Great Australian Rally 2007 - pics

[johnh875]

Despite the rather grand title, this is simply a local classic car show at the Mornington Racecourse with the cars arriving in convoy from a few destinations around the Melbourne area, much like the Silverstone Classic (if that also used to be sponsored by one of the insurance companies).

There were somewhere around 700 cars on display ranging from the very old to a few current models in sponsors displays and a Lexus GS400h as part of the milestone cars theme. I'll share a few pics of the really outstanding cars in this thread but I think the hotlinked pictures will fail after a while, so it is probably a good idea to have a look at the album which is located HERE

The oldest car there was an 1986 Benz Velo, one of two in the world apparently with the other residing in the M-B museum. The owner actually drove it around for a demonstration and left it running for quite a while for the crowd to see. (there was also a replica of the 1885 Benz three wheeler)

Engine - very different to current cars to say the least.


1904 Cadillac


Detroit Electric


Brush car (Wikipedia entry for more info!)


Getting past the Veteran cars, there were so many that I will only present a few here. Makes of car that I have photos for include: AC, Alfa Romeo, Allard, Alvis, Auburn, Austin, Bentley, Benz, Bristol, Brush, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Citroen, Daimler, Dennis, Detroit Electric, De Soto, Diatto, DKW, Elfin, Fabrique National, Fiat, Ford, Hillman, Holden, Honda, Humber, Hupmobile, Imperial, International, Isuzu, Jaguar, Jeep, Jensen, Jowett, Lamborghini, Lancia, Lea Francis, Leyland, Lorraine Dietrich, Mazda, Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Messerschmidt, MG, Morris, Nash, Nissan, NSU, Oldsmobile, Packard, Peugeot, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Prince, Reliant, Riley, Rolls Royce, Rover, Singer, Studebaker, Stutz, Sunbeam, Talbot Lago, Terraplane, Triumph, TVR, Vauxhall, Volkswagen and Volvo - not too bad hey!

[johnh875]

Ok, for some of the cars that really caught my eye at the show...

1924 Alfa Romeo RLN. Very rare early Alfa, a fantastic looking and performing car.


1916 Stutz Bearcat. A fearsome car - 75mph on a 6.4L 4cyl motor. One owner since 1952!


1910 FN, or to use the full name Fabrique Nationale D'Armes De Guerre. Only 3 known of this type in the world, all in Australia. This car has been here since new, originally bought by a gentleman in Melbourne, then it was converted into a utility and used for servicing steam engines and boilers in the forests 200km north of Melbourne. It was then left on a floodplain, suffering a few immersions from floods, and also a tree fell on it, until it was rescued in 1956. A couple of owners and 25 years later its restoration started - 23 years and 6000hrs later it is in magnificent condition, the care and attention lavished on the car certainly shows!


Getting a bit more common now, but not that common in execution, a 1935 Ford hot rod, done as a woody wagon complete with surfboard and reproduction teardrop caravan, and all the accessories to go with it. A fantastic display and very popular on the day.


1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K supercharged roadster. This car was used by Professor Heinkel before being seconded during the war. The car has been restored locally and is in excellent condition, although it could do with some tuning, because when it was started up & given a prod on the accelerator, it shrouded those standing behind in a large cloud of black smoke!


That will do for now, more to come though

[John Turner]

Well done, John; good stuff. Look forward to some more!

[johnh875]

Getting on to newer stuff now, this 1951 Humber Super Snipe Mark 2 is a rare sight. Just to conform to the stereotype, this car was bought by a bank manager in Hobart. When he died 10 years later his widow stored the car, where it remained for another 35 years.


The perfect rock ‘n’ roll cruiser, a 1952 Ford Custom convertible.


Lea Francis Sports


This late-50s De Soto was immaculately restored, the photo doesn’t do it justice. The paint is silver with burgundy highlights.


If you think a Ferrari is a sleek, low-slung car, have a look at the 360 Spyder next to this Elfin streamliner, it looks like a block of flats by comparison


This Triumph Vitesse was another car in far better than new condition, Triumph didn’t build them this well.


This unassuming-looking mid-70s coupe is not what normally springs to mind when you hear the term “Skyline GT-R”, and it must be one of few remaining outside Japan (or inside for that matter). There was also a 1966 Prince Skyline GT-B.


A very nice Jensen Interceptor MkIII


A Mazda R100, after the Cosmo coupe this was the first rotary engined Mazda, restored to original condition – normally they are highly modified.

[johnh875]

Just realised I got the link for the gallery wrong in the first post - http://gallery123720.fotopic.net/c1190774.html should do the trick

[johnh875]

Now for some of the cars there that I really wouldn’t mind owning. Of course it would help if they didn’t cost money and were able to be shrunk and stored on my mantelpiece when I wasn’t driving them!

Alfa Romeo GTC. The Bertone shape just lends itself to being a convertible I think, and the factory made a thousand of them.


BMW 3.0CSi. An unusual colour for this one, but what a classic shape and sound.


Ferrari 365 GTC4. Not a well known model, and not classic Ferrari styling, but I think it does look good.


Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III. With prices skyrocketing (former non-works Bathurst race car sold for nearly 300,000 pounds recently) and only 300 built it is not easy to own one of these. They were a road-legal race car with ~380hp from the 351 Cleveland, and were the fastest sedan in the world at the time. Now the top speed you will see listed in the specifications is 142mph, but that was due to the rev limiter fitted to make sure there weren’t too many warranty claims for engines blown by owners exploiting the high-revving nature of the Cleveland V8. The rev limiter was set at 6150rpm, and the car would get there very quickly, while the limiter was removed for racing and 7000rpm was used – on the standard engine.


The collector in me would snap one of these up in an instant, a Ford Cortina GT500. Approx 120 made with tuned engine, Lotus Cortina gearbox, big fuel tank etc all aimed at winning the Bathurst 500 – and it did.


Lancia Aurelia GT – do I need to explain why I would want one of these?


Jaguar D-type, again no explanation needed!


Sunbeam Lotus, great power to weight ratio, World Rally Champion. A great history and surely a lot of fun.


TVR – not sure exactly what model it is. I remember seeing a couple of TVRs at a local garage 20 years ago, although it was years before I knew what they were.

[johnh875]

A few more rare cars to share, starting with an Alvis Silver Eagle


This Bugatti Type 35 is not only immaculate, it is also raced regularly


A Chev bus from the early twenties.


A vintage fire engine getting a push start (must be easier than cranking when you have plenty of volunteers)


As a counterpoint to the hot rod shown earlier, here is a perfectly standard 1935 Ford Coupe.


I’d imagine low-drag Jaguar E-types would be pretty rare, so it is likely this is a reproduction, but that doesn’t detract from a striking appearance.


Lancia Appia Zagato – 750cc of attitude


NSU Spider, the first ever car with a Wankel rotary engine.


Vauxhall 30/98. Perhaps not especially rare but far from a common sight.

[johnh875]

Finally some cars non-Aussies won’t be familiar with, starting with an EK model Holden. Australian car models have always been a compromise between the annual model changes of the USA and the British habit of building cars basically unchanged for many years, the typical model cycle is normally 18-24 months. Anyway this car would be a 1961-62 model, and the last of the basic body shape that had run from the mid-50s (which look like 80% scale Chevs).


Not Australian cars but the Isuzu Bellett does have a small dedicated following. Here is a sedan and coupe, while there was also a utility version which is particularly rare these days.


This Humber Super Snipe ambulance has been a very active car within its club for many years. It is typical of ambulances of the era, being a conversion of a big powerful car.


A couple of last-of-the-line models, a 1984 Holden Statesman Caprice which marked the end of full-size (in Australian terms not US) Holdens as the long wheelbase luxury sedan and the commercial variants had remained in production alongside the Commodore since 1978. The car on the right is a Falcon GT, which was not replaced after the XB model Falcon was replaced in 1976, a victim of emissions regs and insurance costs. They normally had a body-colour bumper, however there was an option pack that included the chrome bumper along with the body side protection strip.

Both of these cars have returned, the Statesman in 1990 and the Falcon GT in 2002.