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New Zealand’s No 1 Nostalgia Festival was set to be a boomer from the start with over 1300 Hot Rods and Classic Cars pre-registered for the 5 day event. Things kicked off on Wednesday the 30th of April with a 30km cruise to Pauanui for the Kicker Beach Party. 200 cars parked right on the grass next to the sand dunes with the Pacific Ocean in the back ground. New band, “The Plymouth Furys” was a perfect choice for this wonderful setting. Val Jamieson won Pauanui Car of the Day with her white 57 Ford Thunderbird. Wednesday night saw open cruising with everyone well behaved.
Thursday and it was time for 400 cars to head on a 110 km cruise to historic gold mining Coromandel town where the cafes and bars were pumping. On their return, entrants could take in the drive in movie “Hot Rod”, about a Gray Willys coupe, and then more open night cruising. Things really hotted up on Friday as 1000 cars left in convoy for the Thundercruise to Onemana Beach. It was open headers all the way on the 15 km journey. Once at Onemana the cars were parked on a large reserve, once again right on the beach. 3 bands performed on 2 stages in glorious autumn sunshine.
Friday night and it was time for the first official night cruise from 6-9pm. This went without a hitch as hundreds of cars paraded under the night lights. The road was closed at 9pm and 20 bands, including 5 from Australia, burst into action around the town centre.
Saturday is the big day. More than 70,000 people crammed into our little seaside resort as 1300 cars paraded from 2 directions and parked up. 10 stages saw the bands performing again through out the day, while street performers also entertained the masses. A highlight was the dragster Cracklefest where 5 dragsters were started on the hour 3 times during the day. This included Pins 7 second front engine rail, Juices FED from Australia and Karl Bonniface’s Nitro Flashback 70s Vega Funny Car!
The day built up to the Rita Sue Retro Beauty Show, Prize Giving, Vintage Fashion Show and Hop Idol. The crowd got even bigger as the afternoon went on. Why? Because we were about to give away our 1959 Pontiac Catalina 2 door sports sedan, powered by a hot 428 Pontiac with tri power, and painted in stunning House of Kolor candy tangerine. Entry was simply by purchasing a festival programme for just $5! Paul Sloan was the happiest person on the planet as his name was drawn… More cruising and bands on Saturday night, and then the festival wound up with the Nostalgia Fair on Sunday. This included a Classic Car Show, Auto Trade and Swapmeet, arts & crafts, 2 stages with 7 bands and the Century Batteries Top 10 Shoot Out, where the Top 5 cars and bikes went head to head to find the top vehicle at Beach Hop 2008. Steve & Tracey Flexman took home the gold with quite fittingly their candy gold 1936 Ford Roadster.
The festival attracted hundreds of visitors from the USA, UK & Australia. Many commented that they had never seen a show like it before.
Keep an eye on www.beachhop.co.nz for information about Beach Hop 2009
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