GET AMONGST the massive coverage of Autorama in the Mystery Creek Events Centre with an outstanding display of new builds being debuted. Then skid it up with REV South in the deep deep South with an awesome Burnout Competition.
Man, it fully seems like I’ve been missing in action here!
This year has been absolutely crazy nuts busy along with every spanner I could possible find been thrown in the works as well.
Kicking off the New Year with the trip to Aussie and the full-on action-packed issue of Octane Fix Online dedicated to Summernats thanks to Chemz Ltd., followed by the trip down to the bottom of lil ole New Zealand to catch the Rev South Burnout Competition in Invercargill. Then a week later in Christchurch to catch Premier Events and their Prowear Chrome Expression Session weekend of action. The beginning of the year just seem to disappear on me.
The result of that trip down to the Southern land towing the caravan didn’t exactly do the ole Turbo Falcon any favors with the multitude of kilometres on the clock already from all my running around, the ole girl had just had enough. Not so much the engine, the ole chant of “Barra the world” still going strong but everything that gets the wheels to turn at the end of the driveline was simply worn out!
Hence I had to miss Rapanats which was a gutting decision I must say! So that weekend still remains on my “to do list” as it probably does with a lot of you.
I also had to do the limping run for home missing a bunch of events in the South Island as well.
The silver lining to that though is it just means I have to plan a trip down South again next year to catch all those weekends, which sounds awesome to me really!
Being grounded with a broken daily Falcon hasn’t been too bad though. I have finally managed to spend some time
Check out our video coverage on our YouTube channel
own shed on the Coupe which is pretty much on the home run to being done and dusted now.
Back to the car scene though. There is still heaps going on over the winter season which is awesome!
Bay Rodders had their annual Winterblast weekend which you can check out over on our YouTube channel. It is always a hard-case fun weekend with a Show ‘n Shine plus swap meet thrown in for good measure.
Whangarei Rod & Custom had their annual weekend as well and the Rotorua Rod and Custom Club teamed up the Toy Shed and the Rotorua Vintage & Veteran Car clubs 43rd annual swap meet made for an awesome weekend in Rotorua again.
So it’s still all go in the scene even though these wintery days are on us.
Jessica from Blissful Photography and myself have kicked off the planning for the next Tauranga Motorfest show to be held on November 2nd in the Tauranga Crossing carpark again. That was such an awesome day last year, that we just had to do it all again. We already have some very cool and different rides entered, so get amongst and get over to the Tauranga Motorfest Facebook page and enter via the online form.
There’s certainly a lot more shows coming up before the summer season so there’s
definitely no excuse for having nothing to cruise to.
Check out the “Coming events” at the back of the mag here to see what’s happening and let us know if you have an event you would like us to advertise for you or get along to.
Right, so it’s back to the cave for me to work on the Coupe. I can almost see the end of the list now.
ROCK ‘N ROLL all. Keep them wheels turning and GET AMONGST these events coming up!
Cheers!
Giggles (aka Bogan)
Photo credit goes
REV SOUTH... Get Amongst
HOLY what a weekend and trip this was!
When Brendan Kemp buzzed me up and said “we’re having a burnout comp and you’re pad side”. How could I possibly resist the thought of a trip down South to the very bottom of the Island, to park up for the weekend capturing a burnout comp with the Southerners!
All I had to do was figure out how the hell I was going to make it all happen!
She’s a fair ole trip from home in the Bay of Plenty to the bottom of the South Island so the thought was that if the weather turned crap for the weekend, I’m screwed with the cost of getting there and nothing to show for it. Especially if I flew down just for the event. Hence a bit of planning had to get involved with this one.
I love getting down South. Everything about the South is cool!
Being a bit of an addict with the camera button, as you know! The South Island is mind blowingly cool to get amongst! The scenery is absolutely unreal and the further south you go the crazy cooler it
gets, both on the coast and in land!
So, the plan hatched to line up a couple of events to get amongst while down there, hitched the caravan on again and hit the road for a massive road trip to the bottom of NZ!
The road trip itself is another story all by itself I tell ya! I certainly have to thank a few people on the way for keeping me on the road that’s for sure, as a few mechanical things didn’t really go to plan!
Mobile Welding Services in Wellington had to do a quick weld up on the caravan before I even got on the ferry. It was so cool that he actually follows what I get up to with Octane and I have actually photographed his car at the drags in Masterton. It was like bumping into a mate to give you a hand really. That was so cool to spin a positive vibe onto the “Oh No” situation I was in!
So, if you are in Wellington and need any welding done, GET AMONGST these guys for sure! They ROCK!
The shores of the South Island were my landing strip the next day, straight through to Christchurch, then off to a
beach in the middle of nowhere the next night on the journey to Invercargill, hitting the Burnout Comp Camp late friday afternoon to park up and GET AMONGST the scene.
Invercargill ROCKS when it comes to the motor racing and events scene there. The different tracks set up all in one area out of town is just awesome and should fully be a lesson to other councils!
The Burnout Pad is located in the centre of the Riverside speedway track consisting of a giant round concrete pad and a short concrete run in for the tip in.
There are no concrete barriers to worry about hitting as the concrete walls around the speedway track protect the public who are kept a good safe distance away from anything airborne or anyone losing themselves on the pad in the smoke and heading crowd ways.
This is a fantastic pad for learning on, trying new tricks or just going loose, it’s so big.
The event was planned as a two-day event but unfortunately the weather gods didn’t want to play ball on the saturday
with frequent showers passing through to keep the pad wet.
A good crowd of Southerners still turned up to come check out the action, so the day was treated as a practice day for anyone to just go out and have some fun and get to know the pad.
Heaps of competitors grabbed the chance to shred some tyres and test their cars, so it was still a full-on day until the rain really settled in, in the afternoon.
Losing the saturday for a two-day event meant the sunday was going to be ballistic for sure!
It was all go on the sunday with all the classes on for the day. Two heats for each class then the finals to decide the final tally of points and see who would walk away with the trophies and awesome prizes from the sponsors.
With 44 competitors in over six classes ranging from four cylinder to rotary’s, naturally aspirated six and eight cylinder, turbo six’s, Pro V8 for the blown animals and a ladies class, it was a full-on day for sure for the judges and the crowd to get amongst.
Luckily the rain stayed away on the
sunday but the breezy Southern wind was still in force which kind of work in favour of the competitors blowing the smoke to the side of the pad so they couldn’t get too lost as such.
Live band “Mama Said” kicked off the sunday session after playing in the rain saturday. Food and coffee trucks were a buzz as the day started to kick off with a quick drivers briefing before the cars rolled out onto the track to line up for the battle on the pad.
With a lot of seasoned competitors hitting the pad, the action was full-on from the first rev.
Getting through the 44 competitors twice over took a fair bit of the day to decide who was up for the finals.
With some awesome shows from Arnie Donaldson “LOLIFE” with Tyler Wells as co-driver to nail that ride off the bucket list. Liam McDonald in his screaming “NASCOON” and Turbo charged Escort “SRESKY”, Tony McLean in his V8 transplanted Corolla “LSDX” and the usual suspects like Garret Matthews in the Blown 1 Tonner “DSPRNG” and Che Watt with “SLUG” the 57 Austin J2 pickup just to name a few, it was a massive day
on the pad and definitely a hard day for the judges.
Rolly Lemin with “EVLMK5” V8 Cortina managed to split his diff housing parallel with the axle which is no mean feat, but managed to get the Cortina back onto the pad to compete in the next round with some make-shift repairs.
Matt & Kim Boulton with their Turbo charged six-cylinder 1938 Bedford truck “RFBEDFORD” jumped on board with a few turbo issues to ad to the carnage of the day before the finals but still managed to put on massive show for the crowd in both the Turbo Six class and the Ladies.
Fraser Agnew fully rocked the HQ Holden “TW33KD” pretty much loosing himself in the smoke.
Tony Johnson with the crazy build of the Blown Stroked 383 Chevy Morry hit the pad flying with coloured smoke and all peeling the tyre off the rim in no time.
Nathan Bull with the Holden one tonner “GHOST” also put on a massive display of smoke getting around the pad in good style but with a competitors list as good as this event had, it was go harder
than go hard or go home to make an impression in the finals.
Katlyn Stoddart was a stand in the Ladies class fully smoking the BA and covering the pad to gain the points to take out her class.
With no real carnage on the pad and a full-on day of burnout action, the sunday was a fully successful day for the Rev South Team who were also raising funds for the Southland Charity Hospital with the event.
She was a big day for sure and myself managed to flatten pretty much every camera battery trying to capture it all.
A quiet beer with prize giving in the Riverside Speedway Clubrooms was certainly appreciated that’s for sure.
With a heap of goodies from the awesome sponsors and some awesome looking trophies to hand out, the prize giving was a ball as well.
It was definitely awesome to see the happy faces with the results of the day after all their hard work had paid off.
Competitors travelled from all over New Zealand for this event to make it what it was and it certainly turned out to be an awesome weekend.
Arnie Donaldson travelled down from Napier for the sole purpose of ticking the bucket list with Tyler Wells codriving but managed to smoke the roof chopped XC ute into first place taking out the Naturally aspirated class.
Matt Bolton managed to keep the Turbo Six alive to take out his class with the lil Bedford still screaming!
Che Watt with the crowd pleasing blown Austin fully smoked his way to take out the Open class.
Jonas Lindasy took out the sixcylinder class and Connor Templetion grabbed the 4 cylinder and Rotary class.
This is certainly a well-run event to get amongst and the Southern Hospitality makes the trip down all worthwhile.
ROCK ON REV SOUTH!
RESULTS: 1-4th
SBF V8 na
• Arnie Donaldson
• Nathan Bull
• Liam McDonald
• Fraser Agnew
I-Hire V8 opening
• Che Watt
• Garret Matthew’s
• Tony Johnson
• Liam McDonald
All Tyres 6 cylinder turbo
• Matt Boulton
• Graham Chambers
• Dylan Nicoloau
• Brandon Farr-Wilson
RaceTrack Services 6 cylinder
• Jonas Lindsay
• Pete Crawford
• Leeson Templeton
• Josh Miller
CSDesign Ladies
• Katelyn Stoddart
• Kim Boulton
• Amy Webb
• Denise Farr
Mama Said 4 & Rotas
• Connor Templeton
• Liam McDonald
• Shamus Hannan
Fraser Agnew fully smokin out the pad with an awesome show of horsepower from the TW33KD Holden.
Liam McDonald screaming the NASCA powered Falcon into 3rd place in the NA division
Tony Johnson showing what a force feed 383 Chev can do in a lil Morrie
Arnie Donaldson and Tyler Wells showing what NA ALL DAY means!
Matt & Kim Bolton both screaming the Turbo Bedford winning the 6 cylinder Turbo class and 2nd in the Ladies
Che Watt always puts on a massive show in the 57 Austin with his LS 253 ... hahaha
Tony McLean put on an awesome tyre shredding show in the LS powered DX
Rolly Lemin going hard even with a broken diff housing
Tom Nolan had an awesome weekend shredding with his V8 powered Mk2 cortina
Fraser Agnew derservedly winning a CHEMZ gift pack with his efforts
Nathan Bull blowing the tyres off the HZ one tonner
She’s a tyresome job for the saftey crew
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Autorama
Welcome to this full-on coverage of the first ever Autorama held in the Mystery Creek Events Centre.
This massive show brings industry suppliers and show cars together under one roof for a massive three day show for anyone to immerse themselves in our awesome scene.
This massive show with around one hundred and eighty cars on display under lights and companies ranging from parts suppliers to custom body shops, engine builders and general trades associated with the scene, packed the Events Centre for an awesome display of shiny bits and colour.
Indoor shows like this always get me excited! To have the chance to set the cars up fully to display them using lights, mirrors and even a theme going on is just majestical. Hahaha, to steal a word.
Lucky for me, I got to sneak in early to get around the cars to video the show, but even getting in a couple of hours
early wasn’t enough time. This show was super-cool with some awesome displays going on to show the cars off.
Ten of the cars were debuted at the show on the friday morning. Each unveiled to the crowd one by one with the owners there to go through the build experience and how it all came about.
If you have built a car yourself, you will know that you learn fast that things just don’t go as you had planned. It’s either the car itself or a trade throws a spanner in the works for you to work around or there was just a couple too many “hold my beer” moments, and the project transforms from a quick tidy up
and a new set of wheels into a massive show build complete with new engine, custom work inside and out, a couple of years in the shed and a hole in your wallet! hahaha!
I’m sure that happens more often than the quick tidy up does.
The stories behind some of these cars being unveiled was truly amazing how it all came about. Showing the passion that drives owners to go through the experience to bring their own dream into reality.
I’m picking there was a whole heap of “hold my beer” moments in this shed by the finish of these builds.
The Toy Shed had a fantastic display of builds and parts for sale as well.
The one common factor in the entire centre over the three days was the smiles I reckon.
There’s something about these automobiles that just makes us smile. Whether it’s the memories that flood back at the sight of an old car from the past, or the enjoyment of admiring a piece of auto art on display, they just evoke an emotion visible to anyone around and I’m sure it’s contagious.
It’s funny, people always ask me which car I think is the best and I never know. I mean, how can anyone just pick one! They all have their own identity and goal of what the car is to the owner, so to pick just one as best is a feat I don’t envy for anyone.
The quality of the builds at this show is certainly outstanding and way up there with overseas builds.
The size of the Events Centre is certainly a bonus for the show as well. Having the space to spread the displays apart allows for a bit of extra attention to the displays and the crowds of people having room to
wander at will through it all is awesome. Combing the trade stands with it all is just great. Being able to check out a new set of wheels or engine parts. Even machinery to produce your own custom parts and be able to ask an actual car builder or restoration guru about your project is awesome.
Companies like our own awesome sponsor CHEMZ Limited were there to answer any queries regarding products and suggest which are best for whatever mission you are on with your project. Machinery House had an awesome display with their selection of tools and machinery available. Demonstrations of
CSR’s stunning Mk1 Escorrt
Stunning build by ‘Rods by Reid’
how to use their Power Hammer drew a good crowd with keen home builders looking to create their own works of art.
Several hot rod and custom car builders had awesome displays to show off their work. Displaying the quality that could be achieved by having a project completed by companies that specialize in this industry.
From drag cars to street muscle cars and hot rods, if you wanted to build something, there was someone in the centre who could help you out for sure!
The Toy Shed from Rotorua had an awesome display of performance parts along with several builds from the shop set up for people to check out.
Rods by Reid unveiled their gorgeous Ford pick-up which has been on the build sheet for a while. But as we know when you’re building other people’s dreams,
your own always gets put aside for while, so it was awesome to see the completed project unveiled.
The stunning finish and custom work in their pick-up is simply gorgeous and a credit to the quality and effort they put in.
Real Rides Limited has a stunning pairing of Dodge muscle cars on display with a 67 Charger complete with a 440ci Mopar you could take home to make the garage look complete if you wished. The build finish on both the Chargers being outstanding and definitely eye catching.
CSR – Custom & Classic Restoration Rod Shop has a stunning Mk1 Escort on display with a better than original restoration finish showing off their work along a project chassis which was awesome to check out.
There was honestly something for everyone on display in the Events Centre.
Food stalls and coffee venders were set up outside along with picnic tables to wander out to and enjoy the sunshine before heading back to admire the auto art.
The carpark outside turned into a hot rod and muscle car show all by itself during the day with rides rolling in from far and wide.
This is definitely a cool show to get amongst and you most certainly will want to put the day aside to wander around or make it a destination cruise to go check it all out.
I love indoor shows for this reason! They are definitely a step up from your average show having awesome displays to check out.
So GET AMONGST the next Autorama coming again for sure!
Trevor Halsted’s stunning Studebaker. Just one out of his collection of custom Studebakers showing off his incredible custom build talent.
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COMING EVENTS...
Check out what’s coming up and what’s going down.
> Next up we go Nostalgia Drag Racing with Bay Rodders at the NAPA Auto Parts Dragway - Meremere for an awesome weekend at the track
> Then head to the NZHRA Hot Rod Nationals Show ‘n Shine for an awesome display of custom builds, hot rods and street machines
