WHANGAMATA
The final day of Repco Beach Hop 16 was by far the cruisiest, as it has always been. Centred solely around the Ford NZ Reserve, the focus was primarily upon the Century Batteries Top 10 Shootout — the cream of the crop, as voted on by attendees. The Top 10 comprised five cars, three motorcycles, and two caravans. The crowds in attendance were given time to vote for their favourite among this fine selection of machines, by dropping coins into the bucket of their choice — whatever car, bike, or caravan raised the most money would take home the top gong. As this was happening, live music on stage helped get the crowds going, and, at noon, the formalities began. Top Car was the creatively assembled ‘SemiRat’ belonging to Dave Jeffery, with Top Bike being the Vicla-style Harley-Davidson of Wilson Ford, and Craig Jamieson’s 1970 Oxford named as the Top Caravan. With the ZZ Hop ’34 Ford coupe having been claimed by Richard Thomson and the Route 66 caravan having auctioned off for $20,000 the day before, the remaining prize — $10,000 cash — was yet to be claimed. A random number generator selected a winning entrant number, and Entrant 105, Bev Oswald from Katikati, became the lucky recipient of a fat envelope full of cash — a fitting reward for a lady who has been to every single Beach Hop, and a happy note to round out another great year of Beach Hop.
Grab a copy of NZV8BeachHopAnnual2016 in stores May 19, or preorder your copy at magstore.nz, for the full rundown, as what you’re seeing here really is just the tip of the iceberg .