Beach Bodies from the '50s & '60s: The 2016 Repco Beach Hop
A quiet corner of New Zealand’s North Island takes a trip back to the golden era of hot-rodding:
A little over two hours outside of Auckland, the town of Whangamata on New Zealand’s east coast is home to just 3,500 residents. But for those with a taste for Fifties and Sixties Americana, the famed Repco Beach Hop shows few places can throw a better party.
Now in its 16th year, the six-day, end-of-summer event swells the population by over 100,000 people, turning the laid-back coastal haven into a postcard of a by-gone era. A festival of pre-1972 cars, bikes and caravans, packed with live music and parties which take over the town. And, despite the wet reminder that autumn is on its way, this year showed there’s plenty more to come.
Though the main show days are on the weekend, doing ‘The Hop’ properly means staying for the week. It gets going on Tuesday, with four days of warm-up events and cruises to various beaches, and there’s a huge mix of cars to take in from the start. Visitors get to pick their favorites on the weekend.
SemiRat, Car of the Show:
David Jeffery and BellaRat Customs took Car of the Show with the SemiRat, a six-wheeled tow truck with a 454ci Chevy big block and custom-made trailer used to bring the 400ci BellaRat rat rod to the event. Despite the Death Race styling, they’re both road legal.
“If you don’t have a whole car you’ve got to keep going with what you’ve got and make up the parts you don’t have,” says David.
Long Live the '50s & '60s:
No classic car festival is complete without period costume and, while it’s not mandatory at The Hop, it’s encouraged as a way to keep the Fifties and Sixties atmosphere alive and plenty do. There are prizes for the best dressed girls on the weekend.
1915 American LaFrance Chassis:
Built as a Colorado Springs fire engine in 1915, this American LaFrance chassis followed a lot of others and became a Speedster after its firefighting career. Popular for their 14.5-liter engines, they were potent racers once they’d been stripped of their ladders and pumps, and characterful too. The thunderous straight-six idles at 300rpm and has three spark plugs per cylinder to keep up with its thirst for fuel.
“Supposedly they’d get up to 100mph,” says Craig Marshall, who had this car restored in New Zealand. “I wouldn’t do that in this, it would be dangerous to try stop the car at that speed.”
Rain or Shine – The Show Must Go On:
Even in a seaside town, there’s no way to control the weather. The 2016 Beach Hop was wetter than usual, but not enough to slow the flow of cars and visitors. With the usual crowds still lining the streets, organizer Noddy Watts says they got off lightly:
“It could have been a lot worse. We thought we were in for a real wet one, but we’ve been able to carry on with the show.”
Ford Falcon GT Coupe:
Ryan Stewart’s genuine Ford Falcon GT Coupe was fresh out of the workshop when it arrived in Whangamata, and he’s got big plans for it.
“It’s set up for skids and a bit of track work," says Stewart. "The motor is relatively small but it revs well with plenty of torque. We only started it on Wednesday night, then brought it here. It’s a work in progress.”
You’d need to know XA Falcons to spot most of the work, but the tubbed chassis is home to Corvette IFS front suspension and adjustable rears with large Wilwoods – useful upgrades for a car powered by a retuned 355ci Formula 5000 engine.
Baches Steal the Show:
Whangamata’s compact holiday homes, known as baches, are a growing part of the show, hosting their own parties all week and often getting as dressed up as the visitors. Verne and Michelle Russell – yes, they’re Chevy enthusiasts – had their oversized sign made up especially for the event as their bach is on the main routes out of the town.
“We wanted to make the house bigger because the sign is bigger than the house,” says Verne. “The Chevy guys definitely appreciated it, but I think the Ford guys did, too.”
1964 Impala SS Convertible:
After a four-year retro-modded restoration, Bradley West picked the Beach Hop to show off his ’64 Impala SS Convertible for the first time. It’s had a full body-off resto, with that freshly painted bodywork laying low on airbags, and the LS1 conversion runs a custom-made independent throttle body setup. That’s the soundtrack you want playing with the top down.
1964 Combi
Steve and Julie Watt’s Californian ’64 Combi had the same owner for 49 years before it came to New Zealand for a full restoration. They’ve done most of the work themselves, including fitting a new interior with running water, campsite electrics and satellite TV, and there’s a 1,915cc twin-carb out back to make it easier for touring.
“We love her to death and use her all the time,” says Steve. “She can keep up with modern traffic. That’s what they’re there for – they’re not show ponies.”
Do the Beach Hop:
The Beach Hop is as much a music festival as it is a hot rod show. Noddy says over 100 bands applied to take a spot on one of the show’s live stages, but only 15 made the cut. Headlined by the Retro Rockets and Flattrakkers (pictured), it’s the last piece of the puzzle for that authentic time-warp feel.
Check out the gallery below for more colorful sights at the 2016 Repco Beach Hop!
