Not too much happens in Rangiora, a sleepy town just north of Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. But on the last weekend of January, it’s a different story altogether. That’s when Muscle Car Madness draws black T-shirts, steel bumpers, and Holley carbs to the town like moths to V8-soundtracked flame.

First published in the April 2026 issue of Street Machine

If you’ve never been, you won’t fully understand. Muscle Car Madness (aka ‘Goon’, named after the town’s nickname of ‘Rangoon’) is as close as you’ll ever get in this era to experiencing the carefree hot-rodding days of old.

For those who attend – and most do so religiously each year – it’s like Christmas. It represents a break from the slow grind of reality – from work, bills, and the stresses of everyday life. It’s as much about catching up with friends you may only see here once a year as it is about the cars.

And as the show rolled around for the 36th time, thunderheads loomed over the horizon. The weather had been dire the whole week leading up to the event and didn’t seem like it was about to let up. But the show, as they say, must go on.

The threat of rain was ever-present while campsites were established, and as the first attempts at negotiating the Rangiora Showgrounds cruise route were made on Thursday evening, it quickly became clear that this year’s event was going to be a mud bath.

For quite possibly the first and only time in the event’s history, the cruise route was dead. Normally, it’s a never-ending procession of cars packed to the brim with entrants and passengers, and an infinite source of entertainment for the campers. You’d watch it all from camp and occasionally climb into a passing friend’s car for a lap, or fire up one of your camp’s cars to cut some laps yourself. So, effectively losing the cruise route this time around was definitely a blow.

But life is what you make it. Rangiora businesses did a roaring trade, selling the town clean out of Red Bands (a classic Kiwi gumboot brand) as entrants decided if they couldn’t cruise the show, they’d walk! The showgrounds, normally vibrating with the sound of music and rumbling V8s, instead took on a neighbourly air as people squelched their way around to borrow beers and tell lies at friends’ campsites.

There is more to Muscle Car Madness than just the cruise route, anyway. The traditional Friday-morning cruise out to the Ashley Gorge helps entrants break free of the showgrounds, although this year’s heavy rain meant Gorge access was cut off, diverting the cruise out to the nearby town of Cust instead. Regardless of destination, the cruise is always a great experience for the locals, brightening an otherwise normal working day!

Speaking of the locals, another massive part of Muscle Car Madness has always been in opening up the scene to everyone, as gates opened on the Saturday and Sunday for the public show.

With the dicey forecast, there was no doubt a degree of anxiety around spectator numbers, but as Saturday dawned surprisingly dry and with a hint of sunlight, the show cars began filling the oval and the visitors streamed in just as they do every year.

Walking through the gates, there’s always a lot to unpack on show day beyond the campsites and car show. Cruising is off-limits while the gates are open, for fairly obvious reasons, but there’s so much going during the day that you don’t miss it. You could be stuck for hours enjoying the show cars on display, for instance – cars like Todd and Tash Collins’s C10, an elite-level build by Kruzin Kustoms that has been displayed at SEMA; and Chris ‘Starry’ Malcolm’s tribute to the iconic New Zealand hot rod ‘Wild Honey’, originally built by Roger Devlin.

The annual Rockabilly Pageant is also a favourite, breaking up the automotive onslaught through the softer, more fashionable side of hot rodding.

For all that good stuff, though, the burnout competition is always what draws the majority of spectators through the gates. There are bigger competitions with fatter prize purses out there, but you won’t find one with the prestige this holds in New Zealand. The competitors know it, and so do the crowds, which is why every year you’ll struggle to push through the thousands-deep throng surrounding the small pad.

There was a strong crowd presence for the burnouts across both weekend days, and they certainly got their money’s worth. Sunday’s finals saw Graeme Keats emerge victorious in the V8 class, piloting KEATSY, his trusty XY Falcon ute. An honourable mention should go to 14-year-old Charlotte Wilby, who came second in her LS-powered SKDMRK Mk1 Escort. It was a pretty sweet way to wrap up one of the most memorable Muscle Car Madness shows ever.

Craig Stare has been the man behind the operation from day one. Now, after 36 years of good times, Craig’s finally ready to hang up his hat and sell the event to ex-All Black Brodie Retallick, himself a diehard petrolhead who has frequently attended the show in the past. So, at this changing of the guard for Muscle Car Madness, here’s hoping the powers that be – and the weather – will be kind to this event that’s beloved by so many Kiwi car nuts.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. “We paid $3000 between eight of us for it,” said Michael Ledgerwood of this XP wagon, which he and his mates turned into a cool MCM cruiser. The crew cut a whole heap out of the back guards, transmission tunnel and crossmember to accommodate the necessary low stance, which was achieved with flipped leaves and lowering blocks, and no front springs.

2. Che Watt’s beaut little Mini Cooper houses the running gear from his much-loved, blown LS-powered Austin pick-up, SLUG. While it’s basically just a Mini shell over a tube chassis and sheet-metal floor, it’s superbly finished, including the painted and fully upholstered interior. “I own a boat shop, so we have a good painter; it probably wouldn’t look like that if I’d painted it,” Che laughed.

3. It’s been on the road for the past four years, but Ian Paki’s Super Stock-style 1965 Pontiac Catalina build still looks as good as new. It’s 100 per cent road legal, and packs a high-comp, Dart-blocked 410ci small-block Chev with AFR heads, backed by a TH350 and 3.7:1 9in. Ian’s run a best of 11.7 down the quarter, which is really moving for a full-size street car this nice.

4. Ben Johnson scored this rare 1957 Dodge D100 Sweptside pick-up out of Fresno, California over 10 years ago. One of only 176 made with factory-installed two-door wagon rear quarters over the standard truck bed, the Dodge now runs the factory-spec 315ci Dodge Poly V8 and Torqueflite transmission.

5. When Karl Gould imported his ’51 Chev pick-up from LA, it was a bog-standard runner with a 235ci motor and three-speed crash box, but it now runs an LS1, 4L60 trans, and custom 9in and four-link. Graham Wood massaged the factory chassis, narrowing and boxing in the rear and installing a Jag IFS. The end result is 100 per cent road legal, with Karl and good mate Johnny Gilbert driving two-and-half hours from Timaru for MCM.

6. We featured Louie O’Donnell and his 1949 Mercury in Young Guns in our April 2016 issue, and it still runs the same 289ci Windsor/C4/9in driveline he installed to get it going back then. Louie had it parked at Justin Orpwood’s Deluxe Speed & Custom display at MCM. “I built the car in the garage at home, but Justin helped with a lot of the final pieces of the puzzle for engineering,” he said.

7. Originally a postal van in the USA, this 1971 Chevy P10 was converted to a lowrider-style ice cream truck by Jokers Wild Kustoms in Tauranga. Glen Cottle picked it up around six months ago and set about transforming it into a functional coffee van for his Flamin’ Cookin’ business. While it currently runs its standard V6, Glen plans to swap in an LS3 soon before getting it engineered for NZ road use.

8. One of NZ’s most iconic custom builds, the ‘Knight Moves’ ’50 Buick still looks as sharp as the day Paul Knight unveiled it over two decades ago. Current owner Grant Findley has driven it up and down both islands a few times, including to Repco Beach Hop in 2022. “It’s the same as when Paul built it – I don’t wanna change it,” Grant said. “It’s just such a good, reliable car, and it’s still quite the attention seeker.”

9. Dan Tyler at Rocket Speed Equipment in Hamilton built this 1980 Ford Escort, powered by a 2.0L EcoBoost four-pot from a Ford Focus ST. A six-speed ’box and HiLux diff rounds out the driveline. Now owned by John Crowe, the little Esky is one hell of a street car, but it holds its own on the track, too. “That’s why I bought it – it’s a driver,” John laughed. “It’s 300hp and reliable!”

10. When we saw Kieran Winston’s Impala jacked up on ramps with the transmission out, we had to see what was going on. “On the way over, we blew the front seal on the trans,” Kieran explained. “We jacked it up on the side of the road and I was going to do it there, but the boys ended up sending a transporter, so we did it here onsite, with help from Greg the mechanic and my mate Griffin Tucker.”

11. Ben Marsh’s ’72 HQ is now a mean-looking pro street weapon thanks to the skills of Dan Drummond at Dan’s Rust & Resto. It runs an 8/71-blown 454ci big-block with FiTech injection, Turbo 400 trans, and narrowed 9in with Detroit Locker in the tubbed rear end. “Ben drives it like a daily,” Dan said, which makes it all the more impressive that it still scrubs up so well.

12. Craig Stare created Muscle Car Madness 36 years ago, but this year’s event was his last, as he’s handing the reins over to new owner, rugby union great Brodie Retallick. “We fully support him,” Craig said. “Brodie was born here in Rangiora; his whole family is from North Canterbury. I’ve always felt that MCM was something to get away from the doldrums of everyday life. The idea was always that you come in here and have a lot of fun.”