Vintage car rally not to be missed

A vintage car rally re-enacting the 1917 Parliamentary tour of Northland will be making a whistle-stop in Waipu on Sunday January 29.

Forty-two veteran cars, all over 100-years-old with drivers and passengers in period costume will be a sight not to be missed.

Waipu’s Caledonian Park will be host to this historic cavalcade that plans to arrive around 2.30pm for afternoon tea before moving on to Whangarei.

Back in 1917 the roads to the North from Auckland were atrocious, the worst in the country. Colonel Allan Bell talked the AA into helping him to organise a tour of the North to show MPs and others the state of the roads.

Forty-four Members of Parliament, 18 reporters and 70 business leaders travelled north in a total of 35 cars. Many of the cars in the original tour will be on this one.

Cars had to be towed out by teams of bullocks back in 1917, with many getting sick of the roads and resorting to shipping their cars back to Helensville. It was 1936 before the road became an all weather route through the Waipu Gorge with the main road not passing over the Brynderwyns until 1938.

This year’s reenactment is being organized by a group of enthusiasts from the North Shore Vintage Car Club. There will be a 1913 Talbot and 1916 Perry and a 1912 Minerva among the lineup of prestigious cars.