Americarna 2021

We were lucky to enjoy Americarna again. Even people that hate cars loved it this year. Sandwiched between lockdowns in Auckland, it fell on a perfect window for even the very uninterested to want to get out and enjoy the events.

Americarna 2020 - More Bel Airs

At this year's Americarna, I ignored the new cars and went with a classic car to sketch. This is a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. A great car in a design variant before they started to get very ugly in the 60's and 70's. I also did this one standing up so it gives it a slightly different angle than usual. There is another quick drawing from a couple days before when they stopped in Waitara. I've never gone out to see the cars when they stop at the smaller towns. I'm not sure if each of the small stops get ALL the cars, there were still tons and it's quite a nice vibe to see Americarna outside New Plymouth.

AmeriCARna 2020

700 US classic cars lined the street.  This 1957 Chev 3100 pickup caught my eye

Brian remarked on a monster US Vietnam Oshkosh army truck towing a procession of equipment owned by a local entity - in the next street.  I couldn't help myself.

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby

The American car festival, AmeriCARna, came around again. I ended up chatting with people, got distracted and mucked up a few sketches. That's the bad side to using a pen. I did get one sketch from the 2018 show though: a 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby.

Americarna

The 10th year of the popular Americarna festival was still popular. After a very rainy Taranaki summer, the weather in New Plymouth was perfect for the multi-day event. I just sat in the shade and sketched the people looking at the classic cars.

Below is an Impala and a Belair from two years ago, and I've coloured last year's sketch too.

Americarna

Even with a bit of rain, the final day of the Americarna festival was still popular. I had a prime position on a bench with a view of a massive 1959 Cadillac with huge fins and rocket engine tail lights. When it started to look like it was going to start getting wet, that all went out the window. I didn't wait for a clear path and just drew everything. What you see is a Star Destroyer sized Cadillac with three people and four cars in front of it. (For the enthusiast, a 2008 Mustang Shelby, 1934 Chevrolet, a 1970 Rambler Hornet, and like last year, a 1956 Chevy Belair.) A special shout-out to the several people I met from Wanganui who are waiting for the final version of this one.

Below: Last year's Belair

Fresh Prints of Bel Airs

Americarna, the American Car Festival was in New Plymouth last weekend. Again, the CBD was closed down and became a classic car show. Angela and I found a shady bit with a view between two blocks of cars. Half way through our drawings, we realized that we were drawing the same type of car... a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air! 

(Car Nerd Info: The 2nd car behind my Bel Air is a 1960 Chevrolet Impala.)

Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am

 People in New Zealand really seem to like American cars. There's a festival called Americarna, that as a finale, has about 500 cars in a night parade and then the next day a show. This year they decided to close down the main shopping street (and some side streets) and just have it in the centre of town. It seemed pretty ambitious but I think it was a good idea. It was very popular. You can see in the photo that these parked classics take of a good number of city blocks. The good weather also helped.

As always, my favourite is the Pontiac Trans-Am (as long as there is a firebird on the hood). When I was a little kid, I had a friend who had a cousin who had an older cousin who had one of these. It was the fastest trip to McDonald's that I ever had. As a result, I can still remember the fear of the acceleration and respect for what this thing can do.

AmeriCARna

Over the past few days, 500 American muscle cars descended on Taranaki to fill the roads with chrome, US flags and the roar of engines.

What attracted me to John's retro Detroit car (from the Auckland Corvette Club), was the flashy teeth.
Although flagged as 5th generation, it has a 1st generation 1953 grill.

This 1965 Ford Mustang class was known as the pony car.  This was one of the very first Mustangs which were produced through till 1973 and proved wildly popular.

Peggy Gordon's Cetlic Bar, which last night was host to the Magog Motor Cycle Club's 40th anniversary concert.