2024 Americarna New Zealand - Part 2: Classic Restos - Series 55
Fletch is in the Taranaki region of New Zealand for the final two days of Americarna 2024. On Friday night, there is a cruise for classic vehicles into New Plymouth, with over 800 cars participating. It's a spectacular sight, and many people come out to watch. On Saturday is the Plymouth Park Up, which draws even larger crowds where you can get up close to look at these American classics.
Fletch catches up with John Rae, the event organiser, to discuss this year's Americarna, which has been an outstanding success. There are more Hot Rods, Muscle Cars, and Classics from the 1950s than ever before. An exciting addition to this year's is a radio-controlled model car display featuring a range of models that can go over 100kpm.
As always, Fletch seeks out a couple of participants at this year's Americarna to get the story of their cars. First up is John with his AMC '74 Javelin featuring a 401 V8. This was notably the last model Javelin ever produced and is presented in beautiful condition with a complimentary Houndstooth interior. John's car has an interesting back story. Initially, he thought he had successfully bought the car in an eBay auction, but it turned out that he wasn't registered for the auction after all. Luckily for him, the car didn't sell and he was able to secure it through a follow-up call with the owner. Interestingly, John and the previous owner, Rick, have remained friends and even attended Americarna together this year.
Two other classic cars stood out. The first one was a '39 Desoto owned by Lindsay, a Chrysler fan. The car had a 5.7 Hemi engine and a stunning copper bronze finish called Cinnamon Slick. The second classic was a '70 Pontiac Catalina owned by Phil. Despite the upholstery having some tears, the car was in its original condition. Phil believes that the tears add to the car's patina and story. It's a common dilemma when restoring a car - where to start and when to stop. There is no right or wrong way; it's all about what you believe is best. The Pontiac began life as an AVIS rental in the US and was later purchased and brought to New Zealand. After several owners, it ended up in a museum for 38 years before Phil acquired it. According to Phil, he hasn't had to do anything to the car, and it still drives well today with 104,000 miles on the clock. Its styling also gets plenty of attention today.
Fletch says it is impossible to cover all the classic cars at Americarna, and this two-part series is just the tip of the iceberg. He strongly recommends that if you're interested, you make the trip to Americarna in 2025 to the beautiful Taranaki region of New Zealand.
