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Beach Hop 2014: Day four — Whangamata

16 June, 2014

 

And then it was Saturday, which is generally considered to be the main day of Beach Hop and best described as orchestrated chaos.

A series of parades take place starting from different locations and ending in different locations. The end points result in various individual car shows, each of which is up there with any of the biggest shows in the country.

The Meguiar’s Main Street Car Show had the Ultimate Pass holders parked in prime position on Whangamata’s main street, alongside drag cars doing fire-ups as part of the Castrol Edge Crackle Fest, bands playing, and crowds like never before.

At the opposite end of the main street, in the Whangamata Area School grounds, was the Vintage Caravan Magazine Retro Caravan Show. When this part of the event started there were just four caravans on the field; four years later, there were an astounding 85 caravans taking part.

It was difficult to imagine a better Repco Pre-49 Hot Rod Show than last year, but the turnout was so impressive that it was hard to pick just one stand-out.

As always, the day was rounded out with a series of stage shows, and the one part everyone was waiting for, the chance to win one of the three Beach Hop promo vehicles. The lucky winner was Terry Scott of Auckland who chose to take home the 1966 Mustang. A “blind” auction was held for one of the two other vehicles: a Zephyr and caravan combo or an XP Falcon wagon. An Auckland couple topped the bidding and chose to take home the Falcon. Graham Jack won the Zephyr and caravan.

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.

Grand Routier — in the french tradition

10 July, 2025

Sitting in Paddy and Patsy Williams’ Dunedin garage is a stunning example of one of these rare French grand routier sedans. It is a 1949 four-door Lago-Record Factory Berline sedan, to give its full name. Daughter Cath let us know how proud she was of her dad, who had been tinkering away in his garage on this car for so many years.
Without exaggeration, it has been a mammoth task. I first saw this Talbot-Lago in mid 2019. The long-nosed, sweeping, curved four-door saloon, clothed in its misty green metallic paint, was quite breathtaking. There’s more than a little English influence in it, too, harking back to company owner Tony Lago’s involvement in the Clement-Talbot-Darracq era. The long front wings and bonnet, usually multi-louvred, highlighted with artful touches of chrome bling, are typical of the era, but these were indeed luxury length. Interiors provided leather-clad, armchair-style seating and ample legroom, with touches of wood and surprising details such as dainty childproof interior locks — a far cry from today’s lozenge boxes.
Paddy, a retired civil and structural engineer, knows his way around a lathe. He has a well-equipped garage-workshop to assist in any machining tasks along with his other passion for restoring classic motorcycles.

The Great River Road

4 July, 2025

A few years ago my family, knowing my fondness for driving, gave me the book Unforgettable Road Trips: Thirty-Six Drives of a Lifetime by Martin Derrick. Most of the road trips listed take less than a day in places like Scotland, Monaco, and Australia, plus one in New Zealand. Most of these places were too far to go just for a short drive but four of them would take several days. My interest was piqued, and those four drives were added to the bucket list. To date, I have done three of them: ‘Route 66’ (USA 21 days), ‘State Highway 6’ (NZ 10 days) and ‘The Great River Road’ (USA 22 days). You can drive all of them in less time, but you could also fly over them. We wanted a decent immersion in their charms.
The great river referred to is the Mississippi. While the name conjures the deep south, the river actually starts at the bottom of the great lakes, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico about 3800km later. The great road is more of a concept than a specific strip of tarmac, as you can drive down either side of the river on various routes. Regardless of which side you drive, time should be kept aside for detours to places such as Nashville, which is famous for something or other.