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Established in 1996, we are a group of passionate car enthusiasts who live and breathe American classic cars, and are based in Auckland, New Zealand.
Our mission in life is to provide an environment for other like minded car aficionados to savour and enjoy their American classics, without the rules and restrictions that seem to dog other areas of everyday lives. If you are an American classic car owner who feels the same as we do, we invite you to take a small journey through our site to see if this sounds like you. If you like what you see, and want to be involved, then click on the membership application words as follows to open an application form, complete and email this to the address on the form. ACCCA membership application. The only hard and fast condition of membership is that prospective members must own an American classic car that is pre-2000 model year which must be of historical interest. |
UPCOMING ACCCA EVENT
Sunday 16 November. Lunch at the Bayview Hotel at Kaiaua, stopping off for a visit to the Seabird Coast Museum on the way. Meet at Beststart Childcare 71 Hingaia Rd, Karaka, from 9.30am to depart at 10am. Order off the standard Hotel menu for Lunch. Saturday 6 December *** RSVP REQUIRED *** ACCCA Xmas Lunch at the North Shore Vintage Car Club, Masons Road, Albany. Meet onsite between 11.30am and 12pm. Clubrooms and sheds will be open for the afternoon for us. $35 pp for members, $20 for children under 12. $45 for guests. RSVP and payment required NO LATER THAN 27th of November. Please note this is a FIRM deadline as the caterers need the final numbers by the end of that week. RSVP to [email protected] American Classic Car Club members are unable to provide classic vehicles for events such as weddings, birthdays, family outings etc, as they are not licensed to undertake these activities.
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►►►►► 16/08/2025
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10 Pin Bowling - 14 September 2025
Trying something new for Club runs, keeping things ‘fresh’ so to speak, has been, and will likely remain, one of the biggest challenges for a Club like ours, as there is nothing worse than going to the same old places or doing the same old shows… variety, as the saying goes, is the spice of life!
So, when the committee met to plan our third quarter events for the year, I put it to them that I would like to take us 10 Pin Bowling at Rhonda and my local Cosmopolitan Club in Pukekohe. The consensus was whey the heck not, we’ve been lawn bowls before in the summer, so why not indoor Ten Pin in the winter? The seed was sowed, and after a few phone calls to to the Club we had the plans locked in place for a simple ‘off the menu’ lunch, followed by a few frames of bowls. Even the date we set was fortuitous, as the Cossie Club Caterers had recently changed and the ‘new’ ones were keen as to have us arrive in numbers to their little restaurant within the Cossie Club itself. Oddly, the uptake to this new initiative seemed lack-luster at best and come end of RSVP’s we had barely 25 confirmed – well down on recent runs – and after the usual no shows on the day, I think we ended up with about 22 members and less than 10 Classic cars at the now usual Beststart Karaka meeting point. No matter at all – as those of us that did commit were treated to a very enjoyable 35 minute rural cruise out the back of Ramarama, Bombay and Pukekohe itself, and even the slightly inclement weather did not detract from the real beauty of rural South Auckland. The roads out this way are seriously good for scenic cruising, you should try them! Once at the frankly huge Pukekohe Cosmopolitan Club facilities, parking was never going to be an issue with such a massive carpark, Jordan, our caterer informed us that owing to “staff shortages” they would prefer to do us all a set menu of good ole' kiwiana Fush N chups with salad, for the special price of $20 per head, rather than off the menu. No problem we said! And it wasn’t too bad either, it must be said. After maybe an hour or so for lunch, it was that time, time to wander across the carpark to the events stadium where, inside, it’s just unreal. Besides ten lanes for ten-pin, there were snooker tables, pool tables, airhockey, a massive indoor lawn bowls area, several bars, and out the back outside was the outdoor lawn bowls! Bloody hell, who’d have known! I didn’t and Rhonda and I have been coming to the Cossie Club itself almost from when we moved down here, some 18 months ago! Owing to the reduced numbers of ACCCA members actually bowling, we were allocated four lanes and we split up into three teams of four and one of three. I was on the team of three, with Janice Cullen and Rhonda. Last time Rhonda and I played, she beat me convincingly, but that was a couple of years ago now… I was determined not to see a repeat, lol! And so it was, within the first few balls bowled you could immediately tell some had played this game before (not looking at anyone in particular, Sue and Natalie Baker…) and some clearly hadn’t! Mostly the latter… and to say folk had their own ‘techniques’ was stretching the definition of ‘technique’ some… 😊. But just like the Trivia quiz’s at the Club Mid-Winters… we are sure a competitive lot! And even those vying for last place were determined it wasn’t going to be them! Great fun, and lots of laughs ensued. If we were handing out prizes for the most unorthodox technique, that would have been taken out easily by Ray Smiths wife Susan. She sure had an umm…. ‘style’… of her own! Taking out the individual Top Scores for the day were the mother/daughter pairing of Natalie and Sue Baker… (see the scores in the gallery) cleverly not letting on they both play in bowling leagues and Natalie has in fact, represented NZ! We smelled a rat when they both came prepared with their own bowling balls, special gloves and even their own proper bowling shoes, in neat carry cases with little wheels on the back… damn fancy if you ask me. And who came third on points… in hire shoes and using a ball that had probably been fingered by more people than you’d care to imagine? Why me, your humble President, of course! After only one full game each, more than enough for most to be fair, is was back into the Club for post match analysis and a few celebratory, or commiseratory, drinks – socially responsibly of course. To summarise, everyone that attended had a thoroughly good time and a big thumbs up to those that gave it their very best despite never having bowled before, or at least, not recently. You still all struck the pins, even if it wasn’t as frequently, or as many, as some of the others. No shame in that, good on you all for trying I reckon! And for being such good sports when it mattered. Would we bother again? Ask any of those that went – that’s where you will find the answer to that. Would we like more to attend if we did, too bloody right we would… so yeah, great venue, good value and a great late-winters social day out in our Classics. As for the next one, bring it on! Rob Milligan Warbirds Museum - Saturday 16 August 2025
Planes – but no Trains – and Automobiles…
Somewhat coincidentally – it was four years ago to the exact date that the ACCCA went to the frankly excellent Warbirds Museum at Ardmore – and once again it was a well received run by those that attended, albeit a bit light on numbers from recent runs. Nevertheless, twenty + members in around 11 classics (and one daily driver) gathered at the Karaka BestStart meeting point on a slightly overcast Saturday, for the very easy tour through South Auckland out to Ardmore Airport – the home of Steve & Marlene Plester as it happens. Once parked up, the incredibly enthusiast volunteers at Warbirds greeted us with open arms, and after the obligatory safety briefing we were split into two motely groups to take the tour around the two well stocked Hangers, Hanger Two being the later aircraft including some from WWII, whilst Hanger One held mostly replica aircraft from the WWI era. Both were excellent, with the vast majority from each Hanger fully functional planes, that often take to the air for displays and the likes… What amazes me about this earlier aviation history is just how incredibly basic they all were – particularly the very early aircraft – and the fact when powered flight was evolving, there were men (and the occasional woman) that took to these aircraft whilst not really fully understanding of the aircrafts capabilities or limitations – even in the years leading up to and including WWII – there were no such thing as simulators – so trainees had no choice, having never flown these things, but to take them up into the skys and often straight into combat and learn them on the fly so to speak… get it, “on the fly”, see what I did there… oh, never mind 😊. One of our excellent guides told me that the life expectancy of the pilots in WWI was an average of 3 weeks, with many perishing in accidents before they even had a chance to face the enemy. I mean… far out! Can you imagine the youth of today signing up for that! No, me neither…. After maybe 90 minutes or so – never really enough time to take in all of the displays in any real detail - it was farewell to Warbirds and back into our cars for an even shorter cruise back to the Windross Farm Golf Course for another excellent value lunch – two club runs in a row, it must be good! Thanks Steve Plester for organising this fun day out – and thanks everyone who came along. Rob Milligan Checkout the pictures from the day here... Shed Raid to Mike J's - 26 July 2025
Lovely sunny day, nice drive, lovely people, pleasant cars, good mood. What could be better! Such was the visit to a very well known Motor enthusiasts storage barn and house. We were welcomed with a speech of humour and a vast knowledge of all things car racing, and rallying. Mike was the original “Targa New Zealand boss”.
There were lots of Fords of course but his enthusiasm seemed to lie with G.M. English products and I counted no less than 14 Vauxhall Victor radiator grilles hanging on the walls. “One of each” seemed to be the moto and there was everything from an XJ12 Jaguar to an Opel Coupe. How about a Vauxhall Estate or a Toyota Celica GT or maybe a Ford Capri 280. You could have a blue Mini Cooper `S’, a bronze Vauxhall Carlton, or a white Pontiac 350 Firebird as you wish. Mike stated that he was jealous of ‘you guys’ with TWO cars as he tries to cut down on his collection with shortage of room and time. The rebuilds are still going on with his ‘favourites’ and a nice racing Vauxhall Viva sits there in its fourth body shell since new. His enthusiasm seems to have no boundaries and I doubt that anyone else could have promoted and organised Targa New Zealand like Mike. Mike almost single handed talked various Councils into letting a lot of mad rally guys try to destroy their roads but on the way raise funds for local groups and organisations. I remember some of the best barbecue sausages at schools around the country and raffles and car washes to raise funds for ‘needy groups’. Success and great times maybe never to be repeated. Mustangs were not left out however and a marvelous story about an immaculate 1965 maroon convertible that Mike bought for his Wife in 1993, only to be sold but then bought back again later on. Special thanks again to Mike J. Rodger Anderson. Click HERE to see photos from the day.... |
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