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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 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. |
UPCOMING ACCCA EVENTS
Saturday 15 March - Afternoon run to the Pokeno Whiskey Distillery for a guided tour of the distillery including some Whiskey tasting. $25pp. Note RSVP's are now closed if you haven't already booked. Meet at 2pm at Best Start Karaka 71 Hingaia Road, Karaka for a 2.30pm departure. Arrive Pokeno Whiskey for tour to start at 3pm, duration 1 hour. Depart 4.15pm for a run to Rob's place at Pukekawa ETA around 5pm for a 5.45pm BBQ. Depart whenever you feel like it. Sunday 27 April - Meguiars Coffee & Cars, ACCCA will be the host club again. Meet at 7am directly at the Greenlane Showgrounds venue as per previous occasions, reserved parking in front of the old grandstand. Members to assist with car-parking as usual - note that now cars are all parked nose-in for faster parking. 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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►►►►► 13/02/2025
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Ian's Shed Raid - Sunday 16 Feb
Robin "boy wonder" MIlliganLooking at Sunday’s rather grim weather forecast it was showing for rain all day, so even though Sunday dawned fine even when we left home, in anticipation of the 50% chance of the weather forecast being correct we brought along 2 umbrellas with us on the run.
The meet point at BP Motorway was fairly busy that morning and we had to park across in the smaller parking bay, and with 25 members cars meeting together there meant that we had comes have to park in the next parking bay over. Thankfully the weather was still fine which meant that we could all gather around for the usual pre-run natter, fetch coffees from the Cafe, and conduct the driver briefing without need of umbrellas. President Rob noted a special welcome to our newest members Nick & Jacinda Clarke with their lovely 64 Chev Impala, who along with Rodger Anderson won one of the two $50 gift card run prizes. Mark briefed everyone on the short run to the private car collection in Whangaparaoa, noting that the owner Ian is a low-key private person and has asked that we please respect his privacy and not share with anyone outside the Club the location of his warehouse or post photos of the outside of the building. So although having departed in relatively fine weather, shortly after turning onto Whangaparaoa Rd the rain started in earnest, but luckily had mostly stopped as we were parking, so umbrellas were still not required. “Shed” not being the correct term though, as it’s actually a large non-descipt commercial premises with very high-stud roof affording height for a double-stacker 4-post lift with room to spare. Warehouse would be a better term. Ian’s collection shows a preference (bias?) for Chev Impala’s with 4 in the collection, one immaculate manual-trans Impala SS for sale, amongst a collection of mostly American muscle cars with a sprinkling of non-American cars as well. Apparently he has an even bigger collection in his native Canada! But equal to the collection of cars was Ian’s huge collection of models, and retro motoring and TV memorabilia and artwork (much of which artwork he prints himself), much of it from the 60/70/80’s Thunderbirds/Batman/Star Trek era that many of us will still fondly recall - a thoroughly enjoyable hour and a half walk down memory lane. Most started drifting off around 12.30 for the short drive thru Silverdale/Millwater, again through passing rain showers, to the very plush Wainui Golf Course clubhouse for lunch off their set menu, and with fortuitous timing umbrellas were once again not required when we arrived for the short walk from the carpark into the Clubhouse. The meals were again at least as good as I recall from a previous run (apart from the relatively poor $$/volume ratio of the glasses of Pinot Gris being the only real neg), otherwise a great ambience venue with a pleasant outlook onto the few mad people playing golf in passing showers. A very enjoyable afternoon catch up with members. And finally, I’m pleased to say that by the time we left the umbrellas were able to be put back inside at home without having got wet at all. Many thanks to Mark & Maureen for organizing this great run, which I understand was nearly a year in the making to gain access to Ian’s collection, very well done indeed. Phil Officer. Check out the photos from the day here..... Ellerslie Concours Car Show - Sunday 9 Feb
It was back in May last year that the Club was notified by the Ellerslie Car Show Committee (a new one every year) that the theme for the 2025 show was ‘Summer Holiday’.
I’d bought the Chevy Caprice Station Wagon just 6 months earlier and I thought that a ‘Longroof’ Station Wagon display by Club members would suit the theme perfectly. I put this idea forward to the Club Committee and suggested that we should enter the ‘Judged Display’ part of the show as we could add to the Club coffers if we won or were placed in the competition. And so the search was on to find 8 suitable vehicles to suit the Summer Holiday theme. We finally settled on this collection: VEHICLE OWNERS 1960 CHEVROLET IMPALA ROBERT & NICOLA WILLIAMS 1970 LILLIPUT CARAVAN ROBERT & NICOLA WILLIAMS 1960 DODGE DART PIONEER DAVE & CATHERINE PARKER 1963 CHEVROLET BELAIR CHRIS & JANG THOMPSON 1970 AMC REBEL CHRIS & WENDY WILEY 1972 PONTIAC GRAND SAFARI ROSS & SUE GOLDING 1976 PONTIAC GRAND SAFARI ROB MILLIGAN 1993 CHEVROLET CAPRICE CLASSIC ALEX ROSS I put my hand up to coordinate and manage the display and I must say a huge thanks to all of you that were there on the day for your enthusiasm and contribution to what we all thought was a Winning Display! It was an early start, meeting in the carpark opposite McDonalds (NOT at McDonalds) at 7.25am on Sunday morning, especially for those that had a bit more distance to travel. After all, Onehunga isn’t that far away for me! Glad to say you were all on time and we were soon on our way to Ellerslie Racecourse and, as I had hoped, were one of the first clubs to arrive. Having entered the event several times over the past 35 years, I knew that an early arrival had distinct advantages, especially being able to stake your territory claim and position your cars without any tussles with other Car Clubs! We were soon all into it and setting up our displays with bucket loads of ‘Summer Holiday’ paraphernalia coming out of those HUGE Station Wagons! There were picnic sets, beach balls, wash lines strung between cars with bikinis (not Rob’s) and beach towels, bright umbrellas, vintage beach chairs and a delicious Watermelon Tea Punch that Grahame and I made to keep the team hydrated through the day. In the background we were listening to the Beach Boys, quintessential USA Summer Holiday music. Topping it all, we dressed all the guys in the same ‘Summer Holiday’ themed shirts which they all got to keep at the end of the Show. The Judges eventually arrived, and we quickly ‘bribed’ them with a glass of the Tea Punch which they were very grateful for and thoroughly enjoyed, one even came back later and asked for the recipe. At 2pm, it was time to gather in the Parade Ring to watch the Awards being handed to the many Category Placegetters and Winners. As usual, these things never start on time, and I took the opportunity to ‘spend a penny’ only to come back as Rob was collecting the Trophy for 3rd Place in the Club Display Category. A disappointing result, as we thought we had a winner. We’ll just have to try again next year, depending on the theme, of course! Also particular noteworthy was club member David Lane winning the Concours Survivor class with his 63 Corvette - top effort, well done Dave! Alex Ross. Check out the photos from the day here..... Kumeu Hot Rod Show - Sat 18 Jan 2025
Our now traditional Club static display at the ever-popular Kumeu Hot Rod & Classic Car Festival was very well supported again, this year, with > 28 cars jammed into what was arguably a smaller designated spot than we had enjoyed the previous years. But we coped!
Dave Roper had done his thing and roped out the spot allocated to us during the week, and me, Phil Officer and Mark Johnson, with assistance from the two Pete Lees’ - Junior and Senior – set up the twin Club gazebos on the Thursday evening in readiness. Saturday morning was cloudy and overcast but nothing really came of it and it was actually a blessing as it pegged the heat back to bearable levels until early afternoon, when by then the clouds had gone and it was time to fry! The Club put on sausages wrapped in bread for lunch, which proved popular along with cold drinks etc – thanks Paul Roper for tackling the BBQ duties – for those that did not wish to lose a limb at some of the other food outlets on site. And throughout the day those attending members came and went at their leisure and the atmosphere was one of relaxed fun. By 4pm ish, it was time to pack things down again, most of which went back into my Pontiac Longroof for the long drive south to Pukekawa the following day. All things considered, it was another hugely successful and popular event, and another fine effort from ACCCA members to support our club display. And I thank you all for that. No doubt we will do it all over again next year! Longroof Rob |
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