Kumeu Hot Rod Event

For many years now members of the club have been taking their cars to the club car display on the Sunday of this two day event. In the early days a lot of our cars went and people made it a picnic day out, however over the years the numbers attending have declined but we always have a few there.

Next year we are going to make it an earlier start as there are now huge numbers attending and we were in the actual arena this year along with a great number of other cars but it is a little out of the way for the public to walk so the foot traffic was a lot smaller. But we could see the entertainment quite close up. This was a stunt outfit doing crashes and jumping over ramps etc, and a tank running around squashing things. In the last act of a car driving up a ramp and jumping over a line of cars the driver was apparently hurt. (They do not use roll cages or bars) as a ambulance came later and he was taken to hospital.

The sheds had the usual highly painted Hot Rods some are works of art. There are lots of unrelated stalls and others of automotive content. Swapmeet items and vehicles for sale in various states of restoration (or non as the case may be). A band plays most of the day and Mr. Whippy does a good trade along with other food outlets.

This year it was warm and dusty as we were next to the trotting track and the wind was quite strong. They have a prize giving but I did not hear who won as we were too far to hear the address system, but I do not think any of our vehicles had the entry forms up on the windscreens.

We went home about 2.30pm, along with the Chaplin’s, John had gone about 12 noon as he had something else to do. So as you can see the club had three cars there John in his Tourer, Peter in his Prefect and Bud and Thelma in their Prefect, also with us were 2 Cortinas driven by members of the Chaplin family who are trying to start a Type of Cortina Club.

I saw no other members there this year, one person who had a friend wrecking some cars near Wellington said he may donate some parts but he has made no further contact.