Great Australian Rally

Updated on
03 February 2011.

Great Australian Rally 2011

NEWS FLASH!
RALLY RAISES A RECORD $46,000.00 FOR PETER MAC

Thank you to all the rally entrants, spectators, sponsors, and the tireless efforts of the members of the All British Classics Car Club for their ongoing support of this event, without this support we could not have achieved this great result.

The public gate takings were down on last year, but this was offset by an increase in rally entrants, proving that this event is very popular, and makes it one of the largest, if not the largest classic car display in Australia.

We look forward to your support for future RACV Great Australian Rallies

Colin Brown
For the Rally Committee

We could not anticipate the number who elected to enter as pay-on-the-day participants. This sector broke all records, and we hope we did not appear to be too disorganised. Overall though, the Rally attracted more entrants than in previous years, but the public gate turnstile result was lower than last year. On top of that, our operating costs have risen significantly - so our final result may well be lower. We will post the donation results when all expenses have been accounted for.

This year, for the first time, we conducted an inter-club competition for the Fairfax Community Group Newspapers-sponsored 'Best Club Display'. The inaugural winner was the Sunbeam Car Club of Victoria. The judge’s task was not an enviable one, because the Veteran Car Club, The Rover Car Club and the Singer Owners Club, all put on good displays. Probably, the Rover Car Club’s display was the most representative with respect to the range of cars displayed - from a veteran 1905 Rover 6 hp, through fine examples of those dear Auntie Rovers and on to complete the line-up, a 2001 Rover 75. The Sunbeam Car Club displayed a brace of beautiful Alpines, which probably generated a Grace Kelly (To Catch a Thief) factor to sway the judges. There was, however, a splendid vintage Sunbeam (arguably the best looking vintage motor car ever) in the display, but it was strange that possible Sunbeam club members didn't realise that it was actually a Sunbeam, when asked who owned it so that left on lights could be extinguished!

The Rally Awards Results were as follows:

Best Veteran (To 1918)	Arthur Garthon	1905 Rover 6 hp
Best Vintage (1919 to 1929)	Faith Hayhow	1929 Ford Model A Tourer
Best Early Classic (1930 to 1940)	Ean McDonald	1935 Riley Imp
Best Late Classic (1941 to 1981)	Ross McKinnon	1960 Triumph TR3A
Best Commercial Vehicle	Rodger Stanley	1985 London FX4S Taxi
Best Motorcycle	Ian Barton	Velocette 500 cc Venom
Penrite Oils Trophy (Best Cared For Vehicle)	John Johnson	1967 Volvo P1800S
Dr Max Lay Trophy (Best Outright) (display at RACV)	Wayne Robertson	1932 Chevrolet Sports Tourer
Fairfax Community Newspaper Group (Best Club Display)		Sunbeam Car Club
	Brian Gallagher	Sunbeam Alpine
(Included with this award - the car selected by the Sunbeam Car Club will be on display in the foyer at the RACV City Club, 501 Bourke Street, Melbourne)

Congratulations to all of our winners of awards this year. The quality of the motor vehicles to be judged was remarkable indeed.

Mike Allfrey

Organized by the All British Classics Car Club
Sponsored by the RACV