With fine weather forecast and a dearth of other activities on our post-Covid lock-down calendar, a healthy turnout of special vehicles was expected this month. Your correspondent therefore arrived 45 minutes before the scheduled starting time, assuming that there?d be an opportunity to enjoy a sit-down breakfast at Maccas before the carpark started filling and things got underway. Wrong!
Upon arrival, half a dozen cars were already in position and the streets echoed with tuned exhausts as one after another desirable classic or sporting vehicle shuffled into their parking spaces. The southern section of the carpark reached capacity well before 8am and the rest was filling quickly. A count confirmed that this indeed, was our largest ever gathering, with somewhere between 140 and 150 vehicles in attendance during the morning. The regular numbers had been swelled by members of the Prince Skyline, MX5 and early Holden clubs as well as a group of VW Golf owners who paid us a visit. Unfortunately, a couple of shoppers complained to some club members, expressing their annoyance at the inconvenience of being forced to park further away from the supermarket entrance than they normally do. This was met with the appropriate sympathy and understanding as they were made aware of the vacant parking areas on the eastern side of the carpark and the Coles Supermarket just down the road.
It would be impossible to mention all the cars that were making their first appearances at this month?s gathering, but I would like to mention the rare little Simca 850 that Peter Walker brought out this month. Peter regularly turns up in his V8 Simca Vadette and has been working for several years to complete the pretty little 850 which I believe is the only one in Victoria. At the other extreme Peter Waghorn turned up in his fully restored 1973 Dodge tow truck, complete with chrome exhaust stacks and flashing yellow light. Thankfully his services were not required, although it was a close thing with Mark McKibbin?s Austin 7 Chummy needing several push-starts to kick it into life later in the morning. Another couple of rarities included a stunning, replica ?lightweight? E-type Jaguar and a Mazda Cosmo ? a car produced from 1967 with a focus on future technology and to showcase the new, forward-thinking rotary engine. It is one of ten or so in Australia.
As well as the Austin 7 Chummy there was good representation from the pre-WWII era with a couple of Cadillacs, a T-Model Ford, a massive Delage and Des Dillon?s Bugatti Type 35B. In contrast, some of the newest sporting cars included a Subaru BRZ, Lotus Elise and a Golf GTi. As usual, there were plenty of classics from the 1960s and ?70s including a clutch of MGBs, several Fiats, a couple of Falcon GTs, a trio of Minis, and pairs of Triumph Stags, Manx Beach Buggies as well as Bugeye Sprites. American sheet metal was in abundance on models from Pontiac, Cadillac and Ford, and the Europeans didn?t disappoint with late model-sporting sedans, coupes and roadsters from Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and Porsche.
It was a huge morning, enjoyed by many passers-by as well as our club members who appreciated the diversity and strength of the classic car scene in Gippsland ? and yes, I managed to get some breakfast at about 10am.
Locky Fowler created a short video of the event which you can view by copying and pasting this link into your browser: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5CzP39BntKnYrPdN8
RESPONSES TO: BREAKFAST CLUB, Warragul – 10th January
Comment from GRANT BUCK: Fantastic day and such a great turnout of different cars to look at.
Kevin Smith Awesome lineup to make us all drool
Fantastic day and such a great turnout of different cars to look at.
Awesome lineup to make us all drool