Lovers of classic cars were in for a treat in Alexandra last week when 78 went on show in Pioneer Park.
The Triumph TR sports cars were in town for the TR Register New Zealand National Weekend.
Participants are lovers of the Triumph TR sports car — a twoseater, soft-top racing car manufactured in the United Kingdom between the 1950s and 1986.
Central Otago District councillor Martin McPherson — a car-lover himself — opened the show and said it was brilliant to see so many good-looking cars in Alexandra.
‘‘It’s lovely to see so much beautiful metal in one place.’’
On Saturday, participants drove through the Maniototo before returning to Alexandra for prizegiving.
Steph and Murray Booth, of Auckland, were displaying their six-cylinder 1973 Triumph TR6.
The couple bought the car for £1800 while they were living in London in the late 1970s and shipped it home with them when they returned to New Zealand.
Mr Booth said the Triumph was on New Zealand roads for only 14 months before he ‘‘blew the engine up racing it’’.
It remained in storage for about 30 years until the couple tidied it up. It was re-registered in 2013.
The car retained its magenta paintwork — a ‘‘colour of the ’70s’’, Mr Booth said.
‘‘It goes like a bomb,’’ Mrs Booth said.
The national weekends were ‘‘a good way to see the country’’, she added.
The couple are also taking part in the first edition of the Devereux, a journey prompted by fellow Triumph owner Malcolm Devereux, who had wanted to drive the length of the country in his Triumph.
The Booths joined Mr Devereux and about 30 people in 15 Triumphs, which set off from Cape Reinga last month.
They expected to arrive in Bluff on Tuesday this week.
The organiser of the national weekend in Alexandra, Ian Ramage, of Fruitlands, said this was the furthest south the annual event had been held.
This year’s attendance was the highest he had seen.
‘‘[We do it] because we love the cars and the people you see here are the people that love to drive the cars.’’
This contributed to a close community and friendships, he said.
