Wow… how’s that… October 2020 already… hard to believe barely 6 months ago the country was going into our first Covid-19 Lockdown! What a crazy crazy year! And it’s not over yet. Covid hasn’t really gone – it’s just being arguably better managed – and as you read this we are about to head into, or had, our Nation’s rescheduled General Election, so you can be almost assured that 2020 hasn’t finished dishing out the surprises yet, for better or for worse.

Speaking of elections, you will be interested I hope, to know the outcome of our own Club Committee elections earlier this month? Firstly, a huge thank you for everyone that took the opportunity to have your say in a) how the Club is being run and b) by whom.
And the results are in! We had a voter turnout of a pinch under 60% of our membership, which is pretty darn decent really and actually even better than last year, which was also excellent. Your current committee, me included, have all been unanimously voted back in for another term, so big congrats to Russell, Dave, Phil O, Phil S, Peter, Carl and Allan. Well done team, thanks for having my back again for another year, the finest bunch of people to run this neat club of ours you’ll likely meet.

Dave Roper has prepared the Club financials again for the year, which you will find in the Members section of the Website. As you are all aware, this year has been quite the challenge health-wise for Dave, but he has come back strongly and is getting better by the day.
Thank you also to those of you whom took the opportunity to pass comment on our performance this year, which for the most part was very favourable, considering we really didn’t have opportunity to do a whole lot for a third of it! Awesome! Rest assured, we do take your comments on board and any suggestions, recommendations and constructive criticisms will be robustly discussed at our next scheduled committee meeting.

With regards to what happens in twelve months’ time, when we do it all again, it’s anyone’s guess. Peter Lee and Allan Huljich have both indicated this coming year will be their collective last on our committee, so we will be looking for new blood in 12 months’ time. We will also be looking at how we can do that, actually the whole electronic voting format to be honest, better than we presently are. It’s all evolution after all. Watch this space.

Which leads me nicely onto you guys – the members. Rest assured, nothing your executive does means anything at all without your continued support and encouragement. I mean that. We are only the providers in what we do as a Club. You guys are the real reason we are cracking along as well as we are in clearly quite unprecedented times. Without your continued membership, your continued enthusiasm for our Club, we would be in an entirely different place.

So a heart-felt thank you to all of you, from me and your committee. Cheers!
See you soon, Rob.

Father's Day Drags finally got under way on Sunday 4th OCT. It is always a well patronized event not only for spectators but very much for car and truck owners who get a chance to give their rides a thrash down the quarter mile. The Meremere Drag Strip team do a proper track preparation for the competitors, which is very important for equal lane grip and safety,
Some of the owners of the cars enjoying the open day have put a lot of money and engineering into their rides, with many easily doing the quarter in the 10sec bracket. With the faster ones doing it in the low 9 second  time, we should not forget most of these vehicles are road legal. This year there were no dragsters doing demo runs.
 
It is now possible to buy a late model factory car that will easily do a mid 12sec quarter mile, this being the new Dodge Demon, and if you add the factory Drag Pack, for under USD 100k you have a very fast weekend quarter mile race car that you can drive for the rest of the week. With a factory warranty. Remember the Hertz Shelby 350 Mustang rental cars!
 
 During the lunch break there is the skid pad show. This year only a supercharged Holden 1 ton Ute put on a very smoky show. Bogan heaven for sure.
You are free to wander through the pits and get up close with the people and cars, and It is interesting to get a close up view on how the cars are engineered and wonder about the costs involved.
 
 The day is promoted by the Muscle Car Club and up to 80 of their club members are on duty throughout the day.  If you have never been to a drag racing event, this is one to consider putting in your diary, as it is a very enjoyable day out. The only draw back is that it is rather noisy and the smell of burnt rubber takes a couple of days to get it out of your sinuses.

​After a very early alarm call we made it to BP Papakura where Alan and Francis Huljich were waiting for us to cruise down to Te Aroha. We chose the direct route down Highway 1 onto 2, driving to Netherton and turning right into Awaiti Rd, then Highway 26 to Te Aroha.
 
 We arrived a little after 9am and were lucky to get admitted to parking in one of the back streets. It was the last of the allocated show car parking areas, and not long after we got in they closed admission. Being one of the 1st big car shows since the lock down, attendance was well up on previous years.
 
This year there was a greater mix of club displays, ranging from VW kombis and beetles to Zephyrs,  Falcons, Jaguars, Lotus sports cars and the Parlor Van Club, all adding to the show. Notable was a lovely Mk1 Lotus Cortina, along with a little Fiat Bambina tucked amongst the US iron, and a very nice Austin Healy Big 6 which just added interest to the whole Cruise In.
 
The sculptures sited up and down the main street also add to the show spectacle. This year there was only 1 band playing all the old favorites. They had two market places, one on the clock tower road, the other in the domain at the bottom end of town.
 
The US sourced cars and trucks were just awesome, with just about something for everyone. The standard is always on a upward trend and new and better builds keep appearing at these outings. There where so many vehicles on show that you just had to stop and pay close attention to the detail in the build, and it is impossible to put into words how to describe the standard of some of these vehicles. There where so many people wandering looking at the displays that it was difficult to get photos, but the ones I managed to take show how good some of the cars that were at Te Aroha.
 
We ran into several club members who had also traveled down, all enjoying the show, which was well worth the early morning alarm on a warm sunny day to be there. Cheers, Peter