here are a number of car and rod clubs throughout New Zealand that are celebrating some big anniversaries this year, one of them being the Ashburton-based Americar Rod & Custom Club, which is turning 55. Way back in July 1968, after some discussions Murray Perkins and Ken Darrell came up with the idea of forming a car club, and it was from these talks that the Ashburton club was formed.above Evans Sport Shop in Upper Victoria Street became the home of club meetings, held fortnightly. Sometime later, a clubrooms/shed was rented from Coldicott Plasterers, and this is where many of the early club cars were either worked on or built. In the early days, many activities were held, including a swap meet held in the local Farmers’ car park, joining in with a hill climb held close to Mt Hutt at Windwhistle, which was run by Kustoms Car Club, as well as plenty of interaction with the Christchurch club, Rod Benders.
