Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i NZ Hot Rod

DARRYL'S early days are memorable times when, as a young teenager, he would stop off at a shed in Kilbirnie, Wellington and be inspired by members of Road Runners working on their hot rod & custom car projects. In particular, guys like Graeme Christensen, Dave Knight, and Dennis McAnerin would become lifelong friends, as would the late Robin Silk, who, before his sad passing, gave Darryl endless help on his hot rod project. Darryl always fancied a '32 Ford Tudor- his favourite model. In the summer of 2011, he contacted one of his good friends, Duane Jones, based in California, to keep a lookout for one. Duane happened to have one in his workshop, which he'd just purchased off Starry Malcolm, another Kiwi living and working in California. Starry had…

IT'S hard to believe that it was 43 years ago when I photographed and wrote the story on Dave and Frances Green's ‘34 Oldsmobile coupe with a black & white feature in the November ‘82 issue of Hot Rod. That feature also included the Green's same year 4-door sedan, which is now in the safe hands of Rotorua's Mark Henrikson. Visually, not much has changed on the coupe that Dave and Frances refer to as the “comfy old girl”, and it still gets treated to plenty of hot rodding activity, especially with membership to one of the newest clubs on the block, namely the Ignitors Hot Rod Club now boasting its first year in existence. The coupe naturally shares garage space with the recently featured ‘56 Chev “Survivor”, and it's…

AFTER receiving torrential rain in the weeks prior, the paddocks were sodden, and then it rained again the day before the event. Most thought the event would be “canned”. Unbelievably, the sun shone on the day, and everyone had a “muddy” good time. Maybe a bit down on numbers, but the entrants that took the gamble were aptly rewarded. Many camped overnight and enjoyed the live band. One competitor had come all the way from Invercargill. This is a very well-run event with lots of fun thrown in for good measure.…

THE inaugural Ruakaka Classic & Custom show was the brainchild of organiser Jason Tanner. Jason is a passionate car guy with a project, Holden Premier, on the go. He's also a long-serving volunteer firefighter and saw their need for extra equipment that wasn't funded by the central government. He put two and two together and came up with the show as a fundraiser. The result was over 500 cars attending, which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise to Jason. The result was an impressive $ 22,000 raised, which will be used to purchase a side-by-side utility vehicle to enable firefighters to access fires, assist, and retrieve victims in difficult terrain. Plans are to repeat for 2026.…

STEVE Grange sadly passed away before the completion of his 1932 Ford Roadster. It was a network of friends who were all involved in hot rodding builds or part of who carried on from where Steve had got to on the project. The story begins long before his passing; another Steve, his good friend Steve Forrest, takes us back to those days when the two met and became lifelong friends. Both Steves were in their early 20s, about 40 years ago, when Steve Forrest started working in a paint and panel shop in the Valley. “He was beating, and I was the painter“. Steve Forrest was onto his second or third Ford Popular, and Steve Grange had a nice '56 Ford F100. Over the years, the friendship continued to grow,…

THE Australian Street Rod Federation (ASRF) holds its Street Rod Nationals every two years, hence the 2025 event. Various large towns put their hands up to be chosen to host it, and this year, Bendigo won the rights and held the prestigious event during Easter. The Nationals in Bendigo was a massive collaborative effort, combining many hot rod clubs in Victoria, with many members from those clubs officiating as volunteers, bringing their expertise. There were 1,268 entrants for 2025 Nationals plus 80 second car (Street Rods) entrants. The itinerary was: Easter Thursday, setup, registration of all cars exhibiting and a cruise around the event site, a case of meet your neighbours. Good Friday was a closed event for members to get involved with all sorts of activities on the program.…

AFTER a misty, foggy dawn, bright sunshine and the long shadows of Autumn ushered in the annual Teams Champs presented by Bay Rodders in association with NAPA Auto Parts Dragway. Gear Jammers fielded two teams again this year, with Team 2 doing exceptionally well and emerging as winners. Well done to those who raced over the weekend. Big thanks and shout out to all those that came along to race. A fun day was had for all who raced. Results Winning Team - Taking home the $1000.00 Prize - Gear Jammers  Overall Winner - Doug Angus in his 1973 Country Squire Last Lady Standing - Laurel Dunstan in her 1957 Chev 210 Fastest Time of the Day - Gary Davies in his 1971 Pacer - ET 11.343 seconds…

IAN Prisk is a talented man in several areas. In sporting circles, Ian was a competitive Powerlifter right up to his mid-fifties, which Iisn't that long ago. It was after retiring from playing golf that he went to the Port Road drags in Wellington, and he has been hooked ever since. He's a keen hot rodder and member of the Wellington Hot Rod Club. His current ride is a '32 Ford Deuce Coupe, which is a street rod and drag car. Ian is a great believer in giving back - on his home turf; the Masterton Motorplex drag strip. It relies heavily on volunteers, and in the off-season, Ian helps out where requested. In 2006, Ian visited Magoo's Street Rods and had a chat with the man himself, Mr Magoo.…

GRANT Blackwood's early years in hot rodding were in the late ‘80s drag racing a Graham Berry-built rear engine rail in partnership with his good friend Steve Curle. When Steve left for the USA to start his business, Kiwi Shipping, Grant continued drag racing for a while, then gave up so he could concentrate on his own business. Both were involved in the automotive industry in different ways. Grant went from drag racing into street rodding, and Steve into arranging shipping of hot rods, customs, hot rod parts and other automotive items from his base in Los Angeles, USA. Concurrently, Grant owned a successful panel beating shop in Johnsonville, near Wellington. For the next 39 years, he remained in the trade of doing mainly high-end smash repairs. A few years…

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AS the Editor, I am occasionally privileged to receive “A-List” introductions, and this story recounts one of the all-time favourites as the most memorable. Kiwi drag racing legend Garth Hogan hosted two legendary figures from the American drag racing scene, Steve Gibbs and Marvin “Who” Graham, and I was honoured to catch up with them over lunch. Steve Gibbs is often referred to as “A racer's best friend”. He was a cornerstone in NHRA's Hot Rod Reunion event, and after a corporate setback, he is now the head honcho at the Nitro Revival, a rival event of his own design. The success of the Nitro Revival has been phenomenal and is often attended by Kiwis, with their reports published here. After another life-changing setback, Steve bounced back after his house…

THE Ol' Skool Showdown is probably more likely to be referred to as The Flag Drop Drags. This was the second event, and the organisers had made a couple of subtle changes to improve the running and visual impact. The event flier was similar to last year's, and in my opinion, it's one of the best of all our events. It is the mix of old-school bikes and cars that appeals to many people, and the flag-drop starts are great for those who have never raced at a drag strip. You can't red light on a flag drop, and most of your mates won't know whether you won or lost a round. And that is probably why there are always many first-time racers. If you only had a mild interest…

Background DAVE Alexander is one of those guys that seems to have squeezed two lifetime achievements into one. A guy whom I have a huge amount of respect for due to the diversity of his achievements and his absolute hands-on approach and desire to succeed in everything he has a go at. However, there is a fascinating backstory before Dave dipped his toe into the world of hot rodding. It started with a gokart that his father built for him when he was six years old. The Alexander family lived on a 2,000 acre farm in Hawkes Bay, so there was plenty of room for a go-kart to tear around. By the time he reached 15, he had spent half his life behind the wheel or at the levers of…

SOUTHERN Dragways was established in 1985, and its dedicated volunteers over those years are to be commended for its longevity and current strength. Celebration of this milestone was executed in fine style over Easter weekend. Southland's normally fickle weather played ball, contributing to the event's success. The weekend was based at Invercargill's Teretonga Park, where registration was open and vehicle checks from 5 pm Good Friday. Saturday's program included Street Cars over 11.5 seconds, Street under 11.5, Street Bike, Competition Bike, Gassers and Competition Cars. Spectators were also treated to three impressive rounds of demonstration cars over the day. These included two well-known local Rails, another local, Karl Boniface, with his stunning Castrol Funny Car and Tony Latta in his blown, injected alcohol-engined HQ Ute. Sunday's breakfast was hosted by…

Barry Vernon Greer 12.7.42 - 1.5.25 BARRY Greer was a huge part of my life; strangely, that only took four of the 55 years we've been friends. Marineland Street Rods held their first Castrol Kustom Car Show in January 1970. Naturally, being my first Show, I was overwhelmed by all the hot rods, and while helping out, I was busy photographing them all. Among the developed photos a few weeks later were some cool shots of Barry Greer's ARDUN T. I showed the pics around at the next Klub meeting, and Keith Kite suggested I show them to Barry, who would be at our next event. Turns out Barry was keen to leave Palmy (after various good and bad business ventures) and had accepted a job at Kite Panelbeaters and…

The Bonneville Boomer I TOOK this photo of a custom '39 Ford Coupe cruisin' Bonneville in 2012, and you just knew it was a hot rod with history. In fact, it raced at the Salt Flats during the fifties, running a best speed of 126.58 mph in 1953 with a flathead, complete with fender skirts, painted Cadillac hubcaps and a full Gaylord interior. The '39 was in all the magazines of the time, even the pocket-sized car mags, and was usually referred to as The Bonneville Boomer. The roof was chopped 3-and-a-ha1f inches at the front, 4 inches at the rear; it was channelled, the bonnet was pancaked, drip rails removed, and door tops rounded. It was owned, built and raced (drags and salt) by Douglas Rice, and fortunately, it…