Mangakino HOP 2020

Yep, back into it for the second year running at Lake Mangakino again and what a massive day out!

After the success of the first event, it was obvious this one was going to go off with more cars and people turning up. Registrations for the day had to close off early due to the number of entries and the limited parking available. 420 registered early but as us car people do, we just arrive anyway making for a unofficial show up and down the road with even more cars.

Being pretty much central in the North Island, it’s an awesome opportunity for pretty much anyone in the Island to stop in for the day or make the most out of it, rent a house and party up for the weekend. Coming out of our National lockdown and this being one of the first major shows on, the talk coming up to the day was all about the cruise, catching up with mates and this crazy car family we seem to be in. The cruise over was the usual Waikato foggy cruise but rolling down towards the lake was such an awesome sight to make it all worthwhile!

The hill was lined with hot rods, street machines and trucks right to the bottom field on the lake front which was fully loaded with more shiny cars. The spill-over resulted in the top reserve being half full with the Mustang Clubs together making for a journey through time from the early sixties to right now! On the lake edge was a cool collection of bikes from modern, American, classic and even made-up bespoke bikes built from stationary engines in a Steampunk style complete with horse saddles as seats! These were actually running so you could watch it all work - now that’s pretty cool! Hot coffee and food waited for the masses who needed to warm up and take in the amazing view across the lake before wandering about the show. Music provided by a DJ gave the show a real festival atmosphere and the buzz from everyone finally being able to get out and about to go cruising again was fully alive. 4 Guys Auto Barn had a cool collection of modern American cars for sale lined up across in front of the stage. Being Mastercraft boat dealers, they also grabbed a locals late model wakeboard boat which suitably got dunked into the lake for a quick demo on how to do wakeboard flips in case anyone wanted to freeze just watching!

The variety of cars at these community run shows is always awesome. It’s like everything comes out of the woodwork and it really doesn’t matter what it is. It’s owned by a car person and driven! The standard of the cars was also way up there. There were some serious looking show cars lying around in the paddock which is awesome to see.

Throughout the day, different things were happening to entertain. The Mangakino Hop Pageant was on for all who wished to enter in retro attire. Cherry Diamond took away a sash with a cheeky grin and a twirl of her skirt. The sound-off certainly drew the crowd in. Instead of a stereo sound off, it was open headers to rock the crowd.

Starting off with a VW trike before the rumble of grumpy V8’s took over with a battle between the Aussies and American V8’s. Music to the ears that is. A good ole American Buick GSX took it away with the most crowd appreciation, and very impressively too! ‘People’s Choice’ for the day went to Geoff Kitson with his stunning 69 Nova. That beautiful chameleon paint and sneaky blown Chevy hiding under the bonnet being the crowd pleaser. The festivities didn’t just stop at the lake either. Back at the Mangakino RSA, the Hop team had an auction going for some seriously good prizes donated by sponsors before Taupo band “40 Watts” cranked up the sounds and kept the dance floor full in party mode. Over-all the team managed to raise around twenty thousand dollars of which one hundred percent goes back into the community. The list of sponsors is fantastic and the prizes donated showing just how much support and backing the team had in running this awesome day out. This is definitely an event to get in your diary for next year. I can certainly see it growing into a full-on weekend event.

Huge thanks to the fantastic sponsors here... 4 Guys Auto Barn, Star Insurance, ITM, Southpac trucks, Bus Stop Café, Lake Land Reality, Giggle TV, Maraetai Construction, Matamata Stihl Shop, Hynds Pipes, Watch World, No Cams, Spitfire Signs, PPG Paints, Aqua Heat NZ Ltd., Valve Solutions, Sweet as Popcorn, Z Energy, Spark and Running House Relocators.

So if you get the chance, get behind these sponsors and support them too.

So we shall see you there very soon. Registrations are open for this years event, so jump onto their Facebook page or website and get amongst it!!!!