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 and Kustom Klub holds its Marineland Hot Rod and Classic Car Festival annually at the Meeanee Speedway, just out of Napier, and it’s a show that is well worth your time. This year’s event was even more special than usual, though, as it marked 25 years since the first. Each year, the show celebrates an integral part of the hot rodding scene, and, this year, the Ford Model T was put on its pedestal for worship. Unlike some past events, the morning dawned crisp and cloudless, with no frost on the ground — perfect, given that the gates were to open at 7am for entrants. With 100 cars entered and another 600-odd filtering through the gates, it was a classic Napier traffic jam, and the gates actually had to be closed at 10am, as there was no more room! The event is structured traditionally around a car show and swap meet, and you can bet the show side of things was not lacking in content; it would have been very easy to sink the better part of the day into just checking out the massive variety of vehicles on offer — not to mention the broad spectrum of Model Ts on display. However, the swap meet threw another huge and diverse
element into the mix, with all manner of items on offer for the keen bargain hunter — from vintage number plates and rusted parts from as far back as the 1920s, through to cars, motorbikes, and other motorized contraptions in varying degrees of completion. In recent years, another staple of the Marineland show has been the crowd-pleasing crane drops. Nigel Brown from Napier Auto Supplies provides an automotive carcass to be sacrificed for entertainment, and, once it’s been dropped by the crane a few times and deformed beyond recognition, the poor thing has two more sacrificial lambs launched into it at full speed. Mindless destruction is the name of the game, and the crowds love it — the stands are always full for this! When it comes to crowd-pleasing shenanigans, however, you can’t do much better than fire-ups, and a number of those took place
throughout the day. The most impressive were provided by Dave Bell and his supercharged and fuel-injected 1943 Allison aircraft engine, displacing a huge 1710ci and producing 1200hp at full noise. Rather less imposing but no less cool was Euan Mark’s iconic ‘Puff’n’Stuff’ T-bucket, which performed routine fire-ups throughout the day to the delight of all within earshot. There’s a million different reasons why the Marineland Hot Rod and Classic Car Festival is one of the best events of its kind on the calendar, and you’ll find just a handful of them throughout this article — check out the captions to see what it’s all about.
Below: It isn’t all classic bangers and V8 muscle. Jamie Taylor brought his 2008 Audi R8 over from Havelock North and must have enjoyed the drive: the 4.2-litre V8 goes like the clappers, and the engineering means that it handles as if it’s on rails....
Left and right: Ron Gubb travelled down from Mount Maunganui in his sweet ’32 roadster. Built around a Pete Osborne fibreglass body and powered by a small block, this thing must be a pretty fun ride, but it was the styling that captured the interest of...
Above: Glenn Munro’s freshly finished ’69 Chev stepside made its first outing to the show. Glenn has been working on this for a year, and totally stripped it before removing rust from the chassis and cab and installing new body panels. With the sole...
Below: Stevan Fisk’s 1956 Hillman Husky wagon is a very cool period-style concept build. It runs a 2.4-litre Vedette flathead V8 with a Toyota five-speed manual gearbox and plenty of custom work where the driveline, suspension, and brakes are...
Left: Brookfields Winery made some special wine for the event — maybe a keepsake or for those special hot rodding occasions?
Right: Malcolm Wilkie, from Napier Auto Upholstery, has a ’66 Impala four-door sedan that has been converted to what is essentially an El Camino. The Impala was right-hand drive from factory, and the ute conversion was done by John Curtain some 35...
Below: The Hawke’s Bay Radio Control Car Club had a set-up racing most of the day — these things can fly!
Below: Napier’s Pete Thompson has decided to put his ’55 Chev four-door sedan up for sale, and, judging by the amount of interest the car garnered, he shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a new home for it. The ’55 is a New Zealand–new model,...
Below: Even aliens made the trip to Meeanee to see what it was all about
Below: Fire-ups are always a hit, and those of the supercharged big block in Euan Mark’s famous Puff’n’Stuff T-bucket proved no exception
Above: This 1955 Chev limo has been a familiar sight around Napier for a long time, though it now resides in Taupo. Its owner, Shane Stothart, uses the limo to pick up guests who fly in for sightseeing around Taupo. The Chev was built in Christchurch...
Above: Geoff Mitford-Taylor has built his dream car — although it has taken him 45 years to get there! The ’32 Ford roadster is built to emulate the original ’32 roadster build by Barry Greer in 1966, and utilizes many parts from the original. Geoff...
Above: Dave Bell’s 1943 Allison V-1710 V12 aircraft engine performed fire-ups throughout the day. These engines were fitted to P-40 Kittyhawk, early P-51 Mustang, and P-63 Kingcobra planes. This particular one was a spare for a P-40N Kittyhawk....
Above: Simon Bethune from Napier has owned this 1970 Triumph TC 2000 for 12 years, although it’s nothing like it was when he first acquired it. The matte black machine is now powered by a 3.9-litre Rover V8, backed by a Toyota W57 five-speed and Quaife...
Below: Auto Survival Gear is the brainchild of Napier Auto Upholstery, and Malcolm’s daughter is the one who makes up the handy tool bags for your car. As she was missing in action, Malcolm kindly stepped in for the photo
Below: Members of the Hawke’s Bay British and European Car Club always turn up in force, and they brought tea and scones with them this time
Below: The ladies could find a moment alone by depositing dad and the kids at one of the many kids’ amusements throughout the show