Classic car lovers descend on Northland for three days of Cruz’n the Bayz

Eddie Insley of Kerikeri spent six weeks building this monster Mini from a Mini body, a Nissan Safari chassis, and a 3.8-litre V6 Commodore engine. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The organiser of a classic car event that toured 10 mid-North towns over three days hopes to bring the show back “bigger and better” next year.

The inaugural Cruz’n the Bayz, which ran from Friday to Sunday, drew more than 170 classic cars, hot roads and motorbikes dating as far back as the 1930s.

The event was based at Waitangi but the car enthusiasts also put on displays and entertainment in Kaikohe, Kawakawa, Moerewa, Ōpua, Paihia, Whangaroa, Kāeo, Kerikeri and Russell.

Organiser Roz Adams, a self-described petrolhead, said one of the best responses was in Kaikohe, where local enthusiasts turned out in big numbers to an event at the Pioneer Village despite short notice.

In Kerikeri she had been pleased to see the main street packed with spectators despite the drizzle and controversy in preceding days over the 11am-4pm road closure.

“It was good to see the community getting behind it,” she said.

The weather, however, played havoc with some events, forcing the cancellation of a screening of the classic movie Grease at Paihia’s Village Green on Friday along with much of Sunday’s plans for a whānau fun day at Waitangi.

A concert by rock ‘n roll band Recliner Rockers went ahead a night earlier than planned, before the storm hit, and Sunday’s prizegiving was shifted to the Hideout cafe on Kings Rd in Paihia.

Image 1 of 10: Kerikeri celebrity dog Atlas, a one-year-old Irish wolfhound, checks out a 1939 Ford pickup. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Adams said the participants represented a large number of clubs and organisations in the Bay of Islands, Kaitāia, Whangārei and Auckland, with one classic car owner driving all the way from Marton in the lower North Island.

She had organised car events in the past but this was her first spread over multiple days and locations.

Most out-of-town participants stayed in Paihia, bringing an off-season boost to the town’s accommodation providers.

Cruz’n the Bayz was modelled on the popular Whangamatā Beach Hop, though that event stays put in one Coromandel town rather than travelling around the district.