Well, a very successful run by all accounts. The AMC has proved to be one of the outstanding events on the car show calendar this year. There were probably 400 to 500 cars on display at the venue in one form or another. Show goers had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the real classic racing cars from a bygone era as well as talk to the owners and view some of the rarest collector pieces from around the country.

Some of the fire breathing monsters that raced and were on show over the weekend included:

Janson / Perkins LX Bathurst livered 77 A9X (H) Group C
Bond LH HDT Bathurst livered ManChamp 75 L-34 Group C
Gough LH Champ Series 76 L-34 Group C
Wigston LX Champ Series livered 78 A9X (S) Group C
Wigston/Hindhaugh LX Bathurst livered 77 A9X (H) Group C
Brock LX HDT Sandown 500 livered 78 A9X (S) Group C
Brabham / Muir LX Bathurst livered 78 A9X (S) Group C
Forbes / Bartlett LX Bathurst livered 78 A9X (H) Group C
Grice / Leffler LX Bathurst livered 78 A9X (H) Group C
Wigston / O’Brien LX Bathurst livered 79 A9X (H) Group C
Morris / Quester LX Bathurst livered 79 A9X (H) Group C
Blanchard LH Champ livered 75 L-34 - Group C
Marshall / Von Rooyen LX Bathurst livered 77 - A9X (S) - Group C
Harvey LX Championship livery 78 - A9X (H) - Group C
Cooke / Leeds LC Bathurst livered 71 - XU-1

For a full listing see the event web site - www.chevron.com.au/musclecar_masters.html

Just the sounds, sites and the smell of these cars made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. It was truly an awesome experience.

As well as the thoroughbreds above, there were also a lot of private collectable cars and club cars on view. From A9X’s and other mighty Torries, to Mopars, Fords and Holdens. And yes folks, a distinct lack of “fully sick boom boxed chook cookers”. Yes!

If you haven't been to this venue before, it is great complex. Good spectator facilities and good viewing areas to all parts of the track with a huge covered grand stand, big pits and paddock area.

It is well worth making the effort to get up there some time.

Our trip began at the Shell Service Station outside NATEX at 8.00am on Saturday morning where we all met to finally commence the battle plans we had drawn up earlier that week at Craig’s place. It was obvious that everyone was pretty excited and anxious to get to Sydney and be amongst those cars. With our mates Glenn from Wadonga in his LX SLR 5000, Huey and Mick along for the ride, we set off for the big smoke. We toured along at a leisurely pace of about 110 k ph observing the scenery and conserving precious fuel at the same time. We stopped at Goulburn briefly for breaky and a hot coffee and then pushed on toward Penrith where Gerry had suggested attending a GTR & XU1 national exhibition. I took a slight detour via the WISD Dragway to drop off Callum who wanted to attend the East Coast Nationals. I than met up with everyone at the Penrith car show just as they arrived. As we got out of the cars at the show the temperature was pushing 28 degrees. It didn’t take us long to adjust to the climate by donning the trackies and jeans for the more suitable shorts and thongs. After downing the odd cool refreshment provided by Gerry from the esky in his car, we made contact with old friends and fellow Torry owners and proceeded to scan the fleet on display. I must tell you folks there were some very rare and fine gems amongst them. Some of those cars were absolutely pristine. I know it’s a cliché but they really looked like the dealer had just delivered them. They were a real credit to their owners.

After lunch at the Colonels we drove to the Vines just off the North Road, which was our humble bat cave for the next two days. The team set up the camp for the weekend and got in all the necessary supplies by visiting the local supermarket and grogatoria.

I went back to the drags to meet up with Callum and from what I observed it was a great meeting. There where some seriously fast cars. They ranged from Street Cars to Door Slammers to Top Fuelers with a contingent 450+ cars in total including some of the big names like the Bray family the Read’s and the Steven’s teams. A national record was set on the night by Phil Read as the fastest top fuel pass in Australian history with a 4.6 second time.

Lawrie was also at the drags pit crewing for a guy by the name of Chad Taylor who runs a landrover of all things. This vehicle is not to be scoffed at pulling times that would make your hair curl. I just like to thank Lawrie for watching out for Callum at the meet while I wasn’t there.

If you have never experienced the drags it’s something worthwhile going to. The buzz is absolutely fantastic.

Callum and Phil are trying to organise a bus trip next year to one of the big events at WISD so stay tuned for that one.

After Callum and I returned home following the drags it was time to do some serious BBQing and partaking of the red and amber fluids. Pat had prepared an excellent honey and soy chicken dish for us partnered with potato wedges, sausages and onions that Al and I cooked on the Barbie. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Gerry got an early start on the drunk scale and led the way for most of the night however it wasn’t long before all of us caught up and before long it was a free for all on the telling of the most interesting story. A long but very funny night.

The next day brought an early start and after extracting the curtains from several members noses (boy some of us can snore) we set off at about 7.00am to wash the cars getting to the AMC at about 8.00. There was a bit of a mix up in terms of which gate we were supposed to go through and we have suggested chipping in to send Pat on an orienteering course. Although I must say I don’t think it was all his fault. We were given a bit of a bum steer by the organisers. Eventually however we found the way in got to the display area and set up camp. We were joined at the display by Keith from the Hawksbury Club.

We spent most of the day like others did walking around the complex taking in the sites and sounds of theses weapons of war and talking to some of the legendary drivers such as Bob Morris, Bob Jane, Harry Firth, Colin Bond, John Goss, Leo Geoghegan and Allan Moffatt just to name a few.

We also spent some time at our own display area answering questions about our cars and making some new contacts.

By about 3.00pm the wind picked up pretty bad and there was dust being blown everywhere. Given the lateness of the night before, the heat of the day and the cars ending up resembling mobile sand dunes, everyone decided it was time to pack up and head back to the Vines for some R&R.

On our arrival back at Torry Central we were greeted by a rather largish bush fire, which was burning just down the road. Gerry instantly went into the classic Titanic captain syndrome and chained himself to his car claiming that if it was going to burn he was going to burn with it. He just loves that car! After convincing him that his car was safe and the 14 fire engine crews would protect his baby, he settled for quick spray of the car with a hose and cheered up.

After that little bit of excitement we settled down to another evening of fun and frivolity and yet again the partaking of many fluids along with Pizza and a Greek dish I had never had before. I must say it was yum!

Later on in the night and after a question of why Carnauba wax was so expensive, I presented the theory on the origins of the wax and went onto explain that it came from African Carnauba Bees. It was at this point that someone spat beer all over the table and fell to the floor in fits of laughter. I went onto explain the reason it was so expensive was because one had to milk the bee’s reproductive organs with a very very small pair of tweezers. Not only is this very hard to do but also very dangerous given that one could easily be stung to death by the creature. And all of this to get that a gleaming shine on your car.

I think the group must have got mixed up with the other sound theory that the Great Wall of China was to keep rabbits out. That’s what caused the skepticism. I think!

The real origin of carnauba wax explained by Pat in case you were interested is from the Brazilian Carnauba palm. It is not only an ingredient of car polish but it is also represented in floor and furniture polish and would you believe it in Chewing gum and other foodstuffs! While this might be true it is nowhere near I think as interesting as my theory. (Thanks to Pat for the “real facts”).

We departed the vines at about 9.00 am on Monday as Glen was keen to get back to Wadonga.

We stopped of at Goulburn for a quick coffee and waved Glenn goodbye. A pretty quick trip back to Canberra arriving home at about 1.00pm

All in all folks all had a brilliant weekend. If you didn’t go you missed out on some real fun.

From all of us who went - THANKS GERRY!

Also thank you to the following people for their attendance and support.

Pat SLR 5000
Gerry SLR 5000
Craig SLR 5000
Glen SLR 5000 (Wadonga)
Mick
Huey
Paul & Callum (Landcruiser)
Al
Keith LH Torana (Hawksbury Club)

Before I close a word from our President………….

A special thank you to Gerry for suggesting and taking on board the organising of this run for the benefit of members. Gerry did a sterling job, and from the experience has gained first hand appreciation of the stresses and strains the committee goes through in making sure runs run smoothly. Also thank you to Mick, Hew, Glen, and Keith for joining us for the run, most appreciated, your contributions made this a very enjoyable run. Also, as Gerry expressed before we left, thank you to the whole team in attendance for pitching in so we were all able to enjoy the weekend. A great run.

Well that’s it folks!

Cheers
Paul.