A collection of extraordinary vehicles from the early years of the 20th century will cruise through the streets of Dunedin at two events next week.
In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Dunedin-Brighton All Veteran Vehicle Rally, this year the National Veteran Rally is also taking place in Dunedin.
Rally director Nicola Wilkinson said it had received just more than 80 registrations, including for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles, all predating 1919.
Drivers would attend a gathering on Thursday, January 25 at the Edgar Centre, before taking part in the National Veteran Rally on Friday, January 26.
The rally route begins from the Sunnyvale Sports Centre, and heads out to the Outram Rugby grounds for lunch, before a return run to Sunnyvale in the afternoon.
On Saturday, January 27, the 70th Dunedin to Brighton Rally will begin with vehicles arriving at the First Church carpark at 8am before driving to the Octagon for a public display taking place from 9.30am to 10.30am.
The first car will then be flagged away by Mayor Jules Radich at 10.30am for the journey from Dunedin to Brighton Domain, and after lunch at the rugby club pavilion, the vehicles will return back to Dunedin at about 2pm.
Mrs Wilkinson said one of the more unusual vehicles was a 1913 International Harvester Company Autowagon owned by Allan Dippie, of Wanaka.
Another vehicle to look out for was the Southland Vintage Car Club’s 1907 Darracq charabanc, which was at one stage converted to be a school bus.
Among familiar marques such as Ford, Rolls-Royce and Cadillac, some names have faded into relative obscurity, such as British manufacturer Alldays & Onions, or the St Louis, Missouri-based Moon Motor Car Company.
The Dunedin to Brighton Rally was inspired by the London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally and was first run in 1954 as part of that year’s Dunedin Festival.
Veteran vehicles are classified as those made prior to December 31, 1918.
