Scott Dixon's iconic Target-branded 2005 Panoz G-Force Toyota IndyCar was a crowd favourite at Frankton Thunder 2023. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Scott Dixon's iconic Target-branded 2005 Panoz G-Force Toyota IndyCar was a crowd favourite at Frankton Thunder 2023. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Thousands of petrolheads from all over the Waikato and beyond flocked to Hamilton on Sunday for the first Frankton Thunder festival since the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Described by some spectators as a “mini-Beach Hop”, the one-day event combined cars, motorbikes, military displays, steampunk, tattoos, music and a pin-up pageant.
A highlight of the free and family-friendly day out was certainly Scott Dixon’s iconic 2005 Panoz G-Force Toyota IndyCar, with lots of people admiring the car from up close and getting their photos taken with it.
Frankton Thunder organising committee head Ken McGeady says while he would agree the event was “like Beach Hop” from a car perspective, he wouldn’t say it was “mini”.
“[This year’s event] was really magic ... It’s probably the best outcome we had for the past seven years,” McGeady says.
He says while it was difficult to say how many people attended the event in total because the event doesn’t have any gates or tickets, McGeady estimates that “a couple thousand people” were in and around Hamilton’s Commerce Street “at peak time”.
Miss Frankton Thunder winner Gizzy Galore (centre) with runner-up Miss Sweet Jean (left) and third-placed Miss Pandelina. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
“[This year’s turnout] has given us the opportunity to develop the event even more... [The event] is going upwards, not downwards,” McGeady says.
The organising committee is also “really pleased” with the results of the LJ Hooker Frankton Thunder Cruize-in, where cars and bikes went for a drive and ride from Cambridge to Hamilton.
“We had a massive cruise turnout, with around 90 bikes and 70-odd cars,” McGeady says.
Image 1 of 15: Frankton Thunder 2023 was the biggest event yet, organising committee head Ken McGeady says. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
For the first time, Frankton Thunder ran a vehicle competition, called the Repco Hot 20. New Frankton Thunder sponsor and LJ Hooker Hamilton City director Aaron Davey entered his 1966 Dodge Charger, powered by the renowned 440 V8 and backed by a 727 Torqueflite auto, into the competition - and won.
However, McGeady says the judges from Repco weren’t aware of Davey’s connection with the car.
Meanwhile, the Miss Frankton Thunder pageant attracted eight contestants from as far as Tauranga and Raglan. Auckland-based pin-up Gizzy Galore (Giesela Visser-Heydon) won the top spot, with Miss Sweet Jean (Juanita Jay Hernández), also from Auckland, as the runner-up and Miss Pandalina (Helen Hansen) from Cambridge taking third place.
Aaron Davey's 1966 Dodge Charger won the Repco Frankton Thunder Hot 20 competition. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
McGeady says the support from locals, the council, and community organisations was “extremely good”.
“We couldn’t do it on our own. A big thank you to all.”
Frankton Thunder is a charity event to support the work of the St Vincent de Paul organisation. The committee will work through the finances early next week to determine how much was raised for the cause.
