Whanganui continues to strengthen its celebration of classic motor vehicles with planning well under way for the 2017 national veteran car rally.

The rally will be held in the city on Wellington anniversary weekend (January 21-23) and the organisation is in the hands of the Whanganui branch of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand.

On Saturday national president Diane Quarrie stopped off in the city on her way to a similar rally in Hawera. It was a chance for her to catch up on organisation for next year's event.

Peter Hardy, branch chairman, said while it is a veterans rally, vintage cars will also be involved that long weekend because the date coincides with the city's Vintage Weekend celebrations.

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"It's also the weekend we've traditionally run our Burma Rally, so we hope to have something like 120-130 vehicles here," Mr Hardy said.

There will be plenty of static displays where members of the public will be able to get up close to these classics.

Veteran cars are those built before 1918 while vintage are classified as those built between the two world wars.

A small committee has been formed to organise the Veteran Rally and as it's a national event it will be run under guidelines set by the national office.

Mr Hardy said the rally built on the international rally Whanganui hosted a few years ago when hundreds of veteran and vintage cars came here.

"We're expecting 50 veterans and at least 60 other vehicles for the Burma Rally. Entries for this event are growing, along with the growth of the city's Vintage Weekend," he said.

Before next year's rally, however, the Whanganui branch is hosting its annual Queen's Birthday weekend rally (June 4-6).

"We expect 60 vehicles from Whanganui area, Taranaki, central and lower North Island for that one," he said.