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 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 pre-2000 model year which must be of historical interest.
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 pre-2000 model year which must be of historical interest.
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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►►►►► 25/05/2023
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Kaiaua Fish & Chips - 21 May 2023
Ellerslie Classic Car Show – Sunday 23 April
After a wet and soggy Saturday, Sunday morning of the Cyclone Gabrielle deferred Ellerslie Classic Car Show dawned with low cloud and misty sprinkles, but after the effects of Gabrielle this was but a small blip. Our small trusty band of entrants – Jude Righton (Cougar XR7), Dave Roper (Cougar), Kishan Samy (Impala), Kerry Bramley (Thunderbird), Kevin Flanagan (Mustang), and myself (Star Chief) met up in the racecourse car park at 8.30am, before heading on into the display area. The show organizers have been ducking and diving with the racecourse officials over the display areas, as there is much construction taking place in the centre, along with the subsequent disruption and mess this brings. In fact our display area had changed twice leading up to the show, and then once again the night before our arrival. At least our patch was on tarseal, unlike the majority of the other USA origin cars, which had to park on hastily laid gravel, or mud in some cases. After parkup and Club swooper & banner installations, our Club was one of the better identified groups, as a lot of car clubs had no readily visible identification. As the large ACCCA gazebo wouldn’t fit into any of our cars, Kerry kindly bought along his smaller one, which at least kept the occasional misty sprinklings at bay. Several ACCCA members were also present displaying their cars in other club areas, these being Alex Ross with his BMW M3 themed Wagon, David Lane with the 1912 Ford Model T Rootlieb Speedster, and Rita Eastell with her 1967 Mustang Convertible. Rita’s Mustang was entered in the Teams Concours by the Mustang Club, which netted her 3rd place in the event. Well done Rita and Shaun! This achievement was not without some effort so Shaun told us, with several month’s preparation undertaken by Mustang Club members, including painting up all the nuts and bolts underneath the car. Phew, makes me exhausted just thinking about it. Another Club member, Rodger Anderson, was also present at the show, being part of the team that prepared the two 911’s that took out 1st place in the Teams Concours, with one of them scooping up the overall winning car trophy. It was also rumoured that President Rob made an appearance during the day, but if he did it must have been only fleeting or a mirage, because nobody could confirm talking to him! It was a great day out, and extremely interesting checking out the huge variety of makes and models on display. The Ellerslie Classic Car Show proved once again that it is the premier event on the Classic calendar, with the overall standard of cars on display absolutely amazing, and a credit to Kiwi motoring enthusiasts. With a few sprinkles falling at the 4pm shutdown, it was a quick packup of the gear, and off home before the forecasted afternoon showers. Toodlepip, Russell Check out the photos of some fabulous cars here..... Also take a look at this restoration article from Hemmings on the Keys' fabulous Diamond T Texaco Petrol Tanker shown in the photo gallery here.... 
Waiau Pa Hop - Sunday 16 April
The much anticipated Wiaua Pa Hop rolled around again this month, always a perennial favourite for us due to the goldilocks aspect of the run being neither too long nor too short, and it’s a pleasant spot to spend a few hours. This year they wanted everyone to pre-register and mail out stickers, presumably to better flow the entry into the park, which I personally thought that any idea of using snail mail these days is bound to be problematic. And so it turned out to be with several members not even receiving their stickers and confusion as to what to then do. The organisers advised those who didn’t receive a sticker that everyone can just register at the gate, which then begs the question as to why we needed to pre-register in the first place! An excellent Club turnout at the BP Papakura rally point with 23 classics for an impressive convoy to Clarks Beach – I’m fairly sure there were many of the motoring public stuck at various intersections waiting for the convoy to pass by – but what a great impromptu car parade it would have been! But, the entry into the park turned into a bit of a dogs breakfast with the volunteers appearing to be tripping all over themselves to check registrations and collect donations, asking if we’ve pre-registered when the sticker is already displayed on the windscreen, and causing disruption and holdups at the entry and defeating the whole presumed purpose of pre-registration. Probably a good case study of how NOT to do it - organisers please take note! The weather forecast was pretty average with strong winds forecast, but since the winds were coming in more from the East, the beach location was relatively sheltered so the winds were not that bad albeit it was a little cool. No wonder the lines to the coffee and hot food vendors were longer than were the lines to the ice-cream vendors! Numbers were down somewhat from the previous year, both vehicle attendees as well as the static displays and stalls, which one can only put down to the windy weather conditions putting people off. Which was just as well, because the lines to the five or so food/drink vendors were long and slow. But I did score three new books for $5 at the Wiaua Pa community library stall. I thought there weren’t enough food vendors for the day and made me wonder how they would ever have coped if the weather was really good and the turnout was much larger – organizers please again take note!! The events for the day seemed to me to be better organized than previously, although the Sound-off event, whilst entertaining and an interesting novelty for the first 20 minutes, probably dragged on for too long – organizers once again please take note!!! At the conclusion of the prizegiving (alas no prizes this year) just after 2pm most started drifting away leaving room for us to also exit for the short drive back to Karaka to Ian & Kevin’s homestead property for the BBQ lunch. What was of big surprise was the humungous new shed out beside the front garden where there wasn’t one last time! The word ‘shed’ doesn’t actually do it justice, 2 storey house with a full ground floor garage space would be a better way to describe it when it’s finished, guaranteed we’re all going to have full-on shed envy. The full-length front porch was plenty big enough to accommodate all of us except 4 (sorry about that the Lee’s!), and was just as well it was only just finished the day before in time for the BBQ otherwise it would have been a bit blustery sitting out in the front garden. Kevin gave a brief five minute presentation on the history of the house and all the trial and tribulations of getting it into the grand state that it is in now, and invited us all in for a tour inside. It was most interesting to see the renovation progress made since the last visit, considering all the other distractions of building new sheds and attending Beach Hops! And special thanks to the Chefs and their assistants for the fabulous BBQ eats put on by the Club, it certainly made keeping up with the supply to match the demand for patties and sausages much easier with 2 BBQ’s to cook on. Many thanks once again to Ian and Kevin for hosting the Club today, I’m sure we’re all looking forward to visiting again when the new shed is fully finished. P.S. Remember, if in doubt re the mezzanine, always go for the longer option! Cheers, Phil O take a look at the day's photos here..... |
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UPCOMING ACCCA EVENTS
Saturday June 10 - Mid-winter Xmas Lunch & Trivia Quiz at Kumeu Valley Estate, 972 Old North Road, Waimauku, from 12 noon to 4.00pm. Heavily subsidized by the club, the Xmas meal is $45 pp adults/$22.50 kids under12, and reservations must be in and paid for by May 27. As the Club will have committed and paid for the meals, no cancellation refund will be accepted after the close off time. Meet at Soljans Winery carpark, 366 State Highway 16, Kumeu from 11am for an 11.30 departure 
Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant, and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange.
When the waiter brought our water and cutlery, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our soup I asked, "Why the spoon?" "Well, "he explained, "the restaurant’s owners hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped piece of cutlery. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour. If our staff are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift." As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he was able to replace it with his spare. "I’ll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now." I was impressed. I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter’s zip on his trousers. Looking around, I noticed that all the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So before he walked off, I asked the waiter, "Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?" "Oh, certainly!" Then he lowered his voice. "Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned also found out that we can save time in the rest-room. By tying this string to the tip of you know what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the rest-room by 76.39 per cent." I asked "After you get it out, how do you put it back?" "Well," he whispered, "I don’t know about the others, but I use the spoon." 
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