Whanganui hot rod club anniversary draws around 130 classic cars and 250 people to city

Wanganui Road Rodders' show and shine at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre, part of the club's 50th anniversary celebrations. Photo / Lynda Neil Photography

Whanganui was alive with the sound of V8s as petrolheads flocked to the city to celebrate the Wanganui Road Rodders’ 50th anniversary.

Club president Candace Sixtus said the celebrations were a product of a year’s worth of planning and around 250 people came to the city to celebrate the club’s gold anniversary.

Included in those were some of the club’s founding members who flew in from Australia, as well as enthusiasts from across the country.

“The furthest from down south we had was from Timaru and we also had Waiheke Island and a lot of Aucklanders here as well,” Sixtus said.

The club making it to this 50-year milestone was hugely significant.

“You think of the work the founding members took to found the club, to build the clubrooms, to keep it going and all the committees and the members over the years that have kept it going,” she said.

Currently, the club has around 80 members, with the club made up not just of Whanganui residents, but also people from other cities like Auckland, Wellington and Taupō.

Sixtus thought the interest in the club stemmed from them being a friendly bunch and also from club members having a diverse set of motoring interests.

“We’re not only focused on hot rods, we’re focused on drag racing ... and a lot of our club members are involved in motorsport, drag racing, circuit racing, one of our members has raced at Bathurst,” she said.

“It sort of encompasses motorsports, hot rods, all sorts of things.”

The highlight of the event for her was bringing so many people together to celebrate.

“For people to make the effort to come and be part of this celebration was one of the main things that stood out to me,” she said.

As well as the people, around 130 cars took to the city across Labour Weekend, with events like a black tie dinner and Old Skool Run happening on Saturday, and a Show and Shine at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre on Sunday.

Sixtus said it was great to see all the cars running around town and parked up together at the Show and Shine.

“Everyone just had a really good time and the weather was fantastic.”

The Poker Run took entrants to well-known Whanganui landmarks like Castlecliff Beach and the Durie Hill Tower, which proved interesting for some of the people who came from out of town.

“A lot of the people hadn’t even been to Whanganui, so we gave them a taste.”

The principal sponsor for the weekend, Sharp As Linehaul, hosted the runners for lunch.

Sixtus and other club members would now be taking a rest to recover from the festivities but would soon be focusing on their next major event, the Whanganui Street Drags on March 3.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.