MUSCLE Car Madness in Rangiora, near Christchurch, is one of the biggest car events in New Zealand. The concept is pretty similar to Summernats; there’s a massive static car show and a cruise route, with the main drawcard these days being the burnouts, which attracted a seriously impressive crowd.

The cars were nothing like the big-dollar tyre destroyers we’re used to seeing in the top comps over here (plenty of snotty VNs and AU Falcons), but the sport is still pretty new in NZ and people are going nuts for it! Last year was the first time Muscle Car Madness had a dedicated burnout pad; prior to that they used a tiny portion of a paved car park right next to the public road. The locals didn’t like being blinded by the tyre smoke while driving so they built the circular pad in the back corner of the showgrounds.

There was a cool variety of cars keen for a skid, including Lindsay Smith’s big-block LX Torana hatch, which was the first and one of the best cars out on the pad. Another cool ride that put on a good show was a rat rod-style Nissan Laurel sedan with a 440 Mopar up front! It was an eclectic bunch of cars; hit play on the video to check them out.