MUSCLE CAR MADNESS

THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF MUSCLE CAR MADNESS BROUGHT OUT MORE MADNESS THAN EVER BEFORE!

From humble beginnings, Muscle Car Madness (MCM) has become one of the country’s must-do events, and each year attracts not only people from as far away as Auckland and Bluff but also its share of overseas visitors. Starting with an idea, event organizer Craig Stare held his first show back in 1991 in a Rangiora supermarket car park. With approximately 40 vehicles and 70 people showing up, Craig probably had no idea where the event would go or how successful it would become.

A few short years later, the event moved to its current location at the Rangiora A&P Showgrounds. This facility has all the amenities needed to hold and run a multi-day event such as MCM. With plenty of acreage, there is room in for the show, held on Saturday and Sunday; plenty of trade stalls; a stage for the many bands that play throughout the weekend; and a cruise road which runs the full length, including the camping area. With this year marking the event’s 30th anniversary, it saw massive numbers, not only of entrants and spectators but also campers.

According to many of the entrants who had claimed their small piece of turf for the weekend, hitching up the caravan and towing it out to Rangiora for the weekend or pitching the tent next to your mate’s really is the only way to truly experience MCM.

As in previous years, the event got underway on Wednesday when the gates opened in the evening for campers to start setting up. As popular as it normally is, camping this year was even more stretched, as a lot more people showed up to help celebrate the special occasion. Facebook even showed the first camper queuing up at 6am hoping to get the same spot as last year! Overall, the influx of party revellers was fairly orderly once the gates were thrown open, with most securing the same patch of earth without any issues.

Thursday is usually a day of time spent setting things up, getting the camp in order, new campers arriving, and trade stalls being erected. It’s also a great day to simply hang out and catch up with friends. Friday morning was buzzing early; however, while walking around, we spotted were many weary heads looking like they could have done with a strong coffee before the late-morning cruise out to Ashley Gorge. With such a beautiful day forecasted, a large number of people took the opportunity to take part in the 36km cruise to the very scenic spot, with a few taking advantage of the cool river once there. Most people just made their way back to Rangiora in their own time, with some taking their own route, making the most of the scenery on the way.

This year, the main arena was open to vehicles produced before 2000, with newer cars parked

A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE PART IN THE 36KM CRUISE

in the lower car park area. Large crowds arrived early and enjoyed walking the rows, all to the background of music supplied by a number of bands over the weekend. Brothers Grimm, Class Disruption, Hillbilly Hellcats, and the Recliner Rockers, were among other bands filling the showgrounds with their sounds. This year saw the Retro Rockabilly Pageant moved to an earlier time so that it didn’t interfere with the Burnouts. This was a good move, as it meant that more people got to see the contestants walk the catwalk before heading off to watch the mayhem on the burnout pad. As popular as the pageant was, without doubt the most popular event of MCM has to be the Burnout comp — some felt the need to secure a seat two hours before it got underway. One rather keen individual even climbed a 100-foot-tall pine tree to secure the best seat, and view, in the house. This year, the Burnouts were graced by some of the best in the game, with the likes of Liz Gracie in ‘EV1L69’; Hayden Wilby in ‘NUTOUT’, which was fresh back from his stint at Summernats in Aussie; and local talent from guys like Michael Ledgerwood and Mark Woodthorpe.

WITHOUT DOUBT THE MOST POPULAR EVENT OF MCM HAS TO BE THE BURNOUT COMP

With very little wind, it was hard to see at times, as the smoke wasn’t shifting, but, man, did these guys put on a show! Hard-revving engines, plenty of smoke, and some awesome driving skills saw every inch of the pad used, and then some. At the conclusion of the tyre-frying display, some people made their way back to the arena for another walk about, while many headed for shade and a cold drink. Antics continued on into the night for campers, with plenty of cruising and partying till the wee hours. Sore heads and drag racing saw fewer punters through the gates on Sunday, but there was still plenty to see and do for the hordes that arrived. Besides checking out the great music, pinstriping displays, and trade stalls, the burnout finals were also on. These again were very popular, with a decent-sized crowd jamming every vantage point for a good look. With a little more breeze than the day before, smoke was able to move away much quicker, making for much better viewing.

As the last of the smoke drifted across the nearby paddock, most headed for the gates, and many of those who had camped for the weekend were beginning to leave. What a weekend — beautiful weather, great crowds, cool cars, and music — what more could you want? Congratulations to Craig, Marty, and the team on a job well done, and happy 30th birthday.

Left: With Saturday’s show looking to be huge, many participants were up early to snap up a great location within the A&P showgrounds arena. This awesome line-up taking up some prime real estate is Tony Brunt’s big block Holden HQ, which was only completed a couple of days earlier; Rowan Costello’s Supercharger version — Rowan had travelled down from Nelson for the event; from Wellington, Lyall and Lucy Stewart’s supercharged ’32 Ford coupe; and, at the far end, Brendon Shearing’s twin-turbo HQ Monaro from the deep south

Muscle and Classic Restorations Ltd had this beautiful ’30 Ford A Roadster on show. That straight-as body is sitting on a So-Cal chassis, and is fitted with a 454ci big block Chev engine that hides behind some really cool-looking hood sides. The body really is impressive, being channelled three inches and fitted with suicide doors

The saying goes, ‘The family that plays together, stays together’, and, judging by the smiles, that must apply to the Dean family. Being very active in the Rockabilly and Vintage clothing pageants, dad James and mum Amy, along with kids Carter and Amelia, were all entered in Saturday’s Rockabilly pageant, with only Amy unfortunately missing out on a win

Having made the decision to attend their first MCM event, Carey and Georgina Wells were a long way from home. All the way from Te Awamutu, the Waikato Classic Rods and Customs club members travelled down in their 1974, 350-series Chev — or as some would call it, Statesman. The car has been owned by Carey for many years and has received its fair share of love over that time. The couple attend as many events as they can and aren’t shy about clocking up the kilometres in the car

‘DLIVID’ is the very cool 1962 EK Holden panel van belonging to Clinton Wheeler, another North Islander who made the road trip down to MCM. It’s hard to miss the low roof line, chopped eight inches and covered in that beautiful candy paint. The van has many custom touches, including a Harley fuel tank centre console. Motivation is supplied by a 350/350 combo, with power sent to a narrowed VS commodore rear end, while a Torana steering rack keeps it pointed in the right direction

The Elite Wheel Co. in Christchurch brought out Mike Curtis for the show. Mike is best known to us Kiwis for his time spent working on the TV shows American Hot Rod with Boyd Coddington and Overhaulin’ with Chip Foose. In 2006, Mike opened his own business, Curtis Speed Equipment, in Orange, California designing and machining custom one-off wheels. Rolleston local Lindsay Smith is having Mike design wheels for his latest project, so he supplied his ’27T for Mike to cruise the grounds and meet people in

One of the most popular cars on show on Saturday had to be Ian Neary’s 1968 Plymouth GTX all the way from Auckland. With some amazing panel work and paint, and an outstanding interior, the Gen 3 506ci V10 taking up room in the engine bay was a real head-turner and had many people talking Below: Fresh from his Judge’s Choice win at the Cromwell Classic the previous weekend, Mark Stead, from Blenheim, brought his custombuilt cab-over-engine (COE) truck in for the show. As if you could miss something this big — that custom green paint certainly makes it stand out in a crowd. Completely custom built by Mark, the truck is powered by a 305ci Ford V8 which sends power down to a C4 corvette rear via a Ford four-speed auto. Billet Specialties wheels help the truck with its appearance, while the custom bed is fitted with native matai timber

This gorgeous 1970 Dodge Charger R/T is in stunning condition. Everything has either been restored or rebuilt in 2012. The matching-numbers car came out of California where it had travelled just 79,000 miles under two previous owners. Under the hood is a 440 backed by a 727 transmission

Shonny McCormick has a bit of Kiwi rodding history with her Ford Pop. Named ‘Mild Headrush’, the Pop is a classic Christchurch hot rod that has been cruising the avenues since the ’70s. Over its life, the car has had many owners and has also appeared with a different look on more than one occasion, but the plan is to return it to its famous pink paint and graphics. The engine is a 305ci Chev backed by a Powerglide trans. A shortened Ford nine-inch sits under the bum held in place by a four-link

Garry Black is the owner/builder of this very cool-looking rod. The design style has been based on an early post-war American salt-flat speedster. The ’24/’25 Dodge Brothers body has been widened four inches and channelled the same. The 239 Ford overhead-valve V8 came from a ’54 Ford Victoria, as did the air-cooled Ford-O-Matic trans