when did vanning get started in NZ?

How long has vanning been in NZ? Are your events for vans only or open to all types of motors?

This is from The Van Association NZ website and should answer your question

And as for being open to all we allow vans ( large, medium ,and small ) utes,stationwagons , and old skool cutoms




Vanning in New Zealand really got underway in March 1976 with the formation of New Zealand’s first van club, Parlour Vans, in Auckland. There had been the odd custom van running around prior to this but with the establishment of Parlour Vans, a focal point was formed for vanners to get information and meet fellow vanners. Parlour Vans first official van run was held in April 1976 to a beach north of Auckland and was attended by around 20 vans. A number of vanners around the country joined Parlour Vans and set up affiliate clubs until they could get enough members together in there own towns to stand alone as a separate club. These clubs included Windy City Vans in Wellington, Sun City Vans in Napier, Taupo Custom Vans and Hamilton Custom Vans.

It didn’t take long before van clubs were springing up around the country. New Zealand’s first Van Nationals was held in Paraparaumu, north of Wellington in 1977. This was hosted by Windy City Vans with around 50 vans attending. The vanning movement rapidly grew and the number of clubs grew steadily to a maximum of around 35. Various runs were held throughout the year and a number of these became traditional and were repeated many times like Black Sands at Muriwai, Auckland, Ohiti over New Year at Napier, "Class Of" runs at Tauranga and the Carnival Runs at Taupo, to name a few. Many of these runs hosted 300 or more vans. Major Van Shows were held around the country by various clubs with 40 to 50 or more show vans attending at major venues. Some of the vans even appeared on local TV shows.

With the number of clubs growing and the country being spread out, it was decided by a few vanners to look at forming a vans register to collect and distribute information and keep the various clubs informed and in-touch with each other. A meeting was held in Taupo in 1979 and after much debate the Van Association of New Zealand (VANZ) was formed in 1980. A number of rules were formulated for the guidance of the vanning movement with the most contentious and most often debated ones being those to do with show judging.

A number of clubs grew to unmanageable sizes with some splitting to form other clubs. One such club being Parlour Vans which grew to over 80 members before splitting and giving birth to Auckland Custom Vans. At one stage there were 6 van clubs active in the Auckland area, and a number of cities had more than one active club.

As well as van runs, racing was also popular with Parlour Vans hosting their annual Van Drags at the Meremere Drag Strip south of Auckland. This was popular with many clubs and was run for a number of years through the 80’s.

As with most other countries vanning started to decline in New Zealand for a number of reasons. However a core of hardened vanners throughout the country continue the sport and there are still about 20 clubs active, although most have much reduced membership numbers. There are still a number of regular eVANts held throughout the year including, the Snow Run, Kia Iwi Lakes, Gunns Bush, Thames Gold Rush and the Carnival Run. These culminate in the Van Nationals held at various locations around the country each Easter. These tend to alternate between the North and South Island and include the AGM of the Van Association of New Zealand. We also have Veteran Vanners who are those who have been continuous members of VANZ for 10 years or more.

Hopefully the vanning movement will continue for many years to come with the large number of vanning children coming up through the ranks.

- Garry Armstrong

I think the very first owner of a van in NZ was a sheep

and now you own it

your on fire Alex, I bought it for a song, after I bought it, I killed it and took me money back, and ate it for tea

does it still smell like mutton dressed as lamb

now what's Teena done to you