Hot rods rescue St Johns

17 November, 2014

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“Getting the hot rods out of the garage and out on the road for a Sunday cruise is great, but getting them out for a great cause is even better”

An impressive level of support was seen for the combined efforts of Auckland’s North Shore car club East Bay Rods and the Silverdale Business Association in hosting a charity display for St Johns at the Silverdale Shopping Centre on Sunday, November 16.

Much of the community came out to check out all the cars on display during the one-day deal, which cost just a gold coin donation to St Johns. Over fifty of East Bay Rods’ vehicles were on display with the addition of other cars, and also a preferred parking area for visiting hot rods, street machines and classics.

Local businesses also sponsored each car on display as a way of fundraising for East Bay Rods itself who are very active in hot rodding throughout New Zealand. The event was so successful it’s looking like it’s likely to become a regular thing, which sounds like great exposure for the hot rodding hobby.

NZ Classic Car magazine, March/April 2025 issue 398, on sale now

23 February, 2025

An HQ to die for
Mention the acronym HQ and most people in the northern hemisphere will assume this is an abbreviation for Head Quarters. However, for those born before the mid-’80s in Australia and New Zealand, the same two letters only mean one thing – HQ Holden!
Christchurch enthusiast Ed Beattie has a beautiful collection of Holden and Chevrolet cars. He loves the bowtie and its Aussie cousin and has a stable of beautiful, powerful cars. His collection includes everything from a modern GTSR W507 HSV through the decades to a 1960s Camaro muscle car and much in between.
In the last two Holden Nationals (run biennially in 2021 and 2023), Ed won trophies for the Best Monaro and Best Decade with his amazing 1972 Holden Monaro GTS 350 with manual transmission.
Ed is a perfectionist and loves his cars to reflect precisely how they were on ‘Day 1,’ meaning when the dealer released them to the first customer, including any extras the dealer may have added or changed.

You’re the one that I want – 1973 Datsun 240K GT

21 February, 2025

In the early 1970s, Clark Caldow was a young sales rep travelling the North Island and doing big miles annually. He loved driving. In 1975 the firm he worked for asked Clark what he wanted for his new car, and Clark chose a brand-new Datsun 240K GT. The two-door car arrived, and Clark was smitten, or in his own words, he was “pole vaulting.”
Clark drove it all over the country, racking up thousands of miles. “It had quite a bit of pep with its SOHC 128 hp (96kW) of power mated to a four-speed manual gearbox,” he says. Weighing in at 1240kg meant the power to weight ratio was good for the time and its length at almost 4.5 metres meant it had good street presence.
Clark has been a car enthusiast all his life, and decided around nine years ago to look for one of these coupes. By sheer luck he very quickly found a mint example refurbished by an aircraft engineer, but it was in Perth.

Hot rods rescue St Johns

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