I took a Rolls-Royce to a classic American car show in New Zealand

"RooWills" (roowills) 04/07/2016 at 14:30 • Filed to: NEW ZEALAND, ROO WILLS, BEACH HOP

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After reading that headline you probably have a couple of questions. Is there really a weeklong event in a beach side town on New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsular dedicated to pre-1972 American cars? And the answer is yes.

Welcome to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . An annual event held at a place called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a popular holiday spot for people in New Zealand’s North Island. Beach Hop is a celebration of America in the 50’s and 60’s. Girls turn into pin-up models, guys don leather and hundreds of American cars emerge from garages around the country to cruise, park, trade and chat over a week of sun, surf and fun.

So why did you take a 1968 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow? Well that’s because it’s the closest thing I could find to a pre-1972 American car. Anyone can attend the show but somehow it’s made more fun if you make the journey there and back in something old that might breakdown. That didn’t happen though, we did nearly 300 miles over four days and the only causality was an intermittent lamp behind the gear selector.

I didn’t actually enter the show in a Rolls-Royce because that would be silly and they wouldn’t let me. But that didn’t stop us from cruising the main street each night with everyone else, getting some questionable looks and double takes from people watching on. That was probably due to my two friends opting to only sit in the back seat leaving the passenger seat empty and waving like the Queen through the back windows.

I’ve been to Beach Hop on and off for over 10 years now and the thing that continues to astonish me is how many of these old cars exist in our little corner of the world, and that so many of them are kept in such great condition. Some are original and a lot have been restored but overall the standard is really high. I’ve found myself using my camera less and less for car-related stuff recently but Beach Hop always restores my interest – the subjects are just so damn cool.

Once a vehicle is 30 years old we have reasonably relaxed import laws provided the car meets a few criteria so you regularly see cars at Beach Hop that just a few months ago were collecting dust in Texas or California. This means that you don’t always see the same vehicles each year and the total number in attendance continues to grow too.

While any car pre-1972 can enter you are able to apply for later model American cars and access is granted on a case by case basis. This year saw a very late model entry - 2014 C7 Corvette that attracted a fair bit of attention.

I’ll leave you with a bunch more photos below that you can browse and recall memories of sitting in the back of these cars while Mom & Dad took you camping for the weekend.

Thank you America, goodbye from New Zealand.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RooWills 04/07/2016 at 14:40

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WOW

Anyone want to pay to have my Montego and me shipped over there so we can party too?

Thanks for snagging at least ONE Mercury pic (Cougar badge)

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > RooWills 04/07/2016 at 14:44

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That Galaxie 500 looks so clean with the steel wheels.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > RooWills 04/07/2016 at 14:49

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I think you out - America’d America.

Jonee > RooWills 04/07/2016 at 14:55

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Wow, what a great looking show. Some of them appear to be RHD. Are they converted, or genuine wrong side driving exports from back in the day?

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > RooWills 04/07/2016 at 14:57

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Why do I feel like New Zealand is the only enthusiast community left with overall good taste?

I swear I’ve never seen a car in NZ I didn’t like...

I’ll take these two. Please and thank you!

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > RooWills 04/07/2016 at 15:10

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If you want the Roller to be more in keeping, take it to Brits At The Beach in October. Same town, same deal, just more minidresses and bowler hats. And being October it'll probably rain, which is in keeping.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge 04/07/2016 at 15:11

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We've got our share of hellastance too, unfortunately....

vondon302 > RooWills 04/07/2016 at 15:16

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And another reason why I want to move to New Zealand.

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen 04/07/2016 at 15:29

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See, I put hellastance in the same category as lowriders. Not my style, but I respect it IF the cars are well-built.

We’re still dealing with 2 Fast 2 Furious ricers and F-Body’s with the full JEGS catalog thrown at them here in the states.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge 04/07/2016 at 17:59

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Stance in general I’m cool with. But 45 degrees of camber, chassis sitting on the ground, and tyres about to pop off the rims at any moment is just silly: you can take any trend too far.

And yes, we get our share of fart can buyers too. Probably less of the Pep Boys & JEGS type stuff, because JDM imports are the cheapest ride you can buy round here, so they’re ubiquitous (e.g. both my road cars are imports), which means there’s plenty of genuine JDM aftermarket gear brought in to support them. But some people will always have no taste...

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen 04/08/2016 at 08:39

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haha fair enough! I’m definitely jealous of your lax import laws though.

TA4K > RooWills 04/13/2016 at 23:44

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I need to get around to going sometime! I have a pre-1972 british car...

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge 04/14/2016 at 01:08

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those two are works of art

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 04/14/2016 at 10:17

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Truth, son!