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Beach Hop 2014: Castrol Edge Thunder Cruise to Onemana

16 June, 2014

 

With the much-needed rest from the previous day not as long as it could have been, we were woken up for day three by what sounded like a series of long burnouts.

Thankfully it wasn’t, it was actually the Woodstock Thunder Club hunting out the noisiest cars, and the drivers in the line up for the Castrol Edge Thunder Cruise to Onemana were doing their best to give them what they were after.

Entrants were already lining up from 5.05am due to the cruise being so popular and parking spots at the Onemana Beach Reserve so sought after. Considering the cruise didn’t leave until 11am, that was pretty dedicated.

The trip to Onemana from Williamson Park is only 10km, but the parade loops weaves its way around town first to make sure all bystanders get more space to check it out. The extended loop was much appreciated by drivers at the team from Tip Top were giving out Strawberry Toppas at ‘Toppa Corner’ along the way. With the sun doing its best to melt the tarmac, the ice cream went down a treat.

The beachfront reserve went from peaceful and calm one minute and action-packed the next as the cars flowed in. It was great to see the local food vendors making the most of the huge crowds but it would have been nicer to see a few more mobile vendors present to ease the load and shorten the queues. But there was plenty to look at during the wait, and plenty of people to talk to, trade stands to check out, and bands to sit down and relax in front of.

Look out for coverage in our next issue, on sale Monday April 7, and our full 122-page coverage in our 2014 Beach Hop Annual, on sale late April.

 

Bronze treasure unearthed

20 August, 2026

The car was put away in favour of something more practical, and when his father was unable to drive any more, Matt’s friend asked him to come and take a look at his dad’s old Holden. It turned out this was one of those phone calls that leads to that feeling of pure joy in the classic car world — the ‘barn find’ that turns out to be even better than expected. The HT Monaro had been put to bed some years before and had not seen the light of day since. Layers of dust and boxes of junk littered her undercarriage and bodywork and access points all around.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.