CRUISE MARTINBOROUGH

THE COOL, CALM CHARM OF SMALL-TOWN MARTINBOROUGH HELPS TO MAKE THE ANNUAL CRUISE MARTINBOROUGH AN EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED

I’ve never been to this part of the country before, and I love it” was a phrase heard many times over late January. That’s when Cruise Martinborough took over the small rural town in the south Wairarapa. Martinborough itself is generally a laid-back place, well known for its wine growing, which, in turn, means flat, rolling terrain and warm climate. What it’s not famous for — or, more correctly, wasn’t until a few years ago — is car events. The brainchild of Wairarapa local Damien Pivac, based on successful and time-proven formulas that many of us know and love, the event was an instant hit. While there’s plenty to do over the four days that the event runs, there’s also plenty of appeal in the downtime and stress-free atmosphere that the event offers – it’s part of what keeps people coming back. For 2019, the schedule ran the same as the previous year, which saw a casual meet-and-greet plus pub quiz at the Pukemanu Bar and Eatery on the night before the driving events began. Most entrants treat the Thursday-morning gathering at the local rugby club as the real start. While entries were capped at just over 400, as the event progressed, more and more cars arrived, so Thursday’s cruise to Lake Ferry — one of the southernmost points of the North Island — saw around just over half of this number in attendance. The wild south coast can be an unforgiving area, with rugged terrain and wild winds being the highlights. Come Cruise Marty time, though, this all changes, with the local reserve being the destination, adding a colourful variety and plenty of people to the area. The one pub — it’s actually the only business in the area, the Lake Ferry Hotel — soon turns from sleepy to chaotic with the arrival of the cars. Luckily for event-goers, the famous southerly winds were kept at bay this year, allowing many to make the most of the nearby picnic spots, or a

quick walk around the coast. While drivers headed off from here at their own pace, many regrouped again that night for the drive-in movie, The Cannonball Run. The following morning’s cruise through the Wairarapa towns of Greytown and Carterton to Masterton is a 35km jaunt along wide, flat country roads. The event’s popularity in these smaller towns must be growing, as there was a notable increase in the number of bystanders watching the cars roll through this year. The final destination, The Farriers Bar and Eatery, gave Masterton locals a good chance to check out the wide range of cars that rolled in. ‘Wide ranging’ is probably the best way to describe the mix too, with a notable increase in the number of high-performance latemodel vehicles, such as Hellcats and ZL1 Camaros. Those cars got a chance to show if they lived up to the hype behind their badges later that afternoon when the convoy headed to Masterton Motorplex. While full quarter-mile drags weren’t on the cards, eighth-mile flag-drop sprints were the order of the day. You could line up with whoever appeared in the lane next to you, or pick a mate and go grudge racing — whatever appealed. For the next few hours, a number of battles and complete whitewashes took place. Many cars and drivers that would never usually hit the strip got a chance to have a go, some no doubt getting hooked in the process. Fast or slow, big burnouts,

or not enough power to spin a tyre — all involved had a blast, the slower cars often getting a cheer from the crowd simply for giving it a shot. Saturday’s the big day for the event, not in terms of driving distance but intensity, with the cars grouping for a grand parade into the town square — a square designed to replicate the Union Jack. Locals and visitors lined the streets as the 420 cars rolled through before being parked around the square, while market stalls were erected under the big treecovered central area. Those in the know — including many car clubs — had been smart enough to pack their own seating, and made claim to a spot and chilled out for the day, simply coming and going as they pleased. The number of eateries around the area were overflowing, and the cars got plenty of attention. Martinborough was founded in the late 1800s, so there’s plenty of historic architecture around, making for great backdrops in the thousands of photos being taken. While most people were happy just to relax, that

wasn’t possible for Lloyd Wilson, Scott Wildman, and Kurt Schwitzer, the three judges in charge of picking a handful of standouts from the masses. Those chosen would be revealed at the prize-giving held later that night. Everyone loves to relax on a Sunday, and it’s no different for that day of Cruise Marty, with a simple brunch gathering in Masterton beginning the day, although some simply choose to make their way home in their own time instead. The main feedback throughout the event has been that the laid-back approach is a winner, and it’s this which means that the entrants actually end up spending more time socializing with or meeting each other. Throughout Cruise Martinborough, many friendships have been formed, with some companions turning the event into their annual get-together. On the other hand, there are people who attended for the first time this year who are already vowing to return, with some even eyeing up

property in the area, falling in love with its charm. There’s no denying that it’s a successful formula, and part of the appeal is in the limited entrant numbers, along with a fantastic location. The challenge for Damien Pivac now is retaining those factors while making that the event maintains enough excitement and variation to ensure that entrants keep returning. It’s a challenge that he’s aware of, and, with the event having come so far in just a few short years, we’re sure that it’s one that he’ll successfully master. If you’ve not attended as yet, make sure you get in quick for 2020. If you’ve been before, well, we’re sure we don’t need to tell you anything.

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The inaugural Miss Cruise Martinborough was a hit, with 34 entrants. Rather than a catwalk-style show, event organizer Amy ‘Stella’ Moon (centre) arranged for contestants simply to be photographed throughout the day for the judges to pick winners from. The overall winner was chosen as Rochelle Guy from Lower Hutt (right), while the Runner Up title went to Nicole Halliday from Gladstone (left)

Nigel and Yvonne Rawlings made the trip down from Otorohanga in their LS-powered four-door Chev. The pair are members of Kiwitown Cruisers, with six club cars going down for the event. While Martinborough’s the furthest that the pair have taken the home-built car to date, a South Island trip is on the cards at some stage

We featured Steve Pugh’s Road Runner in 2018 and fell in love with the car’s tough stance and injected 572ci Hemi power plant. It was up against stiff competition at the cruise in the form of Andrew Sinclair’s Superbird and Paul Bailey’s Challenger but took out the Top Mopar award Rob Scott made the trip from Auckland along with 15 other members of the American Muscle Car Club. Despite the genuine GT500’s collectability, he wasn’t afraid to make some noise on the drag strip. Just don’t ask him how much fuel he used on the trip

Kev Bates’ name is a familiar one on these pages, his tough-tubbed GTX featuring in NZV8’ s very first issue. Since then, he’s been through a few cars and currently has another in the build. Of course, that means that he needs to move on the ’61 Chev that he had at the event. He’s had the car around a year, purchasing it after it had previously been restored — something that’s a bit foreign to him, as he’s now in the business of building vehicles for others Doug and Gillian Hooper’s Ford Bonus is hiding a secret under the hood — a blown Chev. It’s been on the road now for 10 years but still looks just as good today as it did when they finished it. The pair have attended Cruise Martinborough once before in a different vehicle and love how relaxed the event isThe Top Entrant award went to Eddie Dajnowski’s ’59 Ford Galaxie, a car with proportions accentuated by massive steelies, a continental kit, and side pipes

There are few cars out there with a story as good as Dave Mears’ ’52 Chev. Dave’s late wife purchased the car for his 30th birthday, some 46 years ago, for $1200. Dave and son Phil pulled the car apart 37 years ago, after which Dave drove it for 20 years before taking it back off the road. It’s only just hit the road again after a major rebuild, which involved plenty of custom chassis work — meaning it now looks just as good underneath as it does on top. Full feature coming soon Not many cars have as much street appeal as a tubbedand-blown Falcon coupe. This XB was featured in NZV8 when it belonged to Willy Chapman but, since then, has changed hands and now belongs to previous-feature-car owners Boyd and Nikki Matenga. The pair are Falcon fans, and the addition of the coupe is one they just couldn’t go past

At wasn’t all plain sailing for Kaikoura Hop organizer Doug O’Callaghan and partner Fonda. The dramas began with their Holden panel van ripping off a lake pipe getting onto the ferry, and continued with a cracked clutch fork at Lake Ferry. Thankfully, the local BP service station gave him full access to its new workshop, where he could have the fork welded up. Tony Kirkwood and Craig McKay, who they met at the event last year, were a huge help in getting the car back on the road

How’s this for twinning? Maurice Addy, Mandy Sinclair, David Addy, and Lisa Sinclair all looked the part. Maurice and David run a pair of almost-matching 1970 and 1974 Corvettes, while the Sinclair girls were cruising in Mandy’s 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe

The debut of Andrew Buchanan’s 1955 GMC lowcab-forward (LCF) pickup is one that we’ve been looking forward to. The truck was in the build — between other projects — for around seven years and was understandably a big job. Based on a 1994 Dodge Ram 3500 chassis, it has been fitted with air-ride suspension and a built 6BT diesel with a large turbo. While originally designed to be a transporter, Andrew instead intends to load it up with anything and drive the wheels off it

Mike Palmer picked up his Cadillac in May 2017 when he came across it at the Trentham swap meet. With the house paid off and the kids grown up, everything just fell into place. Since then, he’s replaced all the front end, including reconditioning the steering box and performing an engine conversion to a 454ci big block, and now there’s nothing he loves more than loading her up with people and going for a cruise. “I’m really enjoying the hot rodding lifestyle,” he says. “People are so friendly and willing to help or share their knowledge”