FORD NZ CAR SHOW
THE NAME ‘WILLIAMSON PARK’ MAY SOUND RESTFUL, BUT THERE’S A WHOLE LOT MORE GOING ON DOWN THAT END OF TOWN THAN THE NAME MAY LEAD YOU TO THINK!
On any other week of the year, Williamson Park would be a great place to go and relax. The wide open space, the peace, the quiet, and the amazing beach — it’s what the Coromandel Peninsula is all about. Come Repco Beach Hop, though, and that all changes as the venue is transformed into the Ford Reserve. Months of planning go into Ford’s display, which is always impressive, but Ford has help in turning the area into a hive of activity. Smaller retailers from far and wide also gather, pop-up tents protecting heads from the sun, or, heaven forbid, merchandise from the rain. This year saw Ford’s impressive line-up of vehicles include not just various Mustangs and a Ford GT but also a few that, while not exactly fitting the big and burly V8 scene, were attracting just as much attention! Of course, if late-model refinement, a high level of sophistication, reliability, and all that we’ve come to expect from the Ford line-up didn’t spin your wheels, you didn’t have to go far to find some good old pushrod-motored fossil-fuel-burning hardware.
The Standard Pass parade ended on the park’s doorstep, and, with it having been headed by a special pickup parade, it was kerb-to-kerb load haulers almost as far as the eye could see. Whatever brand, year, colour, or style you fancied, there’s a damn good chance that it was there and getting plenty of attention. The beachfront Esplanade around the corner has to be one of the coolest locations in the world for a car show, and, as we’ve come to expect, the area was buzzing. While many owners had chosen to head off to check out other parts of Repco Beach Hop 18, plenty had made the wise decision to take things a little easier, rolling out a blanket and having a surf-side picnic. For locals, part of what makes Beach Hop worthwhile for the town is how much the event gives back, and one of the recipients is always the Whangamata Surf Life Saving Club. The club, being situated right in the thick of the action, makes a great area for bands to score some electricity to power their amps and mics to belt out the tunes that add to the already pumping vibe of the area. Of course, if you thought the Ford Reserve was pumping then, you had a serious reality check about to head your way.