There goes another year of walking with my nose held high past the Jaguars and Lamborghinis. No offence, folks. You just don’t pander to my eclectic fascination with French Fancies, and Australiana and Americana of the sixties and seventies.
I did have a chat with the Tesla enthusiasts, in a sign of the times. The bus enthusiasts were up for a chat too. Falcon GTs have all but disappeared from the classic car show scene. They’re far too valuable to risk a Mr Whippy smear from a Walmart type. Monaro guys are pretty cool about what they have, though, at least for now.
As usual, the best stuff is out in the public car park. I saw a bloke pull up next to me in what appears to be a normal 1968 Falcon XT sedan, at a half-second glance. Check, though. There’s only one door down the side, meaning it’s an American Falcon 2 door sedan. On the way out, a beautiful ’66 Chevy Impala Coupe was parked next to a RAM truck, then an Australian Chrysler Charger next to that, and a superb VW ‘Splitty’ in the bay opposite.
Inside the show was a Citroen GS Pallas that never looked that good new and a teal duco Renault 16, which I’m going to gong as my show favourite. It has matching vinyl interior trim, meaning that driving it must be akin to drowning in an aquarium. Only thing is, aquariums never smelled like Aussie Vinyl, so you’d soon awaken to reality.
A purple EH Holden from my birth year was another highlight, as well as a purple ’72 Holden SS, just like Mr Kessy used to drive to Melville Primary School. One fun display was the movie cars: Kitt from Knight Rider, Herbie with his 53 badge, Marty McFly’s trick HiLux Ute from Back To The Future, Burt Reynolds’ Pontiac Trans Am from Smokey And The Bandit and a Dodge Coronet cop car from The Blues Brothers.
My Peugeot Car Club buddies put on a great display, too, with a rare 504 Pick-Up, a 505 with a Holden 5.7 litre V8 under the bonnet (a-ha), and a nice selection of other cars.
