IT WAS CLEAR IT SURE COULD BOOGIE
doing when it comes to running a burnout competition. With judges like NZBC and Summernats veteran Jenn Ireland on hand, everyone was judged fairly and accurately.
AutoFest wouldn’t be complete without a mullet competition, with a solid crowd of adults and kids queueing up to see who had the finest mullet. Nor had the AutoFest organisers forgotten the kids; bouncy castles, popcorn, candy floss, face painting, and much more helped keep them amused.
A wide variety of vehicles were on exhibit and we got to take a look at the potential candidates for Sunday’s awards ceremony. The judges were going to have a difficult time selecting the winners from the excellent array of American classics, low riders, Australian muscle, and hot rods. The list of remarkable cars could go on forever, but suffice it to say that the judges certainly had their work cut out for them.
As the day progressed, the sun and blue skies faded and dark black clouds came in, followed by the rain. While most people went home for the day, the few who were camping stayed to catch up and share a beer together.
S U N D AY
Sunday was another big day, and the forecast, which had predicted sunshine all day, came true. The activities from Saturday, such as Cruising Springfeild, light em up lane, and the burnout finals, were repeated. Attendees also enjoyed a rock and roll demo, the Miss AutoFest contest, and the award presentation to close out the weekend. While the light em up lane was going off and additional cars were lined up to destroy tyres, we grabbed the opportunity to observe the cars driving about Springfeild. Fitzroy Motorsport’s Hayden Wilby was preparing his NUTOUT VT Commodore for the burnouts and selling a wide range of merchandise that was a big draw for the spectators. The low-rider custom vehicles that Hayden Kirkwood and his team at Jokers Wild Kustoms had created were on exhibit in an awesome way. We were able to observe Ricky Ireland’s LS3 supercharged burnout ute — winner of the Summernats 33 Burnout Masters. This incredible, well-built, burnout vehicle had just one purpose: to smoke tyres.
An occasion like this is unimaginable without West Auckland royalty Liz and Ryan Gracie in attendance. They brought along their iconic EV1L 69 supercharged Camaro and their newest creation, a supercharged VX Holden Monaro. Many people were drawn to the car since it was clear from watching it perform on the light em up lane that it sure could boogie.
Simon Macleod’s wide-body DX Corolla, with its Gymkhana body design and supercharged LS engine, appeared to be a tonne of fun on the track. Shannon Te Huia’s ’53 Chev pickup truck could be seen cruising the track slammed out; the pickup has a stance that looks great on the classic. Trevor Tolhopf’s car stood out among the several Holden HQs we saw in operation over the weekend due to its build quality and Trevor’s popularity with onlookers during the light em up lane session. Josh Trybula’s 1969 Camaro put on an astounding display of horsepower, going down light em up lane countless times. Seeing Ben Martin’s double-trouble Ford XF and XG Falcon combo was