Rumble in PARADISE

THE INAUGURAL VOLCANIC RUMBLE ROCKED TAUPŌ TO SEISMIC LEVELS

The peaceful lakeside community of Taupō in the central North Island is a great place to be on a calm summer’s day. Late last year the town was anything but calm, though, as the popular tourist mecca quaked with the first-ever Volcanic Rumble event taking place. Vehicles of all types hit the streets, from motorcycles to the occasional Morris 1100 (seriously, some of them still live!), but they were overshadowed by some great examples of

American and European steel, with the obligatory small and sometimes big block powerplants purring through town.

The weekend was organized by the Volcanic Rumble charitable trust, headed by a 1964 Buick Wildcat driver, Marin Leusink. “We’re encouraging all sorts of vehicles,” he says. “The event is aimed at being a celebration of horsepower, style, and Kiwiana.” While the event wasn’t solely a celebration of the eight cylinders of varying cubic inches that we all love, registration did see the aforementioned Buick flanked by a ’61 Cadillac Coupe DeVille and a pristine ’66 Ford Thunderbird convertible as entrants slowly arrived. Everyone was enjoying the sunshine and taking the time to pore over every detail of the few cars that were already there, with owners keen to share the intricate details of each build.

“Look at these guys, no-one wants to leave. We all want to chat and find out more about our

cars,” remarked Marin. “I mean, we build these cars and then we almost go underground when we should get them out and share them with others.” If Marin’s love of cars and horsepower aren’t apparent, a quick glance over his beautifully preserved Buick settles that score. With less than 5,000 miles on the clock, she’s an absolute pearler. He continues: “There are a couple of Electras here and there, but not a Wildcat like mine. As far as I know, it’s the only one around.”

Those attending had plenty of different events within the weekend to keep themselves occupied. Marin explained the make up of the three-day festival, which is planned to be the first of many: “We had a cruise down to Waiouru, where we met some guys travelling up. Everyone had the option of being part of the Taupō Christmas parade, before going to a Show ‘n’ Shine at the Northern Domain in Taupō, and in a really nice touch, we had an awesome time at our ‘Joy Rumble’ where

we got to take underprivileged kids and others for a drive around the lake, Huka Falls and some other sights.”

The Show ‘n’ Shine proved to be the centre point of the weekend, with Marin taking on the MC duties, as the hundreds of onlookers took a peek at the various rides, and undoubtedly caught a glimpse of themselves in the polished chrome in the process! The timing couldn’t have been any better for the punters, as the already-busy town was bustling with petrolhead locals and visitors alike — a lot there for the parade, which finished at the venue of the show, the Northern Domain.

The trust is fundraising for a proposed ‘gateway bridge’ — a bridge over Tongariro Street, the former state highway entrance that serves as the main thoroughfare in and out of Taupō.

The Volcanic Rumble event is planned to be an annual one, as the trust has been set up with a view to sponsor other projects across the district.

The blue oval got in on the act, with a ’73 Falcon showing off some serious artwork sitting over these somewhat-fitting rims

Mopar or no car? Those in the Dodge stable (and others!) could appreciate the clean lines of this ’73 Challenger I’ll have mine in large, please. Actually, make that a jumbo. This Pontiac Safari almost had the car and accommodation covered in one hit, with a sweet 283 under the hood for touring

Bumblebee stayed in car form, relaxing on a warm Taupo day Thunderbirds are go! This example of a ’66 turned a few heads, with conversation about the ability to angle park becoming fairly redundant Above: This beautiful example of a Chev C10 proved popular among the public, with a stunning ‘weathered’ paint job only matched by the tidy engine bay Above: There’s nothing like a fresh paint job reflecting the awesomeness of Colin and Shelly Pope’s ’53 Chev 3100 — another showstopper of the day

Okay, its not a real one, but this is one nice example of a yellow AC Cobra replica, with a sneaky 351 tucked in the engine bay

Can we get this any lower? This 53 Ford Coupe replica was a show-stealer, seeing more foot traffic than a Tokyo train station. All 5,700 cubic centimetres lodged in there looked quite at home, too

That’ll buff out, right? This Plymouth Belvedere was identified by the rust highlights and the BIG question … what the hell is he gonna do with it?