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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 of historical interest. |
UPCOMING ACCCA EVENTS
SUNDAY 3 MAY 2026: Shed Raid in Massey Meet in carpark next to Starbucks at the old Westgate shopping center from 9.45am for a 10.15am departure Lunch afterwards at the Swanson RSA. SUNDAY 17 MAY 2026: Visit to Mortimer Motorsports museum in Matakana. Meet at BP Motorway Dairy Flat from 9.30am to depart at 10am. Lunch at the Matakana village Pub afterwards. 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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►►►►► 11/04/2026
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NHHRC Swap Meet Car Show - 14 March 2026
When approaching the Greenlane intersection on a very pleasant and fine weather Saturday morning it appeared we were going to have a record turnout of cars for our run. But alas, I had forgotten it was also Meguiars Coffee & Cars at the Showgrounds that day so the carpark was well patronised with all those who were going to Meguiars, so by the time they all left all that remained were the dedicated small group of 6 cars for the North Harbour Hot Rod Club's inaugural automotive swap meet and classic car show at the Rosebank Speedway grounds. This is the Hot Rod club that Neil and Dave R belong to so they couldn't meet us at Woolworth's as they were busy at the gate collecting the entry fee! Would have been 7, but Mrs Bond is at Doctor Paul's at present so someone had to hitch a ride.....
But what a great little casual day out at the Rosebank Speedway it was. Convoying in thru the gate together meant that we were all able to park together, and the Hot Rod Club did an excellent job of directing all the cars around the paved track to park nose out facing the track on both sides - made for no queues, easy drive in parking without reversing, and made for an impressive sight walking around the track. As Rob commented we were the only club other than the host club that had a flag or banner that we could see - stands out from miles away in some of the photos! The grounds were certainly much larger than I was expecting, as you only get to see a small part of it form the Motorway as you go whizzing (or crawling, depending on the time of day) by. Certainly plenty of room for expansion of a much bigger meet and show next year! As we were driving around the track we did see another 3 or 4 other Club members there who made there way there directly but which meant they were unable to park with our Club group. As far as events go, I could describe it as low key, casual, relaxing and with a surprising number of cars that many of us have not necessarily seen before, probably more due to the hot rod connection. Some very cool machinery was on display, for sure. And the swap meet itself was small but dedicated to automotive related and parts rather than the plethora of household junk that adorns most swap meets these days. And there was at least several food vendors present and doing a reasonable amount of business, and the Speedway Club opened their bar for those that wanted an afternoon tipple with a good selection of cheap beverages - apart from the Supermarket where else can you get a beer over the bar for $5 these days! Check out the photos from the day here.... Franklin Hop - 1 March 2026
This year’s Franklin Pa Hop (previously Waiau Pa Hop, not sure why they don’t call it the Clarks Beach Hop) was attended by the club after we skipped last year because of the high asking car admission price, but as it was back down to a more reasonable $10 per car we thought it was worth a look as it has been a good event previously and a perennial favorite 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, with plenty of food and entertainment. This year we didn’t bother with pre-registration and just paid the $10 at the gate, with some trepidation of that slowing things down at the gate.
It was quite a pleasant morning in the sun at the usual Beststart Childcare Karaka, with a rather small turnout of 6 classics for the short run, including a guest of Neil and Dave in her rare and original condition 55 Ford Crown Victoria Fairlane – hopefully they will join the club so we get to see them again! We were ably escorted by Ian F. from Beststart in his immaculately restored Chev just for the run out to Clarks Beach and back again as he was unable to stay. We departed at 8.30am and arrived more or less right on 9am, to find no queues at all at the gate! After parking at our usual spot on the grassy knoll in front of the yacht club and setting up the swooper flags, the fire department arrived and decided they would rather have that spot, so we mover further up the hill alongside the yacht club, which was a more elevated position for us anyway. Not long after that it turned a bit overcast and then light rain arrived mid-morning for about 40 minutes, then cleared to a fine and very hot afternoon. Liquid refreshment in the yacht club were called for! This year all the vendor stalls were well arranged in the large field below the yacht club in a much more user-friendly layout, with a central gazebo area for sitting down in front of the truck/bandstand with a great 5 piece band playing excellent covers. Overall I thought it was very well arranged and laid out with many interesting vendors and products and a plentiful variety of food vendors of good quality. This year I thought the number of cars present was quite a bit down, there was suggestion of it being about 150 odd, the weather forecast and several other car shows around Auckland and Hamilton probably kept the numbers down. Well worth going though for only $10 entry, looking forward to next year again. Phil Officer Karaka Historic House - Sun 15 Feb 2026
It was another beautiful morning at our meeting point at the Beststart Karaka with an unusual leisurely meet time at 12.15pm, and we had a good muster of cars with about 22 members eager to get under way. Although some weather forecasts said no rain, we did get a couple of bouts of passing showers. Our destination was club members Ian and Kevin’s historic house and gardens in Karaka. After some catch up chat and coffees, 12 cars left in convoy at 12.50pm lead by Rob in the fully lunch-loaded Grand Safari. With Alex meeting us at the venue after closing up at Meguiars Coffee & Cars that morning.
From there is was a quick 15 minute run to the other side of Karaka and before we knew it, we were being ushered by Ian through a gateway into a paddock next to the house. We parked on the grass area with plenty of room for our oversized cars, and from here we were led through the grounds surrounding the house to a beautiful spot in the structured gardens shaded by some magnificent mature trees. The club marquee was all set up along with tables and chairs, with the BBQ and food ready for cooking. Once we were all gathered, Ian gave a brief history of the homestead, starting with its removal from its original location in Curran Street, Herne Bay, to its present site on part of the family farm in Karaka. An interesting fact was that this 1860’s home was built from kauri timber that had been exported from New Zealand and ended up in Chicago - yes you read that right - where it was processed and returned here as a home kitset. The original build of that time had no running water or electricity and remained it that state for many years. Ian must have had incredible vision and foresight to undertake this challenging project, and it is plain to see his passion in describing details of its relocation and rebuild. After the introduction, Ian took us all in small groups on a fully conducted tour of the house explaining in detail what has been done and what will be done in the future. Ian and Kevin have tastefully decorated the house with period fittings and antique furniture. At this point it was time for a nice BBQ lunch, cooked up by committee members with salads also provided by committee partners and helpers. From my point of view, this was a great day out and made all the better by the great hospitality from Ian and Kevin, Holly, Paddington and Willow. |
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