Catch of the day
Paihia serves up great scenery and sparkly sunshine on blue water — ideal for top-down motoring and a large helping of seafood.
The Bay of Islands Classic and Sports Car Club is far from the only outfit to organize a relaxed Sunday park-up event, but it could be the only one to include a marlin sighting.
Attending Paihia Breakfast with the Cars — it’s on the first Sunday of every month — is always fascinating as there’s such a variety, from a modern Toyota 86 back to a very nice 1929 Jaguar SS. Motorbikes also often join the affray, and you can never be sure what, or how many, vehicles will turn up; it’s always worth a look.
Given I arrived in a 1930 Austin 7, I predictably was more interested in the classics, particularly a very pretty Sunbeam-talbot and the gorgeous cream Lagonda, though it was very hard to find individual owners for a chinwag among the steady trickle of folk having a look, and taking photos. Club president Ian Greaves did his best to help; he seems to know everyone and is a great ambassador for the helpfulness of car clubs to classic-car owners.
The crowd of onlookers thinned out once breakfast started at Charlotte’s Kitchen, related to the fabulous Duke of Marlborough ensconced just over the water in Russell. Charlotte’s Kitchen, on the wharf, was just across the road from the cars, and those who attend in or on an eligible vehicle get a free coffee with their buffet breakfast.
This time eating was interrupted by the arrival of a fishing boat with a large blue marlin to weigh, the first this writer has seen.
We finished our morning with an outing to Kerikeri, as we were on a promise to take 95-year-old Barbara Jones out in the Austin, a model she remembers from childhood. She was born in 1924, so she’s older than the car, though not as quick in a straight line.
Moonshine Rod and Custom Club’s 21st annual American Vehicle Day on 2 February was a day that may be remembered as the one with all the topless beauties. Just about every convertible on the Trentham Racecourse concourse was displayed with its top down. The racecourse in Upper Hutt has been the home of the show since its inception, and in its 21 years, the weather has never forced the event’s cancellation — a record that many car show organizers could only dream of.
The show has grown over the years into the largest in the greater Wellington region, especially after the event was opened up to all classics in 2016. Before the show, one of the organizers predicted that 700–800 cars would be there. I didn’t attempt to count them but there were lots, and many appeared to be first-time attendees. Anyone who didn’t find a classic they wished to drive home would be very hard to please.
This year GM and Ford’s Australian cousins dominated the non-american cars with sizable groupings of Holdens and Fords in the northern area. Add in a few Valiants, and examples from Porsche, Volkswagen, Jaguar, and Mini, and you have a very eclectic mix.
On walking to the concourse, a 1956 Packard Caribbean caught my eye. This black-and-off-white beauty from the last year Packard produced a model that didn’t have a resemblance to a Studebaker really stood out.
Black cars really caught the eye that day. A 1947 Buick C convertible was the next car that stopped me in my tracks. The Buick got a lot of visitor attention from a position near the tote.
If an award were given for the best-displayed car, the winner would be a red-and-white 1959 Ford Galaxie Skyliner on the other side of the tarmac. The owner had parked the car with the retractable top halfway down. It proved to be a favourite with families enjoying a weekend outing.
Profits from the day went to Te Omanga Hospice, to assist with the good work done by this valuable asset to the Hutt Valley community.
Neil Longman took top honours at the 14th annual Josephville Hillclimb, winning the Stewart Quertier Trophy for the fastest time of the day with a 26.56-second run. Dave Harris in his Johnston Formula Ford has the record, set in 2016 at 25.39 seconds, and that’s safe for another year. Held on a former section of the main Invercargill-to-lumsden Highway, which is now part of the Mitchell family farm following the formation of a by-pass, the annual event attracts competitors from all over the lower South Island.
Neil was consistently under the 30-second mark on all five of his runs in his Mallock U2 Mark 8. “I’m delighted to be invited up here and to receive this trophy again. Last year was very wet and I did a best run of 27.22 in the Mallock. Surprisingly, not much quicker in the dry this year,” a delighted Neil explained.
Errol Norris built Neil’s car in Christchurch in 1970, one of several he created under licence from British engineer Arthur Mallock. Mallock was a prolific builder of cheap specials for motor racing from the 1950s onwards [see page 36]. Neil’s car is powered by a Hillman Avenger 1600cc engine and four-speed gearbox.
Most entrants’ goal is to get inside the magic 30 seconds but the sunny conditions and a warming road surface provided a challenge leaving the starting line for heavier cars such as the Jaguars. Evan Henderson nearly did it this year in his Mark 2, his best time of 30.79 seconds winning the annual family battle.
“We have a lot of fun. My brother Ian in his Jaguar Mark 2 and his brother-in-law Phil Benvin in his Jaguar XK140 always win at the Hawkeswood and Nelson hill climbs and I usually get them back with a win down here at Josephville,” he explained.
Phil Benvin’s Jaguar XK140 has a long history of South Island competition. It was first campaigned by Frank Cantwell of Christchurch and it competed in the initial Ryall Bush road races shortly before the completion of Teretonga Park Raceway back in the 1950s.
“It’s great to see that car still being driven in events in the South Island,” Evan said.