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Bay display: 25 years of the Marineland Hot Rod & Classic Car Festival

12 May, 2017

For those who don’t count duck shooting among their list of hobbies, the Sunday of May 7 may still have held a reason to load the boys into the car and go for a drive. Marineland Street Rod & Kustom Klub hold their Marineland Hot Rod & Classic Car Festival annually at the Meeanee Speedway just out of Napier, and it’s a show that is well worth your time. 

Marking 25 years since the first ever Marineland show, this year’s show was a bit of a special one, which also paid tribute to the Ford Model T with a dedicated display to the original people’s car and hot rod base. 

As soon as the gates opened at 7am, over 100 cars were ready to pass through the gates, with another 600 soon to join them. In fact, the gates had to be shut at 10am due to the Meeanee Speedway grounds being full to capacity! 

In addition to the massive show and shine, the show also hosts its famous swap meet at which bargains abound for the keen treasure hunter, and a number of other entertaining side shows serve to keep everyone entertained. From engine fire-ups through to the spectacular crane-drops, and kids’ entertainment that also kept some of the bigger kids enthralled, the Marineland Hot Rod & Classic Car Festival is always a good time. 

Just have a look through the photo gallery below to see what went on, or what you missed out on, and keep your eyes peeled for a full event report in an upcoming issue of NZV8 magazine. 

Taipan – surpassing interest

“It’s merely a passing interest,” insists Selby — despite owning three variants of the classic VW Beetle, including an unusual VW van that was sold as a body kit for a Subaru. In his defence he points to a 1961 Ford Thunderbird, a car that he converted to right-hand drive. However, on the VW side of the ledger, since he opened Allison Autos in Whanganui 27 years ago, Selby has built 15 VW-powered Formula First cars, followed by a beach buggy, restored a derelict Karmann Ghia, and hot-rodded a common or garden Beetle into something that has to be seen to be believed. As speed is not something generally associated with classic VWs, though, Selby is still waiting for this particular modification to catch on amongst the hot rod faithful.

Travelling companion

It’s easy to see why the Morris Minor Traveller was one of the best-loved variants of the Morris Minor. Introduced in 1953, it was equipped with the same independent torsion bar front suspension, drum brakes, and rack and pinion steering as its saloon sibling but, with their foldable rear seat increasing versatility, many Travellers were used as trade vehicles, says Derek Goddard. Derek and Gail Goddard, the owners of this superbly restored example, have run Morris Minors since before they were married in 1974.
“Our honeymoon vehicle was a blue Morris Minor van — it was a rust bucket,” says Derek.