entrants registered at the clubrooms, the main venue for each day. That evening a street cruise was held around Broadway, the main drag in Stratford. Locals came out to view a good percentage of early arrivals for the event as they cruised up and down Broadway until 7.30 pm when it was back to the clubrooms for Rocker Cover racing and a continuous supper. One condition was that the Rocker Covers had to carry an American Graffiti theme, and some innovative designs were painted onto…

FLASHBACK MALCOLM Rowse has owned his ‘34 Ford Pickup since ‘68 or ‘69; he can't remember the specific year. He doesn't have many photos from the early days of ownership. “A local Camera House store used the Pickup in a promotional display. The pickup deck was filled with Polaroid cameras. They gave me a Polaroid camera in return for letting us use the Pickup. Just after that, I spent every cent I had to buy a Ford Mustang. I used up all my savings. When the alternator packed up, I had to pawn my Polaroid camera to pay for a new alternator!” It was just one of many cool stories which Malcolm shared on a recent visit, his eyes glazing slightly, seeing things I couldn't, lost in times past. It…

THE Road Knights went ahead with their annual swap meet despite another large car event nearby on the same day and a with a lousy weather forecast. The organisers decided not to charge anyone the entrance fee as they expected a complete disaster, but thanks to those brave enough to venture out, the result was a good little swap meet with everyone in good spirits and a lot of trading done. Many made good sales, and several sellers were so pleased they even paid for their swap site as they left. With the event now located at the rugby grounds with more space and better facilities, the Road Knights look forward to next year being better.…

ADAM Satchwell's journey into the realm of hot rodding began clear across the automotive spectrum in the world of Jappas. Back in his youth, they and the boy racer fraternity were his main focus, but he used to live with Dave Porter, an avid hot rodder from Motorworld in Rotorua. Adam assisted Dave with the construction of his Jailbar pickup and other cool cars. Adam says that as he grew older, he grew up and “got over it” and moved out of the boy racer world and into hot rods and street machines. A few years ago, he was working in the USA, cutting up scrap metal and on his travels in Texas spotted a Tri-Five Chevy Pickup out in a farmer's field. His interest was piqued, so he did…

IN the 1960s, the Morris Mini car was a popular car with the “Mod's”, who created a vibrant, underground youth scene wearing neat clothing. Many females would own a mini skirt and a Mini car to match. Young men took a liking to riding scooters. They dined out on the music explosion of those times; the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks would go on to have a big hit with “A Dedicated Follower of Fashion”. Being a small two-door compact car, the market also craved a slightly bigger version as the Mini's back seat was only big enough for a few grocery items and very little intimacy in those “make love not war” times. Up stepped Sir Alec Issigonis, along with the Italian masters Pininfarina and the British…

OVER 50 cars attended Conrodders low key weekend held over Labour weekend. It all started with Friday night registration at their Green Island clubrooms. The clubhouse is jointly owned and shared with Stateside Streeters. A continuous supper was served, and many lies and old stories were exchanged. The next morning the perfect weather, as ordered, arrived on time. We met at the clubrooms for a short cruise to the garage raid's first stop, which was Mark Cameron's engineering shop. He has a very varied collection of vintage cars, customs, a fire engine, a Gasser and a selection of military vehicles, oh and a very large gun. In his spare time, recreation is supplied by driving an Audi R8 supercar which has a speedo that maxes out at 350 km! The…

Flashback to the March 1981 issue of NZHRM, and there was an ‘Under Construction’ article on Lloyd ‘Magoo’ Wilson's first ‘32 roadster, followed in November 1982 by a feature on the finished car. It was a home-built highboy with a 289 and auto, and Lloyd & wife Anne used it to tour the South Island and do the North Island show circuit. It attended two Street Rod Nationals, including the rainedout Hastings event in 1982, which proved the last straw as a topless highboy wasn't the most practical for transporting a six-week-old baby. Roll forward 40 years, and that child, Nathan, now has two kids of his own and is working with Lloyd in the family business; Magoo's Street Rods, so Lloyd figured it was high time he finished the…

THE 19th Annual Ventura Nationals Hot Rod, Custom Car & Vintage Motorcycle Show was held on Saturday, September 3rd 2022, at The Ventura Fairgrounds. Thanks to a new proprietor who runs with the Beatniks Club, the Southern California regional event is low-key with an excellent eclectic mix of cars. The theme leans heavily towards the traditional trend and comes laced with nostalgia, colour and, in some cases, creativity! Saturday was show day for the 400 or so cars that entered, and Sunday was a Reliability Run to a local lake which proved very popular.…

MORNING mist over the water burned off early to reveal another perfect, Southern day for Riviera Touring Cars Riverton Show & Shine event. The rumbling of incoming vehicles could be heard in the still air as the mint weather enticed more than 120 participants from far and wide to cruise and park up by the Riverton/Aparima estuary. As with the club's first Show & Shine in 2019, there were no entry fees or prizes, just a heap of people enjoying their cars and the day. A simplistic but fulfilling concept.…

BRILLIANT weather and clear blue skies greeted the first passes of the 2022-23 season. Two days of testing and racing ensued in what was the dragstrips largest opening meeting on record. Some competition teams are waiting on VP Racing fuel to arrive in the country, but great track prep saw excellent wheelstands and times. The fastest time of the day went to Roy Bingley in his ‘23 T Altered, powered by a turbocharged Toyota 2JZ inline 6. It was good for a 7.366@179.06 qualifying pass and set both ends of the National Record. The day's top speed went to Michael Franklin in his 540ci Chev powered Pontiac GTO with a 179.09 trap speed. RESULTS…

The Munro legacy continues THIS Indian motorcycle was created to help celebrate the connection with Burt Munro and the Indian motorcycle. It was funded by Indian motorcycles and provided to Lee Munro to continue the story with the addition of a new chapter. The bike was finished in 2017 and first ran at El Mirage, with Lee managing 186.681 mph. A privately sponsored trip in 2018 saw the team go to Bonneville, where Lee upped the speed to 192.78 mph. It is interesting to note that Lee's great uncle, the legend himself, Burt Munro managed a best speed of 202 mph on the old original bike. This was never recognised due to the fact he could never do a backup run to get the record, The new bike's V-twin engine…

AFTER being cancelled last year due to COVID, it was decided to go low-key for this one due to monetary losses. Unfortunately, bad luck seemed to be in abundance. Several medical emergencies happened. The worst was a 91-year-old man who suffered a heart attack while reversing his car into a park. This resulted in him revering violently backwards for 100 yards and hitting three cars. Two were very fixable, but the brunt of the accident was a direct hit to a very nice 1957 Chevrolet 2-door sports coupe. As no info cards were given out this year, it was impossible to get the owners’ names. Attendance was down to I think somewhere between 300 and 350 cars. But as always, there are always a lot of different previously unseen cars…

Although they live in Christchurch, Kerry and Gail Walsh originally hail from Dunedin and have been members of Hurricane Rodders for around 40 years. During this time, they have owned many early Fords, including a ‘36 Cabriolet which is currently driven by Tommy Thompson. About eight years back, Kerry and Gail purchased this ‘46 Ford Business Coupe from a Mosgiel restorer in a dismantled state. But it was a super straight car, taking just two years to put back on the road with help from Barry Nicol, another long-time Hurricanes member. And Johnno, for the small amount of body perfecting, plus Steve and Gary and the fellas from Broughton Auto Painters, who applied the beautiful black finish, a colour choice made easier by Gail's instruction; If it ain't black, don't…

A WELCOME return to the rodding calendar in October was the Trouble Bound Side Show supporting West Auckland Hospice. Brilliant weather gave a taste of the summer season on its way and the new location filled to capacity. This year the Glenora Rugby League Club in Glen Eden was the perfect venue for this everpopular West Auckland show. “We tripled the size of the venue, and it looks like we tripled the turnout”, said Shane Adlington of Trouble Bound. The Glenora facility offered a licensed bar and food available, with added food trucks outside and music playing. Cars and bikes filled the venue to the point it was a park in. So the lesson here is that if you only want to stay for an hour - don't park in…

PEGASUS Bay Drag Racing Club start their season with a Test ‘n Tune meet, and this latest test ‘n tune, on September 18, produced a high number of street cars, including several youngsters in their Imports, which was great to see; a swag of motorcycles and a good helping of comp cars. Positive PBDRC President Frank Shaw reckons it's time for a revival. “We've had a couple of rough years, what with a racetrack fatality and COVID lockdowns to deal with, so things can only get better.” Hopefully, that includes the occasional technical glitch the club suffers from, and this test ‘n tune meet had just such a technical glitch, but to keep things moving, the competitors were flag-drop started until the glitch was fixed. One of the motorcycle contestants…

Capt'n Howdy BACK in the ‘70s, there were several nice ‘39 Ford Deluxe Sedans on the Christchurch rodding scene. One of the nicest was Brent Howard's version, with a souped flathead, Magnum dishstyle wheels, bright orange paint and a tasteful brown interior. Brent was instrumental in forming East Coast Rodders in 1975, with a strict rule of Pre-'48 American only. Brent had a pathological dislike for Pommy cars or, God forbid, Pommy-bodied hot rods. Humorous in hindsight, but things became a bit heated between Brent and the occasional Ford Pop hot rodder. However, a streak of stubbornness meant Brent never dipped his lights for anyone, although affectionately, he was generally known as Capt'n Howdy. It was during one ot tnese verbal altercations that one adversary referred to Brent's ‘39 as…