For the second post running, we feature some classic cars. Every year barring Covid or natural disasters, the Coromandel Car Club puts on a car fair with vehicles from all around the peninsula and beyond. The majority are American classics, with a smaller number from other countries, including some really rare vehicles. It was held yesterday in perfect weather in a farm paddock just south of the town (village). Entry was via a gold coin donation - fantastic value for money and extremely well organised with food and live music too.
The following photos only scratch the surface but are of vehicles which caught my attention. Apologies if any of my descriptions are inaccurate but it's only 2 and a bit years from first classic car ownership! Delighted to say however, that our MGB GT attracted a fair degree of attention, even in the presence of some seriously nice (and expensive) hardware.
We open with a location shot. One side of the paddock borders Coromandel Harbour and the opposite direction shown here looks towards Castle Rock, the core of an old volcano. Pretty much the perfect setting on such a great day.
Dodge produced some wonderful muscle cars in the 60's and 70's, particularly the Charger and Challenger. I'd never seen a Coronet R/T in the flesh until yesterday but you can certainly see the lineage.
The European Ford Capri is becoming increasingly rare in NZ, particularly the 3 litre version and commands a premium price.
The Ford Falcon GT is arguably Australia's premier muscle car of the 60's and 70's (ok, the Monaro too for Holden fans!). Available with a range of engine options - 289, 308 and 351, plus various bolt-on goody options; it had a great racing legacy. I seem to remember that a top spec Falcon GTO sold last year for a tad under AU$2 million which is really serious money.
The one in the photo below has modern mags which suggests that it's either a low spec GT or a non-factory GT which has been upgraded. Serious collectors tend to stick to originality. Still a nice car though and sounded great.
In a departure from Americana, the following photos are of the Saker GT. I must admit that I'd never even heard of one, let alone seen one in the flesh. There's plenty of reading about them on the internet, but in short; they were originally designed and built in NZ. Full production was subsequently carried out in the Netherlands, with some controversy about the legality of the arrangement. A gorgeous-looking car and the owner had some trouble getting it into the paddock because of the minimal ground clearance.
Something a little different was a Toyota Landcruiser set up for long distance travels and camping. I understand that the owner brought it to NZ after owning it in Australia, which makes sense. Incredibly well set up.
There were a couple of all-black vintage cars at the fair, both of them with paint like a mirror - no dust, fingerprints or any other form of blemish. An absolute tribute to their owners. I'd happily own this but I guess super-deep pockets might be required.
The following Vauxhall Viscount represents a bit of nostalgia for me. Growing up in the UK, a mate had a Vauxhall Cresta with the same body shape. The Viscount was the top of the range version. We all used to pile in it and head off to the pub or longer weekenders and it had a surprisingly good turn of speed with a 3.3 litre engine. Ahh.... carefree days!
A great day, only 10 minutes from home and kudos to Coromandel for putting on a great show with some unusual machinery.
