PETROLHEADS @ PORIRUA

DOGS MADE WAY FOR HORSEPOWER WHEN PETROLHEADS @ PORIRUA TOOK OVER THE NEW ZEALAND KENNEL CLUB EVENTS CENTRE!

Petrolheads @ Porirua, hosted annually by the Western Bays Street Rodders, may be a hit with hot rodders from around the lower North Island, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that. While the most hardcore of hot rod and street rod enthusiasts firmly cement the event as the best — if not the only — indoor show that the capital city has to offer, the not-so-hardcore get blown away by the variety of cars that the capital seems to offer up. If you’re not familiar with the Wellington region, Porirua City, essentially the equivalent of Auckland’s Manukau City, is around half an hour or so from the CBD, with a mix of commercial areas and residential suburbs. The New Zealand Kennel Club Events Centre can be found within the commercial area. As its name suggests, it’s a dog-show facility first and foremost, but, between pruning and preening, it also plays host to indoor sports and, of course, come September each year, Petrolheads @ Porirua. For years now, NZV8 has been a regular visitor to the event, as it pulls out the best cars from around the region, and each time, the cars on display are different from the previous year’s. Better still, the quality displayed definitely rises each year, and,

this year, that was more obvious than ever. Adding to that is the reputation of the event, which sees more and more out-of-towners make the trip to debut or showcase their own vehicles. This year was no exception. Colin and Kerry Patterson brought their just-finished 1956 Buick Century, fresh from a detailed build at Jonesy’s Garage in Hamilton, and Mike Guy brought his Ford Bonus all the way from Tauranga. Local BurgerFuel store owner and main event sponsor Matt Kingi debuted his freshly completed Buick, and Wellingtonians Paul Bailey’s ‘Heminator’ Dodge Challenger and Dave Murtagh’s Ford Galaxie made their first local public appearance. All of these vehicles, amazing in their own different ways, were the easy picks for what would become one hell of a People’s Choice showdown. That’s not to detract from the rest of the cars, which also would have received enough votes from the public to keep those in charge of counting them busy.

The hot rod contingent was equally strong, as was the range of Japanese vehicles on display, the motorbikes, and the competition cars. Between checking them all out, most visitors found a stop at the temporary BurgerFuel set-up within the venue essential, while the kids found the on-site bouncy castle equally irresistible. Although, as usual, the big drawcard was what was on display inside the hall — in excess of 80 cars of all types — the outside area is also always worth a look, with cars ranging from Porsches and a Lamborghini replica through to modified Jappas, countless motorbikes, and everything in between, including various car clubs making it a club outing. If you’ve not yet made it to Petrolheads @ Porirua, we suggest you check it out for yourself — it’s doggone impressive.

Colin and Kerry Patterson’s Buick had only just rolled out the door from a full rebuild at Jonesy’s Garage in Hamilton. The car’s long lines are accentuated by an AccuAir airbag system, which drops it nice and low — although, for display purposes, the car was up on mirrors to showcase its detailed undercarriage. Understandably, the car took home the People’s Choice award

How’s this for a father and son combo? The HQ Sedan runs a Llama Engineering–assembled, fuel-injected, and intercooled blown 383ci small block, and belongs to Cory de Kort, while the blue tonner belongs to his dad, Paul. The ute’s packing an LSA supercharger atop a cammed LS2 monitored by a Racepak digital dash. Both cars have been tuned by Prestige Tuning. As the team behind Bridgestone Wainuiomata, Paul and Cory are unlikely to be too kind to the rear tyres on them, either! Look out for a full feature soon There’s not that many tough Fox Body Mustangs around, but Marshall Gare’s one suits that description. He’s owned the car for around 20 years, but has only recently pulled it out of storage and started to get some miles on it. The car has had a host of changes underneath, such as a diff from The Krysler Shop and a later model front-suspension set-up The toys belonging to local earthmoving contractor Vic Draper are a bit bigger than those of most others. Vic has a good collection of vintage trucks and machinery, and this 1966 R Series Oshkosh is the latest addition. Vic imported it from Australia with plans to use it for classic truck events in New Zealand. The Oshkosh runs a Caterpillar 3306 six-cylinder engine; the engines on the back relate to Vic’s earthmoving company — a D346 V8 engine for a 666 scraper also imported last week and two Caterpillar 3306 six-cylinder truck engines

Paul Bailey may live in Wellington, but, until now, his 528ci Hemipowered Dodge Challenger has not been seen in the local region. The car’s black paint belies the amount of workmanship that has gone into the body, a feature that flows over to the interior, where the custom dashboard wraps around into the tops of the doors and rear side panels. With the car’s teething issues now sorted, Wellingtonians are guaranteed to be seeing a whole lot more of this impressive machine over the summer months