There is something about outdoor car shows – they seem to attract rain like a magnet. As the individuals slavishly polish their “pride and joy”, scrub all the black bits and clean the tyres and stand back in anticipation – the storm clouds gather – ready to ruin all the hard work!
And so it came to pass! According to the weather bureau the rain was supposed to commence at 3.00PM. They lied! Rain starting falling from about 7.30AM and continued with increasing vigour through the morning. Never mind – on with the journey. After previous run-ins with the 370Z’s sat nav Ray chose to ignore it when it screamed at him to “take the first exit” when close to Lugarno. He disobeyed it and took a right hand turn instead – and subsequently got lost! Fortunately, Anthony, who trusted his sat nav took the lead and all the family arrived at the destination safely.
Flag marshalls on site pointed the way (after the $10 donations per car was received) and the Z cars were marshalled into their enclosure. Les took over the role of a parking policeman and the Z cars were safely stowed away. This may not have appeared to have been such a big deal – but he had to contend with both the world’s worst navigator and the world’s worst reverse parker (same person) at considerable risk to life and limb.
Because of the rather dismal weather, the Gannons attendance overall was down as well as the number of vehicles being displayed. However, the knights were back – staging sword fights. One enterprising knight was seen jumping on the back of another knight! There was a display of different stalls selling a variety of goods and the police put on a display of equestrian prowess in two areas of the park.
With some late arrivals, the Z car count was 12 and the number of members, including guests was 16. In view of the weather this was a commendable attendance. The Zedders moved off to look at the other marques on display, buy food and look at some of the exhibits and stalls.
The weather was becoming a little more pronounced and umbrellas started becoming part of the normal attire. Noted among the exhibited cars were various Ford Mustangs of different models, an endless stream of FB and EK Holdens, a number of Lotus vehicles and a sole Bellett GT. There was also a very unusual Holden hearse with six wheels – four at the rear.
The organisers and exhibitors tried very hard to make it an enjoyable day for all but the weather was starting to win the battle – the constant drizzle continued to make everyone damp and uncomfortable. From 12.00PM on there was a constant trickle of people heading towards the exit.
One of the brighter moments of the day was when Courtney won an award for her Nissan Z32 twin turbo – third place in the Best Car of the Show (21st Annual Classic Vehicle Show 2016) . She had the engine professionally steam cleaned the previous day and this may have made the difference in its overall presentation.
Regardless of the weather, it was an enjoyable day with the Z Car Club members discussing the common shared interests of the group as well as attracting a number of interested outsiders – who stated their intention of becoming future members of the club.
– Ray