Last Sunday saw the annual Coromandel Town Car Fair held in perfect conditions. A nice break from the torrid time which the Coromandel Peninsula and other regions experienced a week or so ago thanks to a prolonged ex-tropical storm. Many of the vehicles on display are resident on the peninsula. Considering that the permanent population of the entire peninsula is about 32,000, ownership of classic vehicles is pretty high. Come to think of it, that also applies to NZ in general. I guess that the mostly benign weather helps to preserve old vehicles, as well as them being part of the culture. It was a gold coin entry fee and all proceeds were donated to the local Returned Services organisation for veteran support.
There were well over 100 vehicles on display and as far as I know, only one car was trailered to the event and that was because it was in the middle of restoration. The superb village ukulele band provided the music and the local seafood delicacy, green-lipped mussels, were served up as fritters.
Just for something a bit different, the next 2 vehicles are local to our village. I guess if you ask "Why?" to the V8 tractor, the answer is "Why not?"
The mid-70's special edition Holden HX LE Monaro below with the gold mags is reputed to be one of only 3 in New Zealand. Only 580 were ever made and fetch well over 6 figures.
A few European cars, starting with a 1970 Vauxhall Viscount and a 1966 Mk 2 Jaguar. The Jag belongs to local identity Keith Skilling who was a test pilot for the first restored DH Mosquito WW2 aircraft in NZ, as well as the WW2 F4U Corsair and others belonging to NZ Warbirds.
MG Midget, our MGB GT, a replica MGTF and an Austin Healy Sprite (re-badged Midget)
(source: Kiri Gillespie)
The next photos are different versions of the Dodge Coronet.
An Anglo-American Amalgam (good alliteration, A?). What was once a Ford Popular wedded to American running gear.
Back to "European" with a flawless BMW 2002 and a Fraser Lotus 7 lookalike made in NZ.
Nice Mustang convertible and Model A Ford, with a GM-supercharged hot rod in the background.
Two beautiful UK Fords - a 1957 Zephyr convertible and a 1960 saloon
Very tidy engine bay of an Australian-built Valiant 317 belonging to the village glazier. Sounds fantastic.
I could have doubled the number of photos for this post but you get the picture about what a special day it was. One slightly curious thing though..... when I was looking up the registrations of a small handful of cars on an official website to confirm year of manufacture, the registration plates didn't appear to match. I draw no conclusions at all from this as I'm sure that there was a perfectly legal answer!
Nice! A lady at work has one of the modern Camaro's (in yellow). It sounded nice when she left the parking lot tonight.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew,
DeleteNothing quite like a well-tuned V8 eh? A lot of classic Americana are hellishly expensive but I've never understood why modern Corvettes are so reasonably priced. Somewhere in the region of NZ 35 k gets you one in reasonable nick.
Fantastic selection Geoff. Not certain I'd like to own many of the less practical ones, but I have a real soft spot for both the MG/ frog eyes, and for the 3litre Austin Healey's, having once been given a lift in a 1955 Le Mans tuned one through the south of England in one. It was through Warminster and Salisbury. The driver looked as good as the car, with a huge handlebar tash. He had passed me a few hours before giving me a lift ans saw how I double taked the car, so when passing me again, he stopped. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteHi Ian,
ReplyDeleteLucky you! The Austin Healey 3000 is a personal favourite but in comparison with other sports cars of that era, they command a hefty premium. Right out of my price range. In retrospect, the MGB GT was the perfect choice for us. Looks great, reliable and parts are well-priced and easily available.
A very nice selection of muscle cars on display there Geoff. We saw recently an original condition Ford XY GT V8, I think it was. The owner was saying it was worth over 200K. Couldn't believe it.
ReplyDeleteGeez mate, whats the go with the size of those NZ hamburger patties, almost as big as your head.
Hiya Steve,
DeleteWhat amazes me is that the owners of these desirable muscle cars are ordinary people, not super-wealthy. It's all down to hard graft over a long time and they deserve all the accolades. I think that the highest price paid in Oz for an original Ford GTHO is around 2 million.
By the way Steve, they're green lipped mussel patties, you heathen ;-). You serve them up on a slice of buttered bread with a squeeze of lemon. Absolute heaven!
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