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We are 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 send in a membership application. The only hard and fast condition of membership is that prospective members must own an American classic car that is over 25 years old at the time of joining, which must be of historical interest. |
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Proud to be a Kiwi
PLEASE NOTE: American Classic Car Club members are unable to provide classic vehicles for events such as weddings, birthdays, family outings etc, as our members are not licenced to do so. Thank you for your understanding.
Waiau Pa Hop & Hedges Estate visit – Saturday 13 April 2019
A beautiful but crispy Saturday morning saw 19 classics, 1 daily driver and 40 plus people raring to go from the BP Papakura meeting point. Club member Phil Stickney very kindly organised the day, easing the load on your committee team, so off we went in convoy through what can only be described as beautiful rural countryside to the Waiau Pa Hop held at Clarks Beach. A gold coin donation had a number of us park up in the Hop site itself right beside the beach, while the rest stopped on the verge just before the entrance. And what an absolutely stunning location it was, with the sun shining, the water sparkling, and classic cars and hot rods to ogle at. A number of club members had never been to Clarks Beach, and were most impressed by the location and show. The show itself was somewhat small in numbers, especially when compared to some of the Auckland events, but it was very laid back, with a large number of cars not seen before which made for an interesting morning’s viewing. Midday came around very quickly, with the temperatures warming up, so it was off on another short cruise through more stunning South Auckland rural countryside, to Hedges estate on the outskirts of Waiuku. It is hard to describe how beautiful the house and gardens are, looking over towards the Waikato landscape, and everyone was in total awe. The house and gardens are used as a wedding and function venue, and we were warmly welcomed by our hosts Fleur and Grant (who are friends and neighbours of Phil and Garry), who allowed us to park on their picture perfect lawn. We had our lunch of sandwiches, sausage rolls, savouries and scrummy cakes in the conservatory, overlooking the lawn and our cars, before the tour of the gardens. The aviary of very colourful, but noisy birds was a highlight for some of the ladies, but the guys were more taken by the large shed with Grant’s collection of MG’s. As well as restoring the cars, Grant is a keen racer, peddling a very rapid V8 MGB on the racetrack, and is in the process of putting together a Marina circuit car also. The afternoon was finished off with a sampling of chocolate Easter eggs filled with Baileys liqueur which were very decadent indeed, kindly supplied by our hosts. Phil performed the official club thank you to Fleur and Grant, followed by a hearty round of applause from the attendees, before everyone departed mid-afternoon. The run prize of the day of a POR $25 online gift voucher for the members who turn up in their classic, goes to John and Pat Campbell in their 1955 Plymouth Belvedere. Ciao4now, Russell Wilson Photos of the day's activities can be viewed here..... 
Chuck’s Restoration Supplies visit – 24 March 2019
It finally had to happen, after a string of beautiful sunny days for club runs this year, Sunday morning brought a drizzly start to the day. After setting off in the somewhat heavy rain, it started clearing up closer to the city with dry roads, until arriving at the Westgate meetup where it was sloshy once again. But that didn’t deter the forty plus members of the American Classic Car Club, who turned up with 23 wonderful American classics to brighten the day. After the usual meet up and natter, Rob welcomed everyone, including first time out new members Andrew and Raewyn in their lovely 1962 Chev Impala. The tiki tour Phil plotted took us through Hobsonville, Herald Island, and Swanson before arriving at Chucks, where we were welcomed by the Manager, Mike Rielly, who is also the newest member of the club. We were given free rein of the premises to explore, which included the new parts store, the main warehouse with sheet metal, glass, used doors, fenders, motors, the upstairs second hand parts storage, and the MPI area where the cars and goods are inspected. Also on the premises were a number of vehicles that had been imported by Chucks for customers and for sale, which certainly attracted a lot of attention. Although Chucks initially focussed on Tri-five Chevy parts, they have expanded out into parts for all American makes and models, and will also source and import parts that aren't available locally upon request. They are a well respected and resourced company, and this certainly showed through upon inspection of their very clean, tidy, and well organized premises. Mike very kindly donated a $100 voucher towards parts from Chuck’s inventory, the winner being drawn from a brake drum of members details, which was won by Dave Roper. After the visit it was off over the road to the Swanson RSA for a very lovely buffet lunch, which seemed to be enjoyed by all, ending up another very well attended club outing. You may have noticed our newest club supporter, POR NZ’s advert on the back page of the Cruisepaper. They have very kindly supplied us some online gift vouchers to the value of $25, which we will award to a participant member after each month’s club outing. The winner for this month’s $25 online voucher is Shane and Adith Stoneman. Ciao4now, Russell Wilson Have a look at the great selection of photos here ..... 
Rebel Roundup Rocks – 16 February 2019 An early start on a fine Saturday morning saw 14 cars depart the Papakura BP Southern Motorway for a picturesque cruise through the South Auckland countryside, where we met up with 3 more club members at the Betty Bean mobile coffee stop just south of Tuakau for the morning caffeine fix. There was a small car display on there already, but our arrival boosted the numbers considerably, eliciting plenty of interest from the attendees. After a half hour or so of nattering, looking and slurping coffee, our convoy headed on out to Pukekohe Park Raceway, for the day’s big event. After setting up the club banner and swooper flags marking out the club cars in the car park, it was off to tour the sights inside the Raceway itself. There were innumerable stalls selling T shirts, clothing, hats, memorabilia, alongside tattooing, model cars, and all manner of things nostalgia themed to see, but the drawcard was the large number of traditional hot rods, with plenty of rat rods scattered in between. The term rat rod is a bit of a misnomer, as some of these machines had as much work put into them as the top dollar shiny rods. Spread throughout the day were demonstration 1/8th mile drags on the front straight of the racetrack, along with lap after lap of Central Muscle Cars racing beside Historic Touring Cars, which really caught the attention of the crowd. Some of the dices between these muscle/touring cars was very exciting to watch, and although it was not an actual race as such, there was some committed but very respectful driving by some of the racers. The highlight was a duel between a very rapid C2 Corvette Stingray and an orange Camaro ( driven by famous racers Johnny Riley and Dennis Marwood) which saw the Camaro twice spin out on Turn 3 just before the turn onto the back straight. Most of the club group got back together at lunchtime for a picnic and a chinwag in the shade of the oak trees by the carpark, which provided some relief from the hot sun. Then it was back to the stalls and cars for more looksee, before the day finally drew to a close around 4pm after the entry prize draw of a beer bowser come petrol pump. The Rebel Roundup really turned it on for the crowds, with lots to see and do throughout the event, making for a very entertaining day out in the Pukekohe sunshine. The organizers’ recipe for a low key traditional/retro gathering hits just the right spot, and long may it continue. Ciao4now, Russell Wilson Lots of photos here to check out..... |
UPCOMING ACCCA EVENTS
Saturday May 18 Shed raid to the Ross Brother’s classic car collection in Cambridge. Meet at BP Southern Motorway, Papakura from 8am to depart at 8.30. Gold coin donation entry. Lunch at Woodlands Homestead Cafe, Taupiri Sunday June 30 ACCCA Mid-Winter Christmas lunch. Details TBA |