Generations to clash in classic hillclimb
During the 1950s classic cars competed in the Ngawhini Classic Car Hillclimb; on March 4 cars from an earlier era will do the same.
The biennial event will welcome classic cars ranging from 1927 to the to-be-classics from the 21st century.
John Apps, the Egmont Classic Car Register (ECCR) president, said this year there would be close to 40 entrants from all over, including outside Taranaki.
‘‘We’ve got one chap coming from north of Whangarei and one or two people coming up from Wellington, so it’s quite an event on the North Island classic car calender,’’ he said.
Apps said the earliest cars were a 1927 Chevrolet Speedster and a 1927 Austin 7.
He said there was also a category for ‘‘future classics.
‘‘The idea is that they’re still a specialist vehicle that is likely to be a classic in future,’’ he said. ’’The majority of vehicles are from the 70s, 80s and 90s.’’
Apps said the South Taranakibased event drew in classic car owners for many reasons.
‘‘There’s some cars that are literally entered as demonstration vehicles and they will be basically driving fairly gently as much for the benefit of the crowd as for the driver,’’ he said. ’’Then there are other entries who are very much there to win their class, or even win the event out right, so they would be highly modified vehicles with tuned up engines and probably a roll cage, and sticky tyres.’’
The hill climb is a timed run
‘‘It's quite an event on the North Island classic car calendar.’’
John Apps
that gives the driver three opportunities to race, or show their vehicle, for 1.5 kilometres up the winding Ngawhini Hill.
The event ran in the 1950s and 1960s until it ‘‘shut up for a while’’, Apps explained.
‘‘Our club re-instigated it in the early 90s.’’
This year’s hill climb is dedicated to the memory of ECCR past president Murray Dawson who recently passed away. His energy and enthusiasm was said to have been essential to the running of this event for many years.
The ECCR run the event with the help of South Taranaki Car Club and many sponsors ,including Croucher and Crowder Engineering, who have helped with funding and are currently have naming rights.
This year’s event will shut the road off from 8am and have hill climbs starting at 10am with a gold coin donation as entry from spectators.