Words & images by Nick Bassett
An early morning start to beat the heat, and a leisurely drive down to Yarra Glen in Hattie the Humber Super Snipe, got me in the mood for rest of the day.
I was the first in the Motafrenz contingent to arrive so I staked our claim on our allocated area. An interloping Jaguar from the next section over was reminder where the demarcation line was 😉
I was soon joined by Chris G in his Lancia Flavia with Steve along as passenger, with a boot packed to the brim with marquees and signage, so we set about putting it all up and making sure we have nice picnic area in the shade – this would prove most fortuitous as the day progressed.
Next was Gordon in his trusty Peugeot 504, and if we thought Chris’ car was full, boy were we wrong! The Pug was packed with marquees, chairs, signage, a BBQ, enough food to feed the Ukrainian army, but alas, no partridge in a pear tree.
Alan was next in Lars the Volvo 240 Station Wagon, ironically the car with the most storage space only contained a picnic table, some snacks, and a vintage set of matched luggage!
Rounding out the “mature” cars were Leigh and Philip in a Citroên GS Birotor, which got more interest than almost all other cars combined.
A little later we were joined by Denis and friends in his magnificent Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.
On the “modern” side, we had Alistair and Gordon in their wonderful blue Bentley, and Matt in his Citroên C6. Tony’s McLaren was a popular attraction throughout the day. Rounding out the display was John in his Mercedes 320, and Matt and Chris Q in their Polo’s.
After we settled in and some of us had a look at the various displays, Gordon and Chris Q worked at cooking up a delicious BBQ lunch for us all. During and after lunch there was some wonderful conversation, and further wanderings to see more cars.
By about 3pm we were all fairly exhausted, and the steady stream of cars leaving indicated it was time to pack up and head off. Packing down the marquee was the easy bit, shoe-horning it all back into Gordon’s car didn’t seem to work. The early morning Tetris skills didn’t translate mid-afternoon. Alan dutifully offered to ferry some of the kit back to Gordon’s. There was only one non-starter at the end of the day…but the RACV man was able to remedy the situation easily. (The only clue I’ll give you is, it was a French car!)
Thanks to all who attended, as this is a wonderful day to show off your cars and represent the club within the motoring community.
