Rae expects last-minute rush

Americarna organiser John Rae is not concerned the entries are not yet flooding in for his first attempt to export the iconic event to Southland.

The Southland Times reported on Saturday that only 310 cars had been registered for the Invercargill edition of the event, which starts in under two weeks.

Americarna co-ordinator Bob Anderson was quoted saying Americarna generated an average of $3 million in New Plymouth, and with 700 cars taking part in that version, Southland just did not compare.

Mr Rae said yesterday that, contrary to those reports, he was "not concerned at all" with the low turnout, which just emphasised some fundamental differences in South Island sensibilities.

New Plymouth, which will not see Americarna again until 2012, was not necessarily the better place.

"When we first ran Americarna in Taranaki, we had barely 500 entries. We were down 100 cars from last year [in 2010], by the way," Mr Rae said.

"We've found in the South Island, they do everything all at the last minute.

"We've heard it from so many people – `don't be concerned, you'll get the entries'.

"You ring me in another 10 days and I think you'll find we have similar numbers to our first year in New Plymouth."

Mr Rae said he was confident of getting 400-plus cars in Invercargill and would be "as happy as hell".

He said as it was the first year, the information might not have been clear to Southland enthusiasts from his "marketing machine" – for which he took responsibility. "There's room for an Americarna South Island, and there's room for an Americarna North Island, or I wouldn't be doing it. There's pluses and minuses for both."

And again, he offered the reminder that a return to New Plymouth in 2012 was not a given, as "there's a number to things to be sorted out".

Americarna officials have battled with New Plymouth District Council over the decision for them to pay in full the removal costs of the asphalt speed bumps from Devon St for the street cruise, and the scheduling of the Cliff Richard concert on the same weekend this year.

Americarna Southland runs from March 24-27 and will be based at Stadium Southland.

Taranaki American car fanatic Neville Carter said he was driving all the way down and said it would be great if there were enough cars to make it worthwhile.

Mr Carter spent 170 hours building and fitting to his 1967 Cadillac deVille a beam with lights that read `Invercargill here we come'.

- © Fairfax NZ News