The 2011 National Hot Rod Show was held over the weekend at the TSB Arena in Hawera, Taranaki. A huge round of applause must go to event organisers Egmont Rod and Custom Club for putting on what has to be one of the highest quality events in many years.

For a full event report, check out the next issue of NZV8 magazine.

See the full results below and the photos in the gallery at the bottom of the page. (more…)

The annual Petrolhead Father’s Day Drags took place last Sunday and was bigger than ever. Crowds lined the hills around the track to watch the fastest street cars in the country battle for bragging rights on the strip.

For a full event report, check out the next issue of NZV8 Magazine.

View 230 photos from the days racing in the gallery below.

The Pukekohe Lions club inaugural “wheels of fortune” vehicle display on May 8th at Pukekohe racecourse was billed as a massive vehicle extravaganza for the whole family, and they delivered. The Lions gathered a diverse selection of vehicles which they described as “past & present”, “original & modified”, “slow & fast” and “classic & unique” and they certainly gathered some of each. Add the other entertainment on the day with fantastic food on offer and it made for a great day out.

There was a huge line up with over 1200 cars and special interest vehicles around the track and in the pit areas with displays from numerous clubs and organisations including Franklin Street Rodders, the American Muscle Car Club, Iron Sands Rod & Custom, HSV Club, Zephyr and Zodiac, Mini, MG, Military vehicles, Coast Guard, Fire Service, St John and many more. There was also part of Dave Parkers amazing car collection, with 11 of his 18 classic cars on display.

In addition to the fine line up of cars there was a good selection of food and beverages, music by Tuakau country variety music club and the Sunset coast big band and several VIP guests including Auckland mayor Len Brown, TVNZ’s Mark Sainbury, and local MP Paul Hutchison wandering around and being interviewed over the P.A. (more…)

It may only happen once every three years, but the American Muscle Car Club show is well worth the wait.

This years Easter-long event was sponsored by Plumbing World and took place at the Te Pai Event Center in Henderson, Auckland. As we’ve come to expect from the AMCC shows, the level of vehicles present really raised the bar. Over 75 of the best presented, rarest and most powerful American made muscle cars in the country were displayed, making it well worth the measly $10 spectator entrants fee.

NZV8 was lucky enough to be invited along to the prize giving dinner, which outlined just what a great bunch of guys and girls AMCC is made up of.

We’ll have the full results and article in the next issue of NZV8 Magazine, but here’s a gallery of images below, for the meantime. (more…)

The Cars and Bikes for Canterbury show held in Hamilton last weekend went off well despite some last minute changes due to wet conditions.

Whilst the wet weather resulted in a number of exhibitors cancelling at the last moment, and had an effect on public numbers, the spirit of the dedicated crew was far from dampened.

The team effort resulted in a fantastic show which featured cars and motorcycles from all disciplines of motorsport, – Drag Cars and Bikes, Hot Rods. Classic and Custom Cars, Classic Bikes, Trikes, Modern and Classic Road Race Bikes, Speedway Bikes/Sidecars, Speedway Saloon and Stock Cars, Vintage Cars, Sports cars, street machines, motorcycles, along with Trade stands, and great entertainment.

The rumble brought together a number of  well know Motorsport people including NZ’s Superbike Champion Andrew Stroud, who was one of the celebrities at the Rumble with his Suzuki having just recently celebrated his 9th win in the NZ Superbike series Title.

Cars and Bikes for Canterbury was the brainchild of Tracey Sherwin (New Plymouth) and Alan Thoresen (Hamilton).  Both are members of the New Zealand Drag Racing Association (NZDRA) and have friends and colleagues in the quake devastated region of Christchurch.  (more…)

Last weekend, the Scroungers Car Club celebrated the 10th Anniversary of The Hot Rod Blow Out at Rosebank Speedway on Auckland’s North Western Motorway.

It was a relaxed and entertaining event that celebrated NZ’s rich history of hot rodding, drag racing and land speed racing as well as the pioneers or individuals who truly made their mark.

NZV8 was cruising around and got some great photos to bring back for our readers, to view them click on the gallery below. (more…)

Whangamata was the scene for the 11th annual Beach Hop last weekend and saw hundreds of stunning machines head along to the Coromandel holiday town. There was crusing, car shows and even beauty pageants at the 2011 event. Naturally NZV8 was there to take it all in and bring you back over 300 photos of how it all went down.

Relive the epic weekend by clicking into the gallery below to check out the photos. (more…)

The big boys of NZ drag racing came out for the Nationals last weekend at Fram Autolite Dragway in Meremere. The weather was fine and the racing was tight with the smell of burnt rubber wafting through the crowd and a symphony of tyre squeals to entertain all.

NZV8 was there snapping away a few hundred photos so check out all the day’s action in the gallery below and keep an eye out for a full event report in the next issue of NZV8 magazine.