Church Of Speed
Early October saw the welcome return of the ever-evolving The Side Show – a car show produced by local club Trouble Bound made up of 16 characters with a bunch of very different cars. It’s a low-key annual (in vibe, not chaos) affair that started in 2018 with a focus on hangin’ out, shooting the shit and maybe an ice-cold libation or 30. Does life get any better?
Held in a bigger venue with more parking this year (having outgrown last year’s site), the word that would sum up the whole day is ‘real’ — it’s a no-bullshit, no-sponsorship, love-of-cars kind of deal, not a money-making venture. You’ll find everything there, from tough muscle cars to Model A four-bangers and killer hot rods — no rules and lots of smiles. I caught up with founding member Shane Adlington for a chinwag about Trouble Bound and The Side Show, here’s what he had to say
NZV8: Who founded Trouble Bound?
Shane: Half a dozen of the core of us but almost everyone at the same time really.
What was the point of it all?
Just have fun, breakaway from older clubs and do our own shit. At the same time hopefully, that would have inspired other younger people to do the same.
What did you NOT want Trouble Bound to represent, and similarly,
what did you want it to stand for?
We didn’t wanna have cups of tea and lawn chairs (still don’t); we really wanted to remember the hot rodding from our youth.
Has anyone ever left or been kicked out?
Three members have left, not kicked out — just kinda faded away, and Kylo moved to Aussie.
In Trouble Bound who is most likely to end up with their pants down when they’re drunk as f**k?
Me, but I’m supposed to be retired (promised the wife). [Side note: another member pissed his pants after The Side Show.]
There have been Trouble Bound ‘Lock ins’; what’s the most ridiculous thing that’s ever happened?
Grant, dressed as Duffman, jumped through a table from the second-story rafters; we set fire to my garage and burnt a hole through a table doing a mini bike skid on it.
It’s been cool to see the club always giving back to deserving causes; was this a goal from the start?
It wasn’t the plan at the start but just kind of evolved, it also makes us look like not total idiots and helps cover up sins, ha ha!
What’s the future of ‘traditional’ hot rodding and the next gen of young pups who might possibly get into it? I get that it’s way easier for a young guy or girl to get their hands on a car that’s a lot of relatively modern vehicle and that goes like the clappers and it’s far more accessible than a ’32 coupe plus all their friends are driving similar shit, but do you think there’s just always going to be only a certain percentage of the population who get stoked on the idea of cool old cars or is it the scene dying?
Hard one; ageing in general is a blessing and a curse. There’s plenty of other people our age who — like us — wont let it die, but you’ve just gotta show younger kids that this stuff is still dangerous and exciting — and still somewhat obtainable.
I’ve never understood going to the hot rod club and not taking your hot rod and having a meeting no one enjoys, then going home. All the NHRA clubs are saying, ‘How do we attract more young people?’ Do you think it matters, and what advice would you give them?
We wouldn’t have this stuff without NZHRA, so there’s that, but how do go about promoting it? We as a club just wanna go to the pub, have some beers, and do some skids with our mates, we also don’t believe you should have these things without using them, they’re just cars. If Trouble Bound are doing stuff together it’ll be in an old car.
What is the plan for the club and The Side Show from here; anything big on the horizon or is it just ‘let’s look after each other, do cool shit with cars and try and get it done’?
Very much the latter. Side Show–wise, we have to de-brief with this year’s venue; if they’re happy, we’ll go from there.
Kirsten (Trouble Bound member) is a badass who grew up with a hot rodder family and Toddy (Kirsten’s engineer partner and also a club member) is a f**king genius. What percentage of time when Trouble Bound are partying does she have to avert her eyes from cocks, balls and bare arses — or is she just immune to it now? Man, Kirsten has seen it all (long before TB too). One of our club goals is to pay for her boob job, but not to get them bigger, just get her a third one in the middle.
Words and Photos: Aaron Carson
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