WELCOME TO CAMP DARRELL
ONE NIGHT OF ANTICS LATER, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER
It usually starts later on in the year, as summer begins to approach. Pick up a copy of NZV8 at the right time of year, and you will probably notice it — you could even do the same with NZ Performance Car, if you’re that way inclined — but, if you get a magazine covering the right events, you’ll find mention of a group going by the name of ‘The Darrells’.
The wild boys from Canterbury have made a bit of a name for themselves, predominantly for their rough-looking cars that put V8 grunt in a Japanese package. And, with an expanding haul of trophies and a reputation for bringing the party to the party, we figured it was high time to find out just what these lads are about.
The Darrells are made up of Hamish Pankhurst, Michael Ledgerwood, Callum Mckay, Jamie Hurley, Johnny Buchanan, Aaron Pirie, Jonny Bogue, Connor Gillan, Jody Thompson, Hamish Mann, Jed Chesmar, David Hunter, and Daniel Ramsay, and we managed to get a few of them, and their cars, together to ask them the really important questions.
Hey guys, we’ve got a really important question to ask — what’s up with the name?
Hamish P: When I was at school, we used to call people who thought they were a tough c*** ‘Darrell Tuffy’ after the Black Caps player, just because of his last name, obviously, and ended up shortening it to just ‘Darrell’. This would have been around 2006. We’d started using the name again as a bit of a joke again in 2013 before heading up to Nelson for the 4&Rotary show, and it just stuck.
That explains that. So, what is The Darrells about?
Michael: The Darrellnats event.
