A Showcase for American Vintage Iron... IN NEW ZEALAND

About 25 years ago I wrote a piece for Auto Restorer called “When I die just bury me in Auckland” and at the time I meant it. However, I’ve since changed my mind. Now I want to be cremated. Then I want my ashes spread at a place called Whangamata a couple of hours distance from Auckland in northern New Zealand. Why? Well, because that is where the country has its biggest car show, called the Beach Hop, that takes place in their fall, which is our spring. And it features more than a thousand restored American classics, hot rods and even rat rods. They have many more old American cars in New Zealand than are found in Cuba...which, ironically, is much more famous for them. Moreover, there are major differences in the cars you’ll find in the two locations along with differences in the local approaches to those vehicles.

Detroit Iron Is In Demand... and Appreciated

Our friends down under have so many old American cars because they love them and import them—sometimes at great expense. Cuba only has old American cars because they’re stuck with them. (Imports of American vehicles ended shortly after the Cuban revolution in 1959.)

In New Zealand they lovingly maintain and restore old American cars on a scale that rivals our own country. Cuba just keeps them running, often with old Soviet- era Moskvitch engines. One is a labor of love; the other is the result of necessity.

If you are wondering where the British cars are, the Kiwis have shows for them too, and they are not forbidden from the Beach Hop either. It is just that they aren’t the focus of this occasion. That’s probably because their minuscule engines—mostly buzzy little four-bangers—sound a little anemic when cruising the main drag with the ground-pounding uncorked all- American V-8s strutting their stuff.

Local Restorers Offer Quality Work At Reasonable Prices

Classics and hot rods in New Zealand are every bit as well-constructed and restored as any you see in the U.S., while the cars you see in Cuba are generally shimmying derelicts barely able to climb the hills of Havana. After all, we haven’t been on speaking or trading terms with Cuba for decades, so replacement parts for American cars have become all but nonexistent.

But New Zealanders actually like us, partly because we helped save their bacon in World War II at the Battle of the Coral Sea and Guadalcanal. Also, we speak the same language, in more ways than one.

The quality of restoration work here is second to none, and it costs less than in the States. Collector Tom Lieb, owner of Scat Enterprises, has been known to send priceless Willes St. Claires down here to be put right. It is not cheap to ship cars halfway around the world, but he saves a lot of money on restoration costs, and the work is superb. “Those guys down there serve long apprenticeships, and they know what they are doing,” says Lieb.

I have done the opposite. I have flown a Kiwi (that’s what New Zealanders call each other) panel beater friend named Bruce Haye to the States on my dime just to pound, pick and paint a couple of my classics, because his work is magnificent, and he doesn’t charge an arm and a leg to do the job. We won a Best of Show with one of them.

Let’s Go To The Hop

The Beach Hop goes on for six days in an area called the Coromandel Peninsula which looks a lot like Big Sur in California...but the Hop is nothing like the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on the Monterey Peninsula. Pebble, as you know, is an exclusive game of millionaire’s poker featuring rare vehicles with high-dollar restorations. The Beach Hop, on the other hand, is an all-inclusive festival of primarily American cars, which, by the way, they affectionately refer to as “Yank Tanks.”

The Kiwi show involves every era of restored vintage cars and hot rods imaginable, and attracts over 120,000 spectators. Admission is free, and to give you an idea of the level of interest in this show, pre-entry registration is limited to the first thousand cars! In addition, if a car owner doesn’t get his registration form in on time, he can show up in his favorite ride on Saturday for one-day-only participation for a small consideration.

There also are ’50s and ’60s rock bands on hand to help set the mood of the event, and people often come in period dress to match their cars. American Graffiti garb of the 1950s and ’60s predominates, but you see costumes from the ’30s and ’40s too.

Now that we’ve given you some background, why don’t we let our Kiwi friends down south speak for themselves regarding their feelings for our vintage vehicles. On these pages are just a few of the cars that show up at the Beach Hop every year...