Matt Turnwald is the busy organiser and promoter of Repco Takapuna Rocks, the popular classic car event that has made the Takapuna beach front come alive with car enthusiasts for one Saturday in November over the past six years. It’s on again in 2024, on Saturday 9 November, at the Strand, by the beach in central Takapuna. Repco Takapuna Rocks 2024 is a community fundraising event in the support of Yes Disability for Shore Junction, the Shore’s Youth Innovation Hub. Channel Mag’s Aidan Bennett caught up with Matt for a chat about what they have lined up for Repco Takapuna Rocks in 2024.
Channel Mag: You guys must be thrilled with how successful this event has been over many years despite the hiccups of Covid and the economy. Going by the line-up of support you have from sponsors and others it is obviously valued.
Matt Turnwald: Yes, we are very happy to be able to return to the shores of Takapuna with Repco Takapuna Rocks again in 2024. We feel that it’s one thing that adds a great deal to the local community and it’s needed more than ever in 2024. The support we’ve had from our amazing sponsors has been pretty incredible. We can’t thank all involved enough for the continued support to ensure the event's success.
I understand the show has become a bit of a destination event bringing people from far and wide.
We have certainly well and truly put this event on the New Zealand car show scene! How can it not be successful with the fantastic location? Takapuna Beach is a great venue to draw people from wide and far to enjoy the cars, fun and entertainment, and we are thrilled to be supporting such a great cause as our local youth innovation hub, Shore Junction.
Why did you decide to start the show back in 2018?
Having been a part of a great South Island show before moving north to be closer to family, I always had a desire to start another show that could also help the local community. With the help of my amazing mother, Takapuna Rocks was born. This is a project we love doing together and best of all we are giving back to the community.
How many vehicles will you have involved in this 2024 event, and what should we look out for in the line-up of vehicles on show?
This year‘s registrations are attracting a lot of cars that haven’t attended Repco Takapuna Rocks in past years, so the quality is going to be amazing as we showcase these for the first time. We have Trev Halsted in his unreal Studebaker coming for the first time. This year we will have a couple of trucks attending, and also we have Charlie Bailey and his amazing Smokey and the Bandit Tribute Kenworth, which is definitely not to be missed. NZ Vicla’s will be turning up with their stunning motorbikes and lots more.
Takapuna is such a great venue, isn’t it? You must be thrilled with the support from locals.
Takapuna is a world-class venue for any event. The support from the Takapuna Beach Business Association and ‘Taka’ locals in general is just incredible. The event would not be possible without that support. The Strand will be closed to traffic and pedestrian-only for the day so it allows us to line the streets with amazing cars, trucks, bikes, live music and rock 'n' roll dancing.
Tell us about the vintage market.
Our vintage markets are always set down in Gould Reserve on the Takapuna Beach shoreline which is just a perfect setting for the markets. How can you beat walking through a market whilst the sea is quietly lapping in the background and everyone is having fun?
What do you have lined up in terms of live music this year?
Once again this year we have the amazing Chet O’Connell & The Rock n Roll Riot band returning to get the right mood set and the dancers dancing as they have in past years. This year we have looked hard for another entertaining group and have found an incredible young band that is made up of brothers and sisters called Rumpus Machine. When you hear these guys they will blow you away with their talent and skill.
Who can enter the Pin-up Pageant?
The crowning of Miss Takapuna Rocks has become a very important event in the pin-up scene here in New Zealand, and we have girls registered already from as far as Whangarei in the north and Christchurch in the south. Such a great part of our show that gets a huge amount of interest from both young and old.
Why should attendees bring the whole family to Repco Takapuna Rocks in 2024?
Repco Takapuna Rocks was born as a family project for families to enjoy. There is NO entry fee for the public. However, we will have Shore Junction volunteers walking around with buckets for donations should you feel like donating to such a worthy cause. We will even have a face painting tent for the kids and the incredible (and recently enhanced) Takapuna playground is right in the middle of our event so makes for another great attraction. There are also the amazing local eateries within our show area to enjoy food and a possible cheeky drink.
Complete the following… 'While I love putting Repco Takapuna Rocks together every year, after the show I love to…'
To put on an event like this takes a lot of planning all year round and promotion at as many events we can make it to. So packing my three kids in the car and heading off to car shows whenever we can is such a great fun way to spend our time. Living in paradise, as I call the Shore, just has so many options both with and without the family from fishing, socialising or just getting out and about.
