Speedshow's hot rod blasts from the past

Iridescent green paint with lace flames, chrome plating throughout and an exposed Ford V8 engine make Vandal - built in the late 1960s - a star of the hot rod display at Speedshow. Photo / Greg Stokes, NZ Hot Rod Magazine

The CRC Speedshow next weekend in Auckland includes a trip back in time with a display of hot rods from the 1960s and 1970s.

The vehicles are part of the New Zealand Hot Rod Association 50th anniversary national hot rod show.

One of the headline cars of the nostalgia display is the 1919 Dodge bucket named Vandal, built by Tauranga hot rod builder John (JR) Reid as a teenager.

Greg Stokes, co-ordinator of the nostalgia hot rod display on behalf of the Hot Rod Association, says Vandal was Reid's first hot rod.

It was later rebuilt and renamed Black Sabbath.

"Reid's heavily-customised 1919 Dodge bucket was built in the late 60s and appeared in the March 1972 edition of New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine," says Stokes who also works for the magazine.

"The beautifully-restored car is now owned by the Caske family of Palmerston North and is regarded as a timeless and extremely well-built car. It was a competitive award winner in its day at hot rod shows throughout New Zealand."

Stokes adds: "John Reid didn't follow trends back then but in fact set trends with an extensive level of detail and workmanship which led to a 45 year career in high end hot rod design and fabrication. Fifteen years ago he founded the international award-winning company, Rods By Reid, in Tauranga."

Stokes says the display of nostalgia hot rods and drag racing vehicles highlights New Zealand's rich history of custom-built vehicles.

'Restored hot rods like Vandal are alongside un-restored but immaculate hot rods still owned by their original builders as part of a small display of authentic old hot rods and drag racing cars

The Hot Rod Association display is a show within a show, and has been organised by two Auckland hot rod clubs - Glen Eden's Harbour City Rod Club and Howick's Southside Streeters.