Wanganui takes a step back to the 1950's and earlier this week. Whilst some would argue that Wanganui never actually stepped out of the 1850's, there's a good reason for the city going all retro.
The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand is holding its International Rally in the River City. Cars have begun arriving this morning, and the official opening takes place tomorrow afternoon. The rally will run until the end of next week.
This rally will provide a significant boost to the Wanganui economy. 700 cars have been entered, bringing with them around 2000 people. There are around 50 overseas entrants, from as far away as the United States and Canada, Great Britain and Sweden. Amongst that number is Nick Mason, the drummer of 70's supergroup Pink Floyd who is a world-renowned car collector. It is suggested that Wanganui will be receiving a windfall of up to $12 million over the next two weeks; a great start to 2012.
The public highlight will take place on Sunday 22nd January, when there is an Open Day at the Wanganui Racecourse. Rally organisers expect around 25,000 people to come and view a collection of cars, the like of which is unlikely to ever be seen in Wanganui again.
And say what you like about former Wanganui mayor Michael Laws. It was his initiative, when visited by organisers even before they bid for the Rally six years ago to promise a significant investment from the Wanganui District Council. That gave the organisers certainty as to seed funding, and has gone a long way to ensure that this years Rally will be a fantastic success, as long as the weather co-operates.
We'll be around town a bit this week, so we'll take photos whenever we see a vehicle that catches our eye. In the meantime, we extend a huge Wanganui welcome to visitors to our city, and we hope that their stay here is memorable.
POSTCRIPT: The photograph above is taken from the list of entries on the VCC Rally 2012 website; the charabanc will indeed be seen around Wanganui this week.
2 comments:
I looked at the photo and thought Stranglers rather than Floyd:
Oh shit! There goes the charabanc. Looks like I'll be stuck here the whole summer.
Well what a bummer.
BTW, Floyd are not a supergroup, which is a band comprised members famous from previous bands, Cream being the archetype.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
My first considered reaction.
(Although I watched the film again with my sons recently. Dick Van Dykes accent was a shocker as it was in Mary Poppins and took some getting used to!)
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