The calendar may be denoting the arrival of Springtime, but the weather gods are yet to give their blessings in this part of the world. Sunday morning dawned cold and damp, thankfully without the persistent, gusty south-westerly gales which had battered the district all week. Misty rain eventually cleared as the sun climbed over the horizon shrouded behind thick clouds, but the roads remained wet and the temperature fairly static.
The drive into Warragul along virtually empty back roads managed to spray grot all over your correspondent?s recently-cleaned paintwork; but what-the-hell, sports cars are meant for driving, not just showing or sitting in the garage – an opinion pleasingly echoed by the twenty or thirty special classic and sports cars already in place at the Woolies carpark well prior to the advertised 8am start time.
Last month?s Breakfast Club featured five classic Minis and a close relative, the Morris 1100. This month it was the MX5s ? at least six of them, and including an example of each series including the current model. At least a couple of these very popular sports cars were making their Breakfast Club debut this month, but they were not alone. Three of BMW?s sporty M3 coupes were also present this month. Clint Wilson?s 2002 model and Graeme Gunston?s 1998 model were only recently acquired and still displaying their NSW number plates. The third car was a black 2002 model that may or may not belong to one of our members!
Somewhere around eighty sporting and classic cars attended the gathering this month, perhaps a little less than what was expected, but strangely, there was a higher proportion of first-timers than normal. Trevor Batt brought along his recently club-plated Landcruiser ute, perhaps a vehicle not fitting most enthusiast?s idea of a classic car, but Trevor does have a classic Jaguar and Mini as well. There was an AMG twin-turbo 6.3 litre Mercedes coupe, a big Ford LTD, a beautiful bronze coloured Daimler XJ6/12, a 1960?s metallic blue convertible Mustang, a very tidy white Porsche 944, a lovely little Peugeot 203 GTi hot hatch and a 1970?s VW Beetle.
There was of course the usual eclectic collection of cars from our regular attendees ? Aussie classic sedans and coupes, American Muscle cars, German performance roadsters, coupes and sedans; classic English sports cars from the 60?s, a smattering of Alfas, Fiats and Lancias, John Althuizen?s Ferrari, Graham Longmore?s impressive Devaux coupe, a few street rods, some competition cars, and even a classic Dune Buggy. Plenty to keep everyone interested and an impressive showcase of our members? cars.
