King’s Birthday vintage car rally coming to Whanganui

The winner of the 2022 Whanganui Queen's Birthday Rally was Peter Hardy in his 1968 Riley Elf. Photo / Graham Bailey

There may be a new monarch on the throne but the holiday weekend that celebrates the official royal birthday is unchanged.

Whanganui can look forward to the annual parade of vintage and classic vehicles that traditionally mark the occasion, now King’s Birthday weekend, with the Whanganui branch of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand holding its annual rally on Sunday, June 4.

Registered participants are required to meet at the Wanganui Racecourse carpark from 8.30am and the first vehicle is expected to leave at 9.30am.

Each driver will receive a set of instructions with the route they must follow as they leave the racecourse.

They will travel for about two hours on city and rural roads before arriving at a yet-to-be-disclosed lunch venue.

Most of the participants are local car owners, although some participants travel from other parts of the country and take advantage of the long weekend to do a bit of sightseeing.

The club is expecting about 50 participants this year and vehicles need to be at least 30 years old to qualify for the rally. There will, however, be a number that are more than a century old and the club has plenty of mechanics in its ranks if any vehicles experience breakdowns along the route.

There is always a “tail-end Charlie” at the back of the rally to make sure everyone gets back to town safely.

After lunch, the public is welcome to visit the clubrooms in Patapu St, Whanganui East, to view the vehicles and learn more about the club’s activities.

A dinner and prizegiving will be held in the Wanganui Room at the racecourse on Sunday night.

The winner of the 2022 Whanganui Queen’s Birthday Rally was Peter Hardy in his 1968 Riley Elf with his granddaughters Charlotte and Jess Hardy as his trusty navigators.

Rob and Linda O’Keefe came home second in their 1938 Buick Special, and Sue and Andrew Dittmer took third place in their 1939 Austin 10.