Gippsland Sporting and Classic Car Register

Monday, 13^th June?and it didn?t rain! Well, pretty much so. The Warragul Harness Racing Club, via SR member Steve Austen, had invited us to attend their Queen?s Birthday race day, and to display our classic cars, which we did quite successfully. We had 48 members attend, bringing 29 cars, arranged in our own segregated display area. Vehicles ranged from Kombis to Mini; Jags to Chargers; Riley to BWMs, modern to older; and so forth ? a wonderfully varied group.

Lunch was a sit-down affair with a wonderful view across the track. The kitchen was somewhat overwhelmed by the numbers present so meals were some time arriving, but that gave more opportunity for socialising and wandering back outside to check out the cars, or off to the stables to see the horses. Some of our members had a dabble on the horses, but there were no reports of any windfall.

The $500 prize for ?best/desirable? car on display went to Richard and Joy Kaden, for their Charger 770. This is a quite incredible car as Richard was telling me it was 99% original ? he has replaced the exhaust system ? otherwise as he bought it. It is a straight, glossy vehicle with period fittings, and surprisingly, an almost-pristine white upholstery! A ?door? prize of a night?s accommodation was also won by Grace and Rod Smith, who attended the day in their lovely MGTC.

The outing was very successful, and the WHRC seemed thankful to have such a good turnout from our club. Perhaps we could do this again another time?

(NOTE: the photo with the ladies at the stables could be captioned: ‘Five fine fillies.’ This is probably preferable to the suggestion of ‘Five nags’ which is totally rude and won’t be mentioned here.)

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Not a great day for being outdoors, but around 30 hardy souls demonstrated their contempt for the elements by discarding the heater for a wind-blown, drizzly car park this morning. We had the usual interesting diverse collection ranging from Trevor’s Thunderbird down to an X1/9; from several Mercedes coupes (must have good-fitting roofs!) to a 500hp Falcon to VW, Jags, a number of MX-5s; and one of my favourites – a SAAB Aero.

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A couple of keen members drove their sporting vehicles to our meeting and parked them outside the function centre, on display as it were, This would have been nice had it not been for the fact that without daylight saving, darkness now descends from around 6:30pm.

Inside the function centre, our group which numbered about 30, enjoyed a lovely two-course meal, served up between the usual meeting business with reports and discussions on past and coming events. Following dessert, Ian introduced our guest, Martin Paoli who had brought along his immaculate 1948/49 Ford F100 ute to display in the dining room.

Martin is a member of the West Gippsland Restorers? Club and confesses to being a car nut, having previously owned an early Monaro, a GT Falcon and an SLR 5000 Torana. The F100 came into his life about six years ago. It was in a sorry state, but included all the bits and pieces to make it complete. However, there was substantial rust and many panels, including the floor had to be replaced with new ones from the USA. The tub is not standard, but a customised unit typical of the period. Martin?s rebuilding project took three years during which the chassis was boxed and strengthened to cope with the 351 Cleveland 2V engine which sports a 600 Holley carb, an auto transmission and the independent Jaguar rear end. The ute also features, power steering, heating and air conditioning, and Jaguar front disc brakes. The interior is spartan, but the seats have been resprung and fitted with new leather covers. Martin assures us that the underneath is just as clean and well-presented as the outside, which is painted in Aston Martin Tungsten Silver. He is pleased with the way the car drives and performs, and enjoys taking it out on cruises and to local gatherings.

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Grand Prix weekend in Melbourne and the weather couldn?t have been better. Some participants experienced a bit of fog in the valleys as they drove in, but it soon burnt off to reveal a beautiful autumnal morning. It was a terrific day for convertibles, and they responded appropriately.

As usual, we had cars from near and far. Two early arrivals, one in a Cobra, the other in a Healey had made the journey from Tarwin Lower and Healesville respectively. The drive across the hills to Warragul, with little or no early morning traffic, is apparently just part of the fun. Of course, we had our regulars from the Latrobe Valley and surrounds as well as several from the outer eastern metro area and the Dandenongs. With the end of Daylight Saving, it?s now a little easier to rise and get an early start for the day. Perhaps that?s why there were more than a dozen cars already in place when your correspondent arrived at around 7:30 in the morning.

With Jaguars, Healeys, Minis, MGs, Triumphs, Morrie Minors, an Escort, a Riley, a Marcos and a Lotus; the classic British contingent were out in force this month and made up a goodly proportion of the 70 to 80 cars on display. John Fowler trailered in his latest acquisition, a Mini 850 van which was restored 20 years ago, but then left sitting in a shed unused. No doubt we will see it on Club plates, participating in events under its own power in the not too distant future. Hayden Fowler has sold his red Bugeye and replaced it with a massive blue Jaguar 420G limo which made its Brekky Club debut this month ? Just the thing you need with petrol prices soaring 😊. Another few British debutants were a fawn/beige Morris Minor Ute, a white Mk.1 Escort Mexico 1600 and a very rare Triumph GTR4 Dove coupe, all looking immaculate.

From across the Channel we had one Frenchie in the form of a bright yellow Renault 12 which appeared to have been recently painted and was fitted with a rollcage. From Germany we had several Porsches and BMWs, a couple of Mercs, a VW Polo and a tidy orange Beetle, whilst several Alfa Romeos contributed some Italian flair.

The Americans were represented by Richard Rowley and Trevor Batt in their Thunderbirds with support from Stan Hodgson in the ?94 Mustang convertible. There were plenty of Aussie classics on show as well, with Paul Montagnat?s Mk.7 Bolwell, Glenn Campbell?s Charger and Falcon GTs from Andy Thorpe and Gus Luke. Richard Kaden brought along his Maloo, there were several Falcon and Commodore sedans as well as Peter Waghorn?s green LTD and Bob Russell?s early S-type Valiant.

Mazda MX5s made up the bulk of our Japanese contingent with a range of models from the early NA series to new member Rod Styles? late model ND Retractable Fastback variant. There was also an early RX7, a WRX and the utilitarian Subaru Brumby to satisfy our oriental enthusiasts.

It was a terrific morning with a spectacular range of makes and models on display. No doubt I?ve left out several cars which deserved special mention, so apologies to those concerned.

Steve

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Despite a threat of possible showers, the rain held off and we enjoyed a fine, dry but cloudy day for our romp up to Mt Donna Buang near Warburton. The summit is 1250 metres above sea level, so it?s quite a climb from the Yarra valley.

Eight rather diverse vehicles and eleven members assembled at the Warragul Shell servo for the 9am start, we had a 1960?s Fiat 124 Sport, a 1970?s Torana SLR 5000, Porsches 944 and Boxster, Subarus WRX and BRZ, a late model Mustang and a Commodore. The route took us up Bloomfield Rd to Neerim South before turning off to Nayook. The drive towards Powelltown was enjoyable, especially after a vehicle we had caught up to, pulled over to let us pass before reaching the twisty stuff which begins after the Ada Tree turnoff. From there we travelled to Gladesdale and onto Tarrango Road which bypasses Yarra Junction and joins back onto the Warburton Highway at Wesburn. It was then a slow crawl into Warburton before turning off onto the Donna Buang Road for a spirited drive to the summit.

Upon reaching the car park, most decided to climb the 126 (or was it 128?) steps of the lookout tower. The view is expansive in all directions, although on this day a little hazy due to controlled burns being undertaken in the forests.

Nobody took me up on the suggestion of extending the drive to include the Reefton Spur and a visit to the higher Lake Mountain summit (1433 metres), so your correspondent in the Fiat, took off alone to enjoy another 60 km of twists and turns (and then back again) whilst everybody else retired to the Yarra Junction Pub or elsewhere, for lunch.

The drive home was interesting in that we met a stream of classic cars, including club member Mike Kolody and his father in their orange Porsche 911, participating in the Targa Florio Tribute event making their way from Bryant Park to the Healesville overnight stopover. There were plenty of Fiat Car Club people on the tribute event as well, so there was much waving as we passed by in the 124 Coupe.

I?m not sure if everybody enjoyed the spirited nature of the drive, especially the passengers. Although we remained within speed limits, we enjoyed the handling of our cars on the twists and turns of good mountain roads. If anyone is interested in participating in similar spirited runs during the working week please let me know, otherwise I won?t bother trying again.

Steve  (editor@sportingregister.org.au)

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COMMENTS

Rob Nolan “The idea & the drive was excellent Steve. A shame more people didn’t come on the day, as the weather was fine & clear. Looking forward to some more in the future, especially after winter I guess. Watching a lot of the Targa Florio cars coming towards us on the way back from Warburton, was a great bonus also. Many waves & looked great oncoming!”

A beautiful autumn day was promised and it eventually delivered after the morning fog slowly burnt away. Driving roofless down to Poowong under over-hanging trees one could have been excused for thinking it was raining as the leaves shed the water droplets they?d collected overnight. However, by the time we reached the morning tea destination of Loch, the skies had cleared and sun-screen was the order of the day.

An eclectic group of about 15 cars assembled for a 9am departure from the Warragul Showgrounds where they received their route instructions from Ray and set off at their own pace. Ray then took the more direct route to Philip Island, cutting through Drouin South, Ripplebrook and Lang Lang, so as he could be there to open gates and organise parking for our group on the green grass when they arrived at the Visitor Centre on Churchill Island.

After enjoying muffins and a drink in Loch, the disjointed convoy made their way up the hill past the Cape Horn Lookout and on towards Krowera. The green rolling hills of South Gippsland made a picturesque backdrop as the drivers wound their way south towards the coast, passing through the interesting little Hamlet of Archies Creek before joining the Bass highway at Dalyston. From there it was simply follow the traffic through Kilcunda to the Philip Island turnoff at Anderson, then on to San Remo and over the bridge. Once on the Island it?s not far to the Churchill Island turnoff which takes you across a low, single lane bridge before turning into a gravel road for the last kilometre to the Visitor Centre.

Several members made their own way to Churchill Island, so our numbers ultimately reached 22 cars ? they looked good all lined up with Western Port Bay as a backdrop. Thanks to Ray for organising the run and persuading whomever it was who let us park on the grass. The picnic tables with shade umbrellas were put to good use over lunch and people were free to spend the afternoon at their leisure.

Pictures by Steve S and Kat Marmara-Stewart.

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COMMENTS:

Allan Richards – “What a great day for topless motoring, after a Sunday morning commitment we decided to roll the midget out of the garage and head down to join the group. As we arrived we saw a few members already heading home. We arrived at Churchill Island approximately 1.00 pm and parked in the spot vacated by Steve’s Sprite as if “Midg” recognised the spot having been marked by her older sibling. We spent the remainder of the day with John and Marlene Moss, watching the last few laps of racing from outside the fence over looking Siberia. After enjoying a very nice ice cream in Cowes we also journeyed home.”