NZ Trip 2011....HR Blowout/shed visits/Nostalgia Drags...PICS GALORE!

This years inductees into the Hall of Fame were Eddie Faiburn and Squeak Bell. Very well deserved.





Inductees get their name on the custom painted 59 Chevy trunklid....



The afternoon had a few good rain showers but the auction was held . The auctioneer was Chris Harris and he did a fine job! The Harris family races at Bonneville with a Ford powered roadster. Chris lost the use of his legs in a crash at Bonneville several years ago. Son Lincoln is the current driver and VERY generously donated his 200mph helmet with all the Bonneville meet stickers on it to the auction.

 

hey Kev,
Great pics, looks like you had a blast and great to catch up for a few minutes, Not sure if you are eyeing up a job for the tourist industry or the local bakers ) but good to see someone with an appreciation of a good bakery feed....
See ya next time or over there again.

 

First time out for all to see was the almost finished Nitro flathead powered dragster of Grease Martin and Andrew Rea. Don't tell anyone but I think their ultimate goal is to bring this car over to the States some time and run the quickest ET ever by a flathead powered car. The car is an absolute work of art. Mike Roberts has helped Grease and Andrew alot with the fabrication.

 

looks like one hell of a trip.

 

Last of my pics from the Blowout....

 

Looks like a very cool trip home for you, and i see Watties tomato sauce featured several times.
Very nice pics, with my 1/8th scale 32 tucked in behind GB. (ive just sold it.)
Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

Hanging out with cousins, nephews, neice etc A nice little family reunion. Cousin Brent (far right) is a Chevy man from way back. His son Richie (far left) is a big time Impala nut but will settle for his new Monte Carlo project...



and my brother Colin.

 

excellent Kev; I got a few photos of the blowout here:
/http://www.flickr.com/photos/alkemist/sets/72157626432771042/
There's more to come once Cal releases his next installment of the Hot Rod Revue vzine.

By the way the last issue is here: http://www.vzine.co.nz/
regards Al

 

Awesome Kev.
Damn shame I missed it all.

 

Kev, Nice to see the hot rod scene alive and well in the southern hemishere.Also nice for you to see family that is so important . Rob

 

a trip to be remembered,thanks for shareing

 

Great stuff Kev - Russ, killer '55 and loved the action pics. Looks like a great trip that would be a blast to do. Man the waves there look tempting as well. How's the long boarding there? I'm a sucker for a sweet pastry so would fit in well. Its really cool seeing all the vintage iron there on the other side of the planet it seems. Talk about die-hard hot rodders, wow. I have to ask, what does gas cost there (like it would matter right?).

Brad


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wow ,you sure looked like ya had a great time !!! even got to a dirt track !! NZ might just be on my bucket list !

 

Man Kevin looks like you had a good time, feels nice to visit family you don't see every day. Nice trip pictures, love the beach pic's. Will talk to you soon.

 

Gas is about $10 a gallon, I think. Plenty of good longboarding waves. I got to surf on Day 4. No pics of that though.

OT..DAYS FOUR-SEVEN.....Mon, Tues, Wed....Visiting Mum & Dad.

I headed North on Monday. I planned a stop at New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine headquarters in Orewa, a beach town just north of Auckland. Paul Grace, the editor and his sweet wife Liz are hard core surfers and since there were waves that day offered to take me surfing. Orewa is a mellow beach break which suited me fine since I hadn't surfed for a while. The water was beautiful and the waves were about 3 feet, we surfed for close to a couple of hours and had a light lunch before I continued on North.
Thank's Paul and Liz!



My parents live In Whangarei heads which is about 3 hours North of Auckland. The roads in New Zealand are real nice. The scenery consists of beautiful farmland, cows, sheep, little towns, native bush,trucks etc.





It is easy to find solitude in NZ. You can have a whole beach like this to yourself.....



So I finally made it to my parents house and it was big hugs all around. They were both hard working people their whole life and now are retired and relaxing. My dad's favourite thing is to sit on his deck in the late afternoon and enjoy a couple of bottles of his home made beer. I don't drink but joining in seemed like the right thing to do.

Their house, on the left..


Ma and Pa Perry




Since this part of the trip is not car related I will throw in a few old shots from the family album. No one else in my family is into cars like me. My dad was a carpenter as were my 2 brothers. I also have 2 sisters who both live in Australia.I am the second youngest.

First my dad in his younger days when he was dating my mum. This was his friends AJS. Dad had a 350 Machless, red and black . He said it looked like brand new. Crashed it 3 times, sold it to buy an engagement ring.



Here is a pic of my Mom on a date with my Dad. I can see 2 bottles of beer and some smokes on the seat, naughty, naughty! She told me that was the first time she ever drank.



Dad's first car was this 37 Chevy 4dr. Served him well for years. Only 2 of us fell out.



They used to go dancing alot before the kids slowed them down. You should see them on the dance floor!

 

Thanx for sharing your holiday with us Kev.
As usual great pix.
The Blowout and Nostalgias rate highly and are for me, 2 of the best event's I attend each year.

 

How many of our parents went out courting/dating at the local hall "dancing''?
Thanks for sharing.

 

Great vacation pix Kev! New Zealand, not only has beautiful landscape, but some outstanding hot rods!

 

Tuesday I spent most of the day with a chainsaw trimming trees followed by beer on the deck and a rather delicious roast lamb meal.

 

Bloody hard to beat that roast lamb and veg!!

 

That pic. of you and your Dad put a smile on my face.......thanks for the great pic's......a beautiful country.

 

I am enjoying your pictures particularly as I have not been to the North Island for quite a few years. I think you will find that the owner's ride here is actually a Riley (the English type and nothing to do with the maker of ohv Ford A heads) and it looks to be powered by a De Havilland Gypsy Major engine as used in Tiger Moths where it was mounted upside-down. About 380 cubic inches - not a lot of horsepower but heaps of torque. I suppose technically it is actually upside-down in the car. Those wire wheels on the Type 59 Bugatti GP car are the best looking wheels ever fitted to a car.

 

Lol .. nice to see you are so adamant with your opinion.
The wheels are OK ..

 

And I am not even really into European cars.

By the way have you noticed how the front springs of Bugattis are set up - through the axle. Note also the brake actuation setup - cables and chains on pulleys. Also the outside gear shift - which I think works a back to front shift pattern.

 

What a great looking trip Kev, this thread should make the front page, once the boss reads it. Those models are amazing. Not quite sure what the "No Humping" sign is for, behind the line up of ladies on that trailer/stage though!

 

I think beer, chainsaws and Roast lamb made this country of ours.
Maybe you could add in fish and chips and tomato sauce. Probably pies too!

 

Love the old family photos, they look like a lot of Australian family photos.

 

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I always knew that NZ was a beautiful spot and your photos document that. The style, quality and variety of the car scene is unbelievable. Maybe best HAMB thread ever, certainly the best I've seen. The people shots and the model cars...icing on the cake.

 

New Zealand looks like a cool place. Great beaches, good food , and neat hot rods!

 

Thanks for the pictures Kev, kind of makes a man home sick, last time I saw Mikes roadster was in his shed at the farm, good to see him out having fun, I hope his health was way better. Hard case I remember seeing a lot of those rods running around like it was just yesterday and Graham Berry hasn't changed in all those years, good on him, we used to have his tent to pitch years ago so it was ready for them when they would turn up at Champion dragway. Great event by the look of it, I'll have to get over there forit next year if I can, thanks again.