St Heliers fills with classics, customs, and kids toys

2 December, 2014

The first Monday of December may mean different things for different people, but for us it’s always the day of the annual ‘Toy Run’. The Toy Run, which is hosted by North Shore Rod And Custom Club, actually doesn’t include a run at all, but is more so a giant park up of generous car lovers keen to make a difference for kids in need.

Taking place at Vellenoweth Green, St Heliers, Auckland, the event sees the hundreds of vehicle owners present making a gold coin donation to the Salvation Army upon entry, as well as many of them donating a children’s toy, which is then given to charity to be used as a Christmas gift. While the event has been going for many years now, the toy donation part (and the event itself, if we’re honest) isn’t all that well promoted, so while many toys were donated we did think that aspect could be pushed a bit more.

Regardless, the NSRCC did a great job on the night coping with the 300 or so cars that arrived, even going as far as providing a lolly scramble and presents for the kids in attendance, and credit must be given to them for running a great family-friendly event.

Mark down the first Monday of December in your diary for next year, as the event is well worth heading along to, regardless of if you’re driving a custom or classic car, or are just keen to take a look.

To finish first, first, you must build a winner

Can-Am royalty
Only three M20s were built, including the car that was destroyed at Road Atlanta. This car was later rebuilt. All three cars were sold at the end of the 1972 season. One of the cars would score another Can-Am victory in 1974, driven by a privateer, but the M20’s day was done. Can-Am racing faded away at the end of that season and was replaced by Formula 5000.
These days the cars are valued in the millions. It was unlikely that I would ever have seen one in the flesh if it hadn’t been that one day my editor asked me if I would mind popping over to Taranaki and having a look at a pretty McLaren M20 that somebody had built in their shed.
That is how I came to be standing by the car owned and built by truck driver Leon Macdonald.

Lunch with … Roly Levis

Lunching was not allowed during Covid 19 Lockdowns so our correspondent recalled a lunch he had with legendary New Zealand racing driver Rollo Athol Levis shortly before he died on 1 October 2013 at the age of 88. Michael Clark caught up with Roly and members of his family over vegetable soup