Cheryl Nott with her classic Holden.
If your passion is classic old cars – or pretty well anything big with wheels – January 26th is the day to get along to Ormiston State School, where the Bayside Vehicle Restorers Club will have up to 800 vehicles lined up to look at and love.
Sponsored by RACQ Batteries, the day will feature everything from pre-1920 veterans to classic collectibles such as Ford Mustangs. Organisers are hopeful that the lineup will include standouts such as a Ferret – a military personnel carrier – and a Stanley Steamer (with a top speed of 25 kph). Cross fingers, there may even be a flyable fold-up jet…it seems the flatpack syndrome has reached everywhere!
Steve Mellish, BVRC Special Events Committee Chairman, says that diversity makes the day particularly interesting.
“Quite a few of our club members belong to other specialist clubs as well, so we get quite a variety of vehicles – trucks, motorbikes, jeeps, bubble cars, Volkswagen combies, Morrises, and all sorts of stationary steam and traction engines. No matter what comes along, it’ll be a spectacular day.”
Steve says the vehicles’ provenance is always interesting.
“Sometimes, they’re handed down through the family from grandparents, or dad might have spent 20 years or more doing it up; sometimes people buy old wrecks and restore them, top to toe. One fellow in the club has spent 30 years restoring an old Talbot; he’s 93 now, and he’s still driving it – as well as his early Toyota Corolla.
“My story is that I grew up with my father’s old Chev in the yard, which I loved. I came home from school one afternoon and it was gone – he’d sold it. That drove me to buy my own; now I’ve got a 1927 Chevrolet and I love it to death.”
The day isn’t all self-indulgence.
“A huge raffle helps cover the cost of the day, and any profit goes to Sailability, ‘freedom on the water regardless of ability’, one of the charities that we support,” says Steve.
Steve says that the day is open to the public from 7am.
“We’ll be doing breakfast for about 1400 people, so it’s a good idea to get in early!”
For more information, visit https://baysideclub.org.au.
