PHOTO: Former Coonamble resident Larry Briggs found it hard to pick a favourite among the vehicles he brought to the Auto Club’s first Show and Shine Day.
Coonamble Auto Club’s first ‘Show and Shine’ event on Saturday 9 November has been given the thumbs up by locals and visiting car show veterans.
The Club hosted 64 registered entries of cars, trucks and motorbikes in the car park of Coonamble Golf Club with vehicles arriving from Gilgandra, Wellington, Dubbo and beyond for the show. Close to 400 people came out to view the vehicles and hear their stories from owners committed to preserving earlier automotive eras.
The gate takings and registration fees were donated to Coonamble Golf Club with over $1400 presented by Coonamble Auto Club President Stephen Lane to Golf Club President Mo Jacobs at the end of the event.
“We were pleased with the number of entries and the amount of people who came and looked,” Mr Lane said. “It was a really good day for everyone and it put some money through the Golf Club – that was the main aim.”
The oldest vehicle on display was a 1919 T-Model Ford brought back to Coonamble on its hundredth birthday by former resident Larry Briggs who bought the car from the original owners the Denison family of ‘Kialgara’, west of Coonamble.
While the backyard mechanics and automotive enthusiasts were curious about the restoration or modification process, others were captivated by the human stories behind each vehicle on display.
The previous night’s dust storm dismayed many of the exhibitors who had had their vehicles highly polished in readiness while other vehicles arrived cloaked in years of dust and cobwebs, including the McMullen family’s original Mac’s Drycleaning Van which was presented ‘as found’ and still generated lots of excitement.
A judging panel worked hard under pressure to decide on the winners for various categories. The Best Unfinished entry was won by Paul Johnson for his 1935 Chevrolet Standard which is bringing out his ‘inner gangster’ and is set to be a crowd-pleaser when completed.
For the visitors, the prize for Best Outside 2829 went home to Wellington with Glen Woolfrey for his 1982 WB Holden Utility. Tim O’Neill’s 2014 Harley Sportster took out Best Bike. Third generation Coonamble classic car enthusiast Matt Lane won the Best 90s to Now category with his 2017 Holden Calais Director. The Pre-1990s prize was won by Kurt Jerrett of Gulargambone for his HZ Holden one-tonner. David Chadwick’s recently restored 1937 Fargo 2T won Best Truck and People’s Choice went to Leon Jackson’s ‘crunch’ green FJ Holden ute.
According to Stephen Lane, there are plenty more vehicles out there in sheds and yards around the district. “We got a few new members on the day which brings us close to thirty members now,” Mr Lane said. “I had a couple of comments from people saying they were going home to start work straight away,” he said.
“I think it got people a bit excited.”