Three decades of Wanganui Road Rodders history was honoured by cars with modern engines but chassis and frames going back nearly 50 years at the annual Street Drags down Taupo Quay on Saturday.
More than 70 cars, vans and motorbikes were entered and a bumper crowd enjoyed the engines roaring and tyres smoking, with even the weather co-operating as after a little midday drizzle, the expected rainfall stayed away.
As a spectacle, the event was everything the Road Rodders could have hoped for. The drags are their main fundraiser to keep the club going.
Even Taranaki's Americarna showcase moving to an annual event did not split the potential motoring audience, with the 30th anniversary of the drags pulling in more spectators than 12 months ago.
"We always clash [with Americarna], it's our weekend and it's their weekend. Locals come to support locals," said club spokesman Grant Rivers.
"Great support from the public, just a magic day.
"Thirty years - that's one milestone and we're very proud of it."
While the fans may not have been aware, the finishing times on the races did not break until the 6.5-7.5s range, being slightly slower even than last year when the Taupo Quay road was still recently resealed chip.
"Traction was a bit of an issue," said Rivers. "It was just a wheelspin the whole length of the track."
While some sunny weather may have helped as the rubber from the vehicles went on to the track, Rivers was still surprised by the slower times, because it was the drivers who had little in the way of superchargers but good horsepower who saw the most success.
"To walk on it, it was sticky, but there still wasn't any traction."
This year's Ivan Jones Memorial Trophy was won by Simon Carson, a recent club member whose 1962 Commer Cob put down a 7.929s run.
Sitting in his 1982 Kingswood truck with a 671 supercharger along with the 454 Chev engine, five-year club veteran John Hooper said it was hard to get up to personal best speeds.
"I'd like to do a 7s but we won't. We'll wheelspin ... It's a good adrenaline rush and I like doing big skids."
Dashing down the quay, Hooper had to correct often to avoid fishtailing by the end of the quarter-mile.
"There's a lot of turns in a straight road," he said.
Having pulled a burnout for the fans, Hooper predicted a lot of the drivers would "go crazy" for the final races of the day, the Grudge Shootouts, and so it proved as the tyres were smoking and then the contestants would have to reverse back through their own smokescreens to meet the starting lights.
Whanganui's Arron Jackson in his 1974 Holden Torana, with its Craig Wilson-built motor, is usually one of the top competitors but could only manage 8s runs.
"I just can't get the traction on the ground." The car was too powerful "for today", he said.
Nonetheless, the Naki Nitro-sponsored car remains a featured attraction and Jackson pulled some burnouts for the crowd in his labour of love.
"It hasn't really stopped having a makeover. Had it for 10 years. Ballpark figure of $60k spent.
"It's a big event, eh. There's only two street events left in the country."
The other is the Wellington Port Rd Drags, run by the Cam County Inc Hot Rod Club, who as usual arrived in Whanganui in numbers to support their small-town cousins, for which the Road Rodders will reciprocate next year for the 50th anniversary of the Wellington event.
There was one minor spill which alerted everyone that they should treat the road with respect as Todd Hall's Mustang - which won the Best Staging prize - fishtailed near the end of the straight and spun 360 degrees, breaking a balljoint on the front end when it struck the curve, but with no other damage or injury.
Craig Wilson's Holden also leaked a little transmission oil at the start of the event, forcing a 30-minute delay, but Rivers said they had started early anyway because of the prospect of rain, so everything finished right on schedule.
There were no issues with the lighting or timing equipment as seen last year.
"We were very lucky," Rivers said. He predicted the evening prizegiving back at the clubrooms would be an emotional affair for the longtime clubmen as they celebrated 30 years of their favourite day.
"It's going to be very cool tonight, a few speeches."
Among the other major awards, Alan Smith's 'Hot Wheels' Camero was the Best Presented Car, while Euan Mark's T Bucket, which had not been in Whanganui since the 1990s when it was the fastest street car around, was Best V8.