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New Plymouth Americarna Festival 2024 - New Zealand **** Picture heavy plus video at the end

kiwigtx

Henchman #4 and Jack-Stand Racer #2
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I returned home from a four-day adventure about five hours south of home with a few good friends. We stayed with my bud Cliff's sister and her husband and their little long-haired Jack Russell Bruno. An excellent weekend full of fun, laughs, food, cars and of course a few drinks.

One of the reasons for going was to visit a private car collection that I had heard about through Cliff from his trip last year. Sadly two of the cars I most wanted to see were out on loan. I won't mention them now, as I was gutted at the time, but the remainder made up for it. The owner of the collection doesn't drive many if any of the cars.....he loans them out for the pure pleasure of having the cars being enjoyed, and of course they get driven.
Obviously, they are only loaned out to responsible people that he knows ...and his kids as well. :lol: One car was taken out for a joy-ride by one of his sons a year or two back, and they didn't get to the first intersection before ending up in the rhubarb ....pretty sad considering the property is on a corner plot. However the car was fixed up like new within two weeks just in time for a pre-booked tour group of enthusiasts to come and enjoy it.

I'll post up a few select pictures of the collection, then move onto the festival snaps I took.

One of the highlights for me was catching up with a couple of friends down there. One of them - John, had an American guy (Rick) with him, who flew down just for the event. Rick had sold the car to John about ten years earlier and had talked about a visit for a while over the years. This year it happened, and Rick had a ball. He flew home today....really not wanting to go so soon after the awesome weekend he had just had.

There were a few papers that even ran the story about Rick and John....so they became somewhat of a celebrity attraction during the event.

On with the pictures.... :xscuseless:


First up a very rare and unusual white Triumph Stag - not many were ever painted white with this engine. And most cars ended up with the Rover V8.

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All of the cars have significance to a degree....this Austin was one his first cars owned....

The Rolls Royce was owned by the Fletcher corporation back in the day - likely driven by a Chauffer....steering is really heavy.
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This Landrover was just beautiful in condition.....lovingly restored to the current condition. The old Morris truck (lorry) was an absolute derelict wreck when bought and has been brought back from the dead just because it was so unusual and different. Lots of panels were hand made using forms and templates. The Morris logo on the front was hand-crafted using a mould.

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This VW convertible was created for the TV commercial for the ice-cream over here called a Trumpet. The commercial is where Rachel Hunter got her big break and ended up pursuing a career in modelling....and eventually marrying Sir Rod Stewart. Posters in the back seat from the promotion at the time.
We were told this was the actual car used in the commercial and it was repainted yellow afterwards. So Rachel had sat in those seats.... :bananadance:

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The blue chopper is a replica of the wreck that caught fire while being ridden some years back. The photo on the wall is of the actual fire when the original burned on the roadside. What remains is the front wheel, forks and handlebars ....wiring is still visible melted as is one handgrip. Cleverly positioned so it looks part of the photo.
Some Kiddy-cars also - a Shelby "Kiddy Cobra" and a Ferrari....along with a Range Rover.

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Another Hot Rod Kiddy-car. Plus various bikes, scooters and kids cars for entertainment of the younger visitors.



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Another playground area for little people to play.....and the wife's runabout, complete with a few dents.....

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***Warning to any Vets here .....flashbacks may occur.....

 
The last picture is of the Mustang above parked at the stables where Cliff's sister Linda and her husband John keep their horses.... John was busy watching the rugby at the back of the bar while we watched the cars.
:lol:


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Some video now.... the blown Chevy small block is attached to a Margarita mixer....while they drive. Running on alcohol....literally. :rofl:

 
We visited the Holden museum on Saturday morning....unfortunately no photos or video is allowed in the museum. Such a pity as they have some nice cars - a Holden W1 (factory race car) with about 23km on the clock. An ex-NZ Police Highway patrol car, a Commodore from the last production run that was gifted to the museum with virtually no mileage, and several other rare models on show plus about 4 or so cars on loan by others. All the others are owned by the museum.
Worth a look. Several outdoor activities to get into....a Zip-line, a Luge .... ( @MarPar :poke:)



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