Robyn Edie/Stuff
Tour of Duty American car cruise 2023 participants were encouraged to dress up for the drive. One Dunedin group had already picked out their costumes long before the time. From left are Tanz Eastlake, Michelle Robinson, and Liam Davies, with Kevin Patrick in the front and Donna-Marie Davies and Barry McFarlane at the back, ready to cruise in a 1962 Impala.
So six bottles of Corona are driving down the road …
No, it’s not the start of a bad joke; but it is a sight Southland motorists may have seen during the weekend’s Tour of Duty American car cruise.
Liam Davies and some of his mates from Dunedin donned the bottle outfits – which had been on ice for two years thanks to Covid-19 – while joining more than 250 other participants for the first post-pandemic Tour of Duty cruise.
Their 1962 Impala was among 65 American cars that gathered at the Makarewa Country club on Saturday morning before a slow, scenic drive to Te Anau via Riverton, Tuatapere, and Manapouri.
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“It was fantastic. Lots of little pubs all along the way,” Davies said, commending the organisers for a great day out.
Despite wild weather forecasts, road conditions only turned on Sunday when organiser Neil Sadlier said things got “very icy.”
The Tour of Duty American car cruise had been running for the past 17 years, bar a two-year hiatus when Covid-19 restrictions intervened.
The event was thought up by a group of Southland friends who were itching to get behind the wheel during the colder months when there wasn’t generally much for car enthusiasts to do.
“It’s just so you can get out and go for a cruise and do something over winter,” Sadlier explained.
And because they celebrate American iron, the tour was usually planned to coincide with the 4th of July – American Independence Day.
Participants were encouraged to dress up and the day ended with dinner and live music.
“It’s a relaxed weekend with like-minded people,” Sadlier said.
