Octane Fix Online Issue 28

t o g e v ’ e w d n a s a m t s i r h C !

E It’s N O Y R E V E r something fo

ISSUE

for Christmas s ie d o o g h it w m e d p a cke d Pageants, This issue is jam at Amisfield, Burnouts, Retro ar show!

Racing NZ’s biggest c d n a s n including Drag a v ra a C Retro

Well, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I’m not sure where that year went to, but we’ve cranked through a whole bunch of issues of Octane Fix Online again!

What a busy year it’s been with a heap of new events happening this year.

Autorama in Hamilton was another new event for the calendar. That was another awesome three day indoor show to get amongst! I fully love the indoor shows! The standard of the vehicles just steps up that extra notch with lighting being available and the extra effort from being able to show them off due to being set up inside.

NZHRA had their National Hot Rod Show inside as well and that drew a fantastic crowd to wander around during a wet weekend.

On the topic of new shows, did you know that we actually had our very own show? Hahaha, like how could you have missed us promoting that! Hahaha.

That was such an awesome day for us.

Teaming up with Jessica from “Blissful Photography” to run Tauranga Motorfest as a fund raiser, the turnout was awesome and honestly blew us away with the support from you all getting behind us. We thank you all so much for that again, it was honestly awesome!

The calendar for the year coming up is certainly filling up fast as well. We are off to Aussie on the 1st to

ISSUE

Check out our video coverage on our YouTube channel

get amongst Summernats for the next issue thanks to CHEMZ Ltd. I fully can’t wait to get into that issue to bring to you. It’s definitely going to be something special!

On this side of the ditch, it’s all go for January as well with the World’s First Car Show to be held on the 1st of January in Whangamata.

Then it’s all go with the Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival, Muscle Car Madness, Cruise Martinborough and the list continues!

organizer’s of events too. Letting us get in early to grab video cover is awesome! Some days are quite tricky to achieve coverage with the crowds of people around so that’s awesome that you let us in to wander around in our own lil worlds.

Of course, I can’t leave out my two awesome helpers here. Lisa and Kyla are amazing at getting this magazine together with what I give them! They make me look good! Haha

I’m pretty stoked they are still extracting dinosaurs from the ground to keep us rockin around that’s for sure!

So ROCK N ROLL all, GET AMONGST and get into these shows and events coming up! It’s going to be another awesome year!

This issue here has been cool to get into. It is actually a bit of a catch-up issue of the year that has been. From wicked old-school drag racing to burnouts and shows including retro pageants, retro caravans and just good ole park ups! It pretty much sums up this awesome scene that we rock around in getting amongst the action. There’s never a dull moment that’s for sure!

Cheers and Happy New Year all!

Giggles (aka Bogan)

It’s hard to believe we have cranked through to issue twenty-eight of this magazine! It seems to have happened so fast! I’d like to give a MASSIVE THANK YOU to our sponsors for getting behind us here and backing us with our coverage to bring to you and also want to thank all of you that have got behind this and shared our online posts, bought merchandise and supported us to get amongst the scene attending events.

Massive thanks to the

Photo credit goes to the awesome Rod Dunn from Creative Auto Photography

Premier Events crank in with an EPIC burnout competition during their Prowear Chrome Horsepower Festival to send the four top burnout competitors over to Aussie with their cars to compete at Summernats against the Aussies. That was such a full-on weekend to cover with so much going on!

OCTANE FIX ONLINE:

CONTENTS: Awesome olds-cool drag racing! Tokoroa Street Rooders Inc Amisfield Dragstrip...........................................................................................04

0274 827 221

Autofest 2023 - Smoken Hot at Meremere!!!.......................................................76

www.octanefixonline.com

Rockin at The Hop!! - Beach Hop 2023...............................................................158

www.facebook.com/Octane-Fix-Online

EDITOR / PHOTOGRAPHER / VIDEORAPHER: Kelvin Couchman (aka Giggles or Bogan)

info@octanefixonline.com

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DESIGNERS: Lisa Lewis / Kyla Saunders

Awesome olds-cool drag racing!

TOKOROA STREET RODDERS INC - AMISFIELD DRAGSTRIP GET AMONGST this awesome day at the Amisfield Airstrip with the Tokoroa Street Rodders Inc. This is such a cool day out! Taking you back in time to when drag racing was done on whatever straight piece of tarmac was available.

Remember back in the day when we used to race on racetracks like Bay Park and Taupo and the atmosphere of the dragstrip was raw just like a street race?

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get this article out. I so loved this day!

Flicking back through the photos brought it all back from the good ole days.

Amisfield Dragstrip is based on the Amisfield Airstrip in Tokoroa, which is just long enough for a good quarter mile strip and run off.

Just like the old-school days, the pit area is the grass area leading onto the landing strip with a flat bed truck as the stage on the start line and a caravan for the control team with the timing and lights.

There is a concrete barrier to protect the crowd from any racers getting off line, but the other side is open area grass land as if running a street race.

It’s awesome and so has that old-school feel vibrating through it with the sound of open headers busting through the country air!

I LOVE IT! The racing itself was just as awesome with everything from junior dragsters to

full-on drag bikes and some seriously cool drag cars lining up to pull some seriously quick times on the strip.

The vibe on the strip is just raw! With Allan Norris’s Blown V8 EH Holden to turbo charged imports, the action is loud and right at your feet!

You would swear you had just stepped back in time walking across the airstrip to go check out the cars. You honestly can’t help but smile as the vibe of the relaxed atmosphere grabs hold of you.

The pit area is like a team of people helping each other out to make sure everyone can get a good race in.

Tinkering with engines, packing shoots or checking tyre’s, it’s a vibe of activity but chilled like a picnic at the park at the same time.

The junior dragsters had a fantastic turnout of competitors as part of their points series. These impressive machines built as replica’s of the rear engine rail cars may look small, but they pack a fair amount of horsepower to weight ratio to propel them down the shortened track with an acceleration that honestly out does a lot of street drag cars.

The sight of a Steve Barry’s 32 Deuce Coupe rolling up to battle it out against an old American Flamed Chevy Bel Air is just too cool for words!

If you have ever watched that old movie “Two Lane Blacktop” you will know the feeling this track gives when these old school rides roll up to the line and smoke the rears.

Wayne Fowler with his Blown Camaro was out to prove a point with his Camaro wheel standing off the start line.

A couple of altered drag cars threw another aspect into the street race feel to show how raw the old school days were.

It wasn’t just a day of old school though.

A few late model street cars rolled in to get amongst the action throwing down some tyre shredding action before lining up.

The day itself was scorching hot with the summer sun beaming down on the track, but a strong southerly wind ripping straight down the track made everyone work for their times. Luckily the track was hot and sticky with a bit of prep to still get a good start in and achieve some quick times.

The team at Tokoroa Street Rodders Inc. run an awesome day at the strip.

It is so cool to have the rawness of an airstrip drag race still going on. There’s just something about it. I’m not sure if it’s because it brings back them old memories, but the action sure seems raw and awesome to GET AMONSGT! Jump onto their FaceBook page and check out the dates for the upcoming events. They are so worth getting amongst!

Steve Barry’s staunch lil Deuce Coupe from Issue 25 lining up to battle it out.

The Junior Dragsters acceleration is awesomely quick!

Was a scorcher of a day for full leathers!

Wayne Fowler getting the front wheels off the tarmac with his launch

Cindy Mendoza is always keen to peddle the BurgerFuel 69 Camaro down the strip!

PRESS PLAY TO SEE THE FULL VIDEO

Two winners for AutoFest 2023 – Gizzy Galore with Matt Elliott’s stunningly well finished pickup.

AUTOFEST 2023 Smoken Hot at Meremere!!!

Holy, another epic event run by Downtime Entertainment with the AutoFest weekend!

With the move to the NAPA Auto Parts Dragway Meremere, the event seems to have grown even bigger.

This weekend is full-on entertainment for all. From cruising to show ‘n shines, flag drop drag racing and burnouts to a full-on retro pageant to entertain the crowd.

If all that wasn’t enough, there was even a massive fireworks display to check out on the Saturday night.

Along with all that going on, heaps of venders were there selling everything from retro clothing through to bits ‘n pieces for the caves.

This event caters for all us rev-heads in general. From the low-rider scene and

rotary builds to customs and fully blown drag and skid cars made wandering around the pit area enjoying the show ‘n shine awesome! The variety of builds to soak in is fantastic!

Events like this are awesome I reckon.

They bring everyone in the car scene together to simply enjoy the atmosphere. It really doesn’t matter what the ride is, we’ve all got the revhead gene that makes us just want to GET AMONSGT! Meremere is a great spot to run events like this. Everything is right there and you can even camp over for the weekend with the food vendors and amenities available.

Braden Smith fully lighting up the Burnout pad!

AutoFest kicks off on the Friday with track cruising at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park until it’s pack-in time at the dragway.

In between all the action on the track and pad, the massive Tarus Monster Truck put on a demonstration before taking people for rides around the camp.

The pit area and strip is now NAPAVILLE! The new suburb of the NAPA Auto Parts Dragway for entrants to cruise the main.

Evening time brought on the Flag Drop Drags to battle it out for an 1/8 mile drag race before an awesome fireworks display to finish off the days entertainment in Napaville.

Once settled in, there’s a night cruise to Repco in Pukekohe for entrants who wish to go for a cruise and park up for a casual show for the public to check out.

Saturday soon rocks around and it’s all go today!

Kicking off with more cruising before the Show ‘n Shine and “Light em up lane” cranks up for those looking to shred some tyres during the cruise.

The stage drew a good crowd to check out the Best Mullet Competition for both adults and juniors before the qualifying for the Burnout competition kicked in.

With a massive list of entrants looking to battle it out on the pad, the burnouts sessions were full-on action with every entrant throwing down the hammer to try and make the finals on the Sunday.

Sunday was set for another full-on day of action and entertainment.

Kicking off with cruising around Napaville before the “Light em up lane” was open again for those itching for a skid up session.

More action was on the main stage as well with the stage walk for the best dressed crew to see who was the fashion statement for the weekend.

Straight after that was the Retro America Miss AutoFest competition.

With three categories for the entrants to show themselves off including a talent section, the retro costumes from a bay gone era were amazing!

Between running back and forth from the stage with the Miss AutoFest competition and the finals of the Burnout competition going on, the day just seemed to get busier and busier with action before it was all done and dusted.

With Downtime Entertainment joining up with Burnout Masters, the quality of builds rolling up to compete to be part of the action was awesome!

There was definitely some awesome burnout action going on with several fire ups for the fire crew to jump onto to keep it all safe.

Branden Smith with HAUNT U had a massive fire up with the build up of rubber under the rear guards leaving a trail of burning rubber during his skid session.

Back at the Retro America Miss AutoFest competition, the winners were decided with Best Bio going to Miss Katie Cupcake, Hair & Makeup to Miss Chevy Chevelle with her amazing effort, Outstanding Personality to Gizzy Galore and Outstanding Outfit to Miss Sweet Jean for her incredible dress designed and sewn by herself.

Arnie Donaldson with LOLIFE shredding the rears with Rolly Lemin in the finals of the Burnout comp.

Miss AutoFest 2023 Runner Up went to Miss Chevy Chevelle in her amazing Queen outfit with the grand title of Miss AutoFest 2023 going to Gizzy Galore with her full-on bundle of energy kicking her shoes off and exploding across the stage.

The burnout finals were taken out by Liz Gracie with EVIL 69 for the Pro V8 class with her awesome tyre frying burnout!

Arnie Donaldson in the LOLIFE XC Falcon Ute took the Naturally Aspirated class with his screaming V8.

Steve Ellicott with LOROTA thrash his Rotary Mazda to take out the Rotary class and Shaun Jury with BARELY taking out the six-cylinder section.

The overall winders for the burnouts with the Best tip-in also went to Shaun Jury with Liz Gracie taking out the overall top prize for best burnout.

In the show ‘n shine section, Matt Elliott with his awesomely well finished

JWDRPR pick up took out the overall winning prize along with Top Custom as well.

The Grand Master for the weekend went to Steve Ellicott with LOROTA for driving the wheels off his car all weekend. Taking on the burnout pad, light em up lane, flag drop drags and just getting amongst the whole scene all weekend!

Downtime have a lot coming up over the next year. Teaming up with Burnout Masters to take two winning cars over to Australia to compete against the Aussies in the Burnout masters comps over there. So watch their fakebook page for more information about those events coming up.

So watch this space for more info about the next AutoFest weekend, they are well worth getting amongst and the bonus is you get to drive the wheels off your ride if you want!

Miss Chevy Chevelle in one of her amazing outfits.

Hayden Wilby is always keen to slam some gears on the pad.

It’s always full-on action with the Simpsons!

Gizzy Galore taking out Miss AutoFest 2023

Liz Gracie always putting on a massive display to take out the top prize.

Steve Ellicott driving the wheels off LOROTA all weekend!

Miss Sweet Jean with her stunning outfit.

Ricky Ireland smoking up the pad big time in the blown Holden ute.

PRESS PLAY TO SEE THE FULL VIDEO

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> We get amongst the awesome Frankton Thunder with streets full of cars, hot rods and steampunk. Plus we check out the MASSIVE Autorama show for its first event at Mystery Creek in Hamilton + More Feature Cars!

ROCKIN AT THE HOP! Beach Hop 2023

Holy, another awesome five days of cruising with cool cars, retro caravans, retro pageants, custom bikes, live bands and just full-on awesome entertainment.

If it seemed like we only just had the previous Hop, it’s because we literally have for the previous two events.

With all the cancellations, weather bombs and everything else nature wanted to throw at the event, Noddy Watts and his team still managed to get this awesome event off the ground and rocked it out for the entire five days of The Hop. This year’s event celebrated the centennial of the T’bucket in the Hot Rod world with a massive gathering of T’buckets lining up to get amongst the action.

Kicking off on Wednesday in the gold mining town of Waihi is always a blast!

The main street and side streets filled up fast with Beach Hop entrants rolling in from the cruise over the hill from home base at Whangamata and more meeting in Waihi to join in on the way to Hop Central.

Heaps of entertainment was set to go in the town with live bands playing and popup stores all along the main street selling olds-cool goodies for the caves.

The traditional Undie 500 Race was on at midday for those looking to out stride the competition with a relay of sprints up and down the main street.

This is always an awesome town to kick

the proceedings off for the rest of the week with a cool cruise through the hills and back to Whangamata to finish the day off, cruising the main like the good ole days.

Thursday this year had a change of plans due to a massive slip during one of the many weather bombs taking out the main highway from Whanagmata to Thames.

This stunningly scenic road is unfortunately prone to slips due the hilly terrain as much of the Coromandel area is.

The new plan for the day was for those who wished to do the full cruise around the Coromandel Peninsula via Whitianga,

around the top of the Peninsula to Thames. Then back via Waihi again to Whangamata.

Depending on if you wanted to just cruise and catch the awesome scenery all along the coast, including the live bands at different spots in each township, or take it on as a mission, the cruise can take around four hours, or however long you want it to really.

Upon rolling into the rugby grounds though, you could test just how loud your ride was to see who would have the honours of leading the Thunder Cruise out to Onemana. The sound of open headers cracking the morning air like the farms morning rooster!

This is always a massive day at the beach, and it is such an awesome spot to park up for the day.

Whitianga and the infamous Coroglen Tavern were prime spots for many to just stop at and watch the world go by for the day, chilling and catching up with mates as we do.

Once again, the live bands and bbq’s were ready for the crowds to arrive and the road all the way out to the beach was dotted with crowds of people parked up to watch the convoy cruise past.

Friday is Castrol Thunder Cruise day with everyone lining up at the local rugby grounds before convoying over the hill to the awesome Onemana Beach to park up for the day.

The top of the hill before dropping down to the beach is always a massive spot for parking up to catch the cars with people setting up for the day just to catch the cruising in and out.

With well over a thousand entrants at The Hop, the cruises go for a fair while with a lot to check out.

The show at the beach was massive with a heap of entertainment including Karl Boniface with the Castrol Edge Funny Car set up to blast a few decibels. This Nitro snorting blown animal always draws a massive crowd to watch and listen to.

The blown V8 shakes the ground with its thump of horsepower with every start up.

Back in Whangamata the retro markets were in full swing with all sorts of goodies for sale and for those keen to just chill in the local cafés and watch cool cars cruise past, this was an awesome chance for that.

The main street of Whangamata becomes the cruise strip come night time. Oldschool rides, hot rods and customs all

cruising the main, bumper to bumper with onlookers packing the sidewalk to catch the action.

Live bands are spread all along the street to entertain the crowd and the Repco Garage HQ marque set up in the middle of the main street was pumping with live bands to rock the night out!

Friday night is the retro caravan light party as well. With the camping area alight with fairy lights and decorations from the old days and The Flaming Mudcats band jamming out awesome sounds, the area becomes a massive party to wander around enjoying the light show.

The decorations and effort gone into some of the displays is truly awesome to check out!

Saturday is the big “Show Day” for The Hop. The entire town becomes a hive

of activity with shows set up all around town.

where all the action rolls to at the end of the Saturday.

From low riders, pre 49 hot rods, pickups, retro caravans, custom bikes and classics, they are all set up in different areas to wander around after the main parade had cruised through town.

The stage is set for the BurgerFuel Vintage Competition with the retro fashion coming alive on the stage.

Splitting the parade into two just to be able to park all the entrants makes for a massive day wandering around checking it all out.

Each show has its own live band entertaining the crowd while wandering around the cars.

Rock ‘n roll clubs had their own display in the centre of town showing how it’s all done with bystanders joining in to get amongst if they wanted.

Williamson Park on the beach front is

With some awesome prizes up for grabs, the fashion statements and on-stage antics to win are awesome and hilarious to say the least.

Sammie Sinister won the crowd and judges over strutting her stuff on the stage complete with her toolbox.

The atmosphere in the park is a giant party from days gone by, or at least since the last Hop! Cool cars parked everywhere and pop-up markets buzzing with people while live bands jam out good ole rock ‘n roll music from the stage.

Looking out from the stage over a sea of people all enjoying themselves is awesome and shows the fun that happens with The Hop. With the awesome sponsors behind the scenes with this event, the prizes up for grabs are amazing really! Just for being an entrant you have the chance to win a Harley Davidson five thousand dollar voucher, a Kiwi Plates voucher, a ten thousand dollar entrant draw and a massive fifty thousand dollar cash draw.

The only trick is you must be there to claim it, which actually turned out to be the hardest part as it took a few random draws to actually get the winners to claim the cash prizes.

This year’s entertainment on stage included a “King of the Hop” competition for any keen Elvis impressionists to get up and bang out a few songs to the crowd.

With the fashion statement and entertainer Elvis was, the competition was full-on entertainment with the winner taking away ten thousand dollars cash and the bragging rights.

Che Orton won the crowd over with his awesome impression of The King getting his shake on!

Saturday evening and the main street of Whangamata becomes cruise central again with cool old cars cruising the main and the sidewalks full of people parking up to watch it all happen.

Sunday and it’s back at Williamson Park again for the final cash draw and the deciding of the ‘Top Vehicle’ for Beach Hop 2023.

The top five cars, bikes, tot rods and caravans as picked from the previous shows are set up in front of the stage for people to vote for their top choice by dropping coins into a bucket in front of each vehicle.

awesome Blown Morris School Bus. This crowd favourite was certainly rolling the streets all week after the teams long haul up from the deep south.

This is always a full-on event to get amongst. Whether you’re on the street cruising or just watching it all happen, there is always something going on to entertain you and take you back to the good ole days of cool cars and rock n roll!

This is all part of the awesome fund raising that The Hop does for local charities in the area.

The whole event raises an awesome amount of cash for good causes and is an awesome testament of the work that Noddy and The Hop Team put in each year.

This year’s top vehicle was one straight out of the bag and totally different to the norm.

John Popenhagen took out the 2023 Hop bragging rights with his creation of the

The retro caravan light party on the Friday night is always a spectacular show!

The Pre 49 Show on the Saturday is always an awesome wander around!

Paul Bailey’s 1970 Dodge Challenger looking stunning in black with custom red interior

Leanne Scott’s 1972 Oxford Sunseeker “Rusty”.

This awesome retro rusty finished caravan and tow ride taking out Top Caravan of the show!

Peter & Delilah Schimanski’s 1971 Holden Monaro - always a stunning piece of engineering from Kruzin Kustoms

Rachel Perrit’s 1932 Ford 3 window Coupe immaculately finished by Kruzin Kustoms

Trevor Halstead’s unbelievably cool Studebaker Bomber

PRESS PLAY TO SEE THE FULL VIDEO

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Design through to your finished product Pure CNC consists of two sections, Pure CNC Profiles Ltd and Pure CNC Works Ltd.

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