Ransom Eli Olds would have been damned proud. He was the founder of the Oldsmobile motor car company, who gave his initials to the 1906 REO Roadster – apparently a very affordable and reliable old banger in its day.

Old dears on a new road. Photos by Bruce Barnard.

And here was Ransom's car, 109 years later, chugging, steaming and hissing under the Parton Road overpass on the new Tauranga Eastern Link – what we all know as the TEL – and the route we will all soon be driving on when heading east out of Tauranga.

It was delightfully incongruous – a car and a road bridging the centuries. A single-cylinder Roadster now in the safe keeping of Tauranga's Bob Taylor, the very earliest of 19^th century motorcars, parked up on the very latest 21^st century blacktop.

The REO was in period company today – there was a 1929 Ford Model A Tip Truck, a 1934 Railton, a 1931 Ford Model A Coupe, a 1930 Ford Model A truck, a 1948 Pontiac Torpedo Convertible, a 1917 Dodge and a 1930 Ford Model A.

It was a photo opportunity, a kind of dress rehearsal, because the vintage cars will play an important role ferrying the VIPs when Transport Minister Simon Bridges officially opens the turnpike, or tolled road, next Thursday.

And the occasion wasn't lost on us, because there we all were parked up in the fast lane on the still closed road. That will be a no-no when the road opens for real on August 3, five months ahead of schedule.

The 21km four-lane TEL is one of seven Roads of National Significance – a RoNS – and that means the government considers it crucial to building New Zealand's economy.

But before the cars, trucks and motorbikes take control of the link, Bay of Plenty folk will have an opportunity to check it out.

A community day is planned for Saturday, August 1 and you will be able to walk the 42km round trip or parts of it. Buses will be running up and down the road to pick up any stragglers.

It's a ‘oncer' – the only time you will be allowed to walk and explore the TEL. A gala area will set up at the Domain Interchange, where there will be information about the project, food stalls and entertainment.

For more information on the TEL, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/tel