______________

_______________

Past and present members of the New Zealand Hot Rod Association reunited together for the Castrol Edge and Classic Cover Insurance Ltd NZHRA 50th Anniversary Black Tie Dinner at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa, Wellington on the evening of Saturday 19th November 2011. The tables were surrounded by 12 foot high canvas prints of never before seen art work, drawn back in the 60's by Rob Campbell - thanks to the efforts of John Pavlovich and the Scroungers - four cars were on display, including the CenturyYuasa 2011 NZHRA Hot Rod Lottery 1926 Ford Roadster - and the lucky ticket #17000 W.A. Thompson was drawn as the winner and phoned on the spot. A photo slide show of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and the new millennium courtesy of Paul Grace flashed across the screen as guests dined on the five course meal. MC Mike Currie from the Radio Hauraki Road Train entertained the crowd and introduced special guests including Bill Mudgway (instigator of the NZHRA back in 1961) and the first recipients of the NZHRA RSH Awards (read more about the awards here). Each guest received NZHRA mementoes and were the first recipients of the 80 page NZHRA Hot Rodding Memory book (see below on how to get your copy). A huge thank you to our Sponsors of the evening Castrol Edge and Classic Cover Insurance Ltd, and all the wonderful people who made the NZHRA 50th Anniversary Dinner something special.
www.castroledge.com	www.classiccover.co.nz

Pete Chapouris Special Guest Speaker of the Evening was Pete Chapouris from the United States. Pete has an extensive Hot Rod history, he is currently the President of So-Cal and has been inducted into the Route 66 Hall of Fame, the SEMA Hall of Fame, the SREA Hall of Fame and SRMA Service Award, the National Rod & Custom Hall of Fame, the Hot Rod Hall of Fame and the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame.

CenturyYuasa 2011 NZHRA Hot Rod Lottery During the evening we phoned W. A. Thompson from Thames to tell him he is the CenturyYuasa 2011 NZHRA Hot Rod Lottery lucky ticket holder that was pulled from the 20,000+ ticket butts to win the 1926 Ford Roadster! Read more about the Lottery here

	Photos of Guests at the Castrol Edge & Classic Cover Insurance Ltd NZHRA 50th Anniversary Dinner can be found here
	Photos of the Venue - How we dressed up Te Papa for the Castrol Edge & Classic Cover Insurance Ltd NZHRA 50th Anniversary Dinner.
Digital copies of these photos are available for purchase through the NZHRA office for $10 each. Sent via email and without watermarks. Please quote the image number when ordering.

Speeches
Mike Currie, Daryl Gates and Pete Chapouris	Mike Currie and Pete Chapouris	Mike Currie	Daryl Gates (NZHRA President)
Daryl Gates (NZHRA President)	Daryl Gates and Pete Chapouris	Daryl Gates and Pete Chapouris	Pete Chapouris
Pete Chapouris	Pete Chapouris	Pete Chapouris	Pete Chapouris
John Pavlovich	John Pavlovich	John Pavlovich	John Pavlovich
Bill Mudgway	Bill Mudgway	Bill Mudgway	Bill Mudgway
Bill Mudgway	Garth Hogan	Garth Hogan	Garth Hogan

Daryl Gates - NZHRA President - (Part) Speech here

Talking to CenturyYuasa 2011 NZHRA Hot Rod Lottery winner William Thompson here

Video speech from NZHRA Life Member and one of the original Rodders - Rob Campbell here

A few kind words from Garth Hogan here

Kind words from some of our guests.....

Hi Guys, Just wanted to pass on our thanks for a lovely evening on Saturday. We thoroughly enjoyed it. If we can be any help in the future, please just ask. Thanks Sue.
______________________________________________________________________

G'day Daryl, just wanted to wish the New Zealand Hot Rod Association a very Happy 50th Birthday, keep it simple and keep it FUN! Happy Hot Rodding and cheers to all, Squeak Bell (member since 1971,Whakatane R+CC Inc)
______________________________________________________________________

Geoff and I would like to thank you all for an amazing night on Saturday. The venue was spectacular and the book is great and everything in our goodies bag are much appreciated. We are grateful to have been able to have been a part of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary, hot rodding is a huge part of our lives and although we were not around when the Association was started the history of it is good to know. To Errol and Elaine congratulations on your award you two deserve that so much, you guys are the face of NZHRA at every rodding event, you do a great job. D Cottle.
______________________________________________________________________

Just wanted to say a big “Thank you” to the organisers for the function last Saturday, it was a great night, and an absolute pleasure to attend.  A very special moment in time for us older hot Rodders!
You all did a great job organising the event, the set-up, and publishing the book to celebrate 50years. Well done, one and all. M Wilkin.
______________________________________________________________________

Once again we cannot thankyou enough for giving us such a memorable weekend.   Bill says his beer has never tasted so good as out of the commemoration glass!!!!   We have also had our place mats we had at the table laminated and they look absolutely great. B & C Mudgway.
______________________________________________________________________

...it was a well polished event and everyone enjoyed themselves. Top marks to everyone! M Cocks.
______________________________________________________________________

...the only moan I have of the weekend was that I arrived home from the great weather in Wellywood to flooding in Westport. A Oldham.
______________________________________________________________________

Daryl, congratulations to you, Jo and Bobbie for putting together an outstanding evening which Anne & I thoroughly enjoyed. I have spoken with several of those who attended from Zone 2 and they have been equally complimentary. I McNeill
______________________________________________________________________

Just a short note to say thanks for your effort in the vision and concept for the 50th Anniversary Dinner....I had a great weekend, much appreciated. P Grace.

Other 50th Anniversary year Events

CenturyYuasa 2011 NZHRA Hot Rod Lottery

RSH Awards

NZHRA Book of Hot Rodding Memories