More than 200 vintage and veteran cars headed up country over King’s Birthday Weekend for the annual Irishman Creek Rally.
For the 70th anniversary event, participants took in its namesake, Irishman Creek Station, the original destination chosen by a group of university students who, after the World War 2, formed the original Vintage Car Club of New Zealand.
The first rally to the station — when inventor Bill Hamilton owned the property — involved members from the Canterbury-based club and its Dunedin sub branch, and their veteran cars.
The rally, open to vintage and veteran cars — 1931 at the latest — involved vehicles and drivers from as far afield as Kerikeri and Invercargill, and included a Chrysler brought over from Australia by a man whose father had driven it in the first event, and three Rolls-Royce cars, dating from 1915, 1922 and 1929.
Rally helper Dave Inwood said it had been hoped one of the founders, 97-year-old Andrew Anderson, would be able to take part, but that had not been possible.
Mr Inwood said there were 228 entries; 10 were back-up vehicles, so veteran and vintage cars numbered about 218, until some ‘‘fell by the wayside’’ along the multi-day event.
‘‘There were probably about 200 by the time we got to Irishman Creek,’’ Mr Inwood said.
