David Hack - Post Covid

The David Hack meet, probably the most thoroughly representative display of classic cars and vehicles in the country, was staged last Sunday, after a pandemic-induced gap in 2020.

It was the most well-attended David Hack Meet I've seen, and I have been to all of them in the last five years. Sunday was a typically crisp autumn day, but very pleasant in the sunshine.

I took random pics of a few of the cars (and one aircraft) and I'll attempt to caption them correctly. If I get it wrong, please let me know.

   

These things are springing up everywhere.

A very special 404 Ute.

The blue ute is the product of a twenty-one-year-long rebuild and retro-mod of a Peugeot 404 "Bakkie" (South-African built ute) imported in the 60s. The engineering is brilliant, and the presentation remarkable.

It features a fuel-injected 504 motor, a shortened and 504 equipped rear end, and all mod cons including A/C. the vehicle is a true labour of love.

Count the engineering mods on the placard.

Looking her best for the MX5 display.

A rather special Merc.

Fiat 125 - mid-sixties - I think.

Aero L 39 Albatros VH - SIC

Ford Capri

Anglia

The Anglia reminds me of a very frightening journey in 1965 with my cousin between Kilcoy and Landsborough, during which he attempted to kill us both whilst he showed me how well it cornered.

It didn't - but we survived.

107 Series SL Class Mercedes Roadster

Alpine A110

Renault 4CV motor view

Renault 4 CV (Saigon Taxi).

Volvo 122S

Fiat Abarth 124 Spyder (MX5 in mufti)

Leyburn 2018

Regular readers will remember previous posts on this subject.

Leyburn Sprints have to be one of the most engaging motor themed events in the country. I've been to many, and the Bay to Birdwood in South Australia is probably the best, but Leyburn is up there with the David Hack meet, another local spectacle.

Toowoomba is well located if you're into veteran and vintage motoring.

What makes Leyburn interesting, apart from its history, is the variety and scope of the competing vehicles. The ability of spectators to mingle with the competitors and get up close to their cars is also unusual.

Because of the laid-back nature of the event, this intimacy is possible because neither competitors or spectators take themselves too seriously.

"Silver Fox" - 1936 Chev Maple Leaf 

 Some of the vehicles on display were unique. Above is an example. In my opinion, a strange idea beautifully executed. It certainly attracted attention.

MX5s were in the action. This NA competed as did a silver NB.

The MX5 is well suited to the sprint layout. There's always a few entered.

Vanguard ute.

My dad owned a Vanguard Spacemaster for a few years. It was built like a brick dunny, but needed lots of maintainance, which was a problem as we lived a long way from the dealer.

This Swallow was beautifully restored.

The Swallow above is the only one in the country. Swallow went on to build Jaguars and the rest is history.

Tidy little MGF.

There were two MGfs shown. This one was automatic.

Pony car.

Many mustangs were displayed. This was probably the most original.

Volvo C70 AWD

The C70 is extermely rare in Oz.

There's always P76s.

This Leyland P76 went round. It was noisy and spectacular, but probably too big.

Wolsley Special

Another unique machine with an interesting history.

I displayed the MX5.

The day was spoiled somewhat by the lazy* westerlies, but it was enjoyable.



*Too lazy to blow around you - they blow straight through.

Electric Dreams

There was an electric vehicle expo held locally a few days ago.

The Tesla was the star of the show.

 I wandered along for a look driving a decidedly old tech non-electric Suzuki Alto, probably in itself the most likely antidote to uptake of electric vehicles in urban centres any time soon.

Mitsubishi's offering.

The Suzi runs on the smell of an oily rag, and is small enough to be very useful in town.

Not a sparkie, but it doesn't look out of place in this company.

 The technology on show was impressive.

From the most basic (Nissan Leaf) to the most exotic (Tesla) there was a decent selection.

The most remarkable thing about the expo was the unremarkedness (new word) of the vehicles. They pretty much looked like anything else on the road, and the controls and fit out were run of the mill.

Baby electric Bimmer

The only exception to this visual ordinariness was the Tesla. It does stand out. I guess when you pay $125000 for a set of wheels, you'd expect it to stand out.

As I was leaving, an elderly woman (older than me, so she was indeed elderly) approached me and asked - "Excuse me. Where are the trains?"

Nissan Leaf

This confused me somewhat until the penny dropped. She had misunderstood the expo to be a demonstration of miniature electric trains - not full size electric cars.

Another Mitsubishi (PHEV)

No wonder she was confused. the two small children who were with her were OK with the cars, even though Grandma had promised them a slightly different experience.

Leyburn Sprints

I’ve been a petrol head ever since I was old enough to see over the dashboard of my father’s Standard Vanguard.

Our Vanguard was a sedan, and an earlier model than this one.

As a teenager, I’d contrive to get myself to circuits like Lowood and Lakeside to race meetings featuring amateurs who were in it for fun, not to make money. I must have been determined, as there was no way in a fit my father would take me, and I had to rely on older (and wealthier) friends and rellies to get me there.

MX5 club waiting to get in.

 I even did a stint as a flag marshal, overcoming the fear created by standing with my back to the direction of the cars as was necessary in some positions – usually those occupied by the most junior volunteers who had not established status on the pecking order.

There were some beautiful old cars displayed. This is a Healey 100/4.

 Later, when I had my licence and owned a car, I participated in the most rudimentary form of the sport – sprints.

And some ugly ones. This is a Bolwell Ikara.

At the time I owned a VW beetle. Sprinting in a 1200cc beetle? Enough said.

Still, it did teach me how to control oversteer.

Attending the Leyburn Sprints, therefore, is both an exercise in nostalgia and a return to the days when motor racing was a sport instead of a business.

A 1937 Ford Special.

To quote someone who learned about this a long time ago –

"The curse of commercialism is the ruin of every sport and the degeneracy of motor racing as a sport is due to the financial issues now involved in each race - the immense value of victory and the commercial disaster of defeat."

This was not written recently. It was penned by a pioneer British racing driver, Charles Jarrott (b.1877), who went on to say when writing his book Ten Years of Motors and Motor racing, 1896-1906 -

"I have raced because I love it, but a race of the present today would offer none of the charm which a race of five years ago afforded. It would have none of the sporting feeling or good comradeship between the fellow competitors".

Leyburn exudes charm. You can walk in amongst the cars and talk to the drivers.

MX5s were represented.

The format is simple – one car at a time in order of numbers. The circuit is tight which is a great leveller. Skill becomes as important as power.

I was 15 the last time I saw this racing (Lowood 1962).

A well-driven special is as likely to win as an expensive supercar.

Times are posted as the day goes on

This Cobra crossed the finish line sideways.

David Hack Meet

This meet was held yesterday, and I went along equipped with a marquee and chairs in the hope that members of the local MX5 chapter would turn up. They didn't, which probably had something to do with the fact that I didn't let them know.

This meant that I had plenty of time for photography, although I'd left my camera at home and had to make do with my iPhone. The quality of shots is therefore somewhat limited.

I concentrated on the weird and quirky.

This Renault 750 is indeed "not 750". It is in fact a 1600, with a worked Gordini motor stuffed into the rear end. It must be interesting on a wet road. I've been fascinated by these things since being whisked through Saigon traffic in a 750 taxi in 1970.

The exhaust plumbing is amazing.

This 1952 Cadilac was impressive. It must weigh about two metric tonnes, and provides an example of automotive opulence that we will never see again. It had tinted glass and a telescopic radio antenna, both ground-breaking in the day.

This beautiful Morris 6 was parked behind my car, and I had a yarn to its owner. He told me that it was assembled in Brisbane by a company called Charles Hope that made refrigerators. I remember my parents owning a Charles Hope kero fridge when I was a kid in the fifties. This particular car participated in a couple of royal tours back in the thirties.

There were a number of military vehicles on display. This is a 6X6 Studebaker. Again, I remember seeing them in Saigon.

As a twelve year old I used to muck about on my uncle's cane farm west of Mackay. He had one of these, an Armstrong-Siddeley ute which he used an unregistered farm runabout. He was mad enough to let me drive it, and I learnt a lot about basic car management behind the wheel of this thing.

 I never put a mark on it - lucky I guess.

There were the regulation MGBs. This is a very tidy example.

A straight eight Packard was displayed - purple in colour.

These Volkswagen Country Buggies were sold in 1968. They were a very useful vehicle, but Volkswagen Australia was in financial trouble at the time and production was curtailed.

There was an Antonov 2 giving joy-rides for $80 a throw. It was flying all day. The photo is pretty dreadful (the iPhone doesn't zoom well), so here is a link to a video.