by Rob Jones

(click on image for a full size picture)

I had waited a year for this show to come round again and was determined not to miss it. Even to the extent of having to go along with one wheel trim and hubcap missing as you can see on the cover! The trims are harder to get than almost any Leyland part so I removed it before it fell off and it has now been fixed and returned to the car.

This was my first such show and I wasn't sure what to expect, other than lots of Holden, Ford and Chrysler Valiant cars. There were a few others such as an older Vauxhall Caleche but as Neale, the owner, says, not many people realise that many models of Vauxhall, Austin, Morris and British Ford in particular were only ever made in Australia and never in England. His 49 Vauxhall being a case in point but he likes to turn up and confuse people. Overall there seemed to be less of the older cars than I expected but they were represented. It was pleasing to see a good number of cars from Masterton there, my publicity work had paid dividends.

And there were four Leyland P76’s.

On the cover you will have seen Ron Butler's (GGR) FB TFR V8 in front of the glorious HOTO S V8 of Trevor and Tita Day, Andrew and Debbie Larsen's ex B & H racing SO D V8 and our AEB D 6. Not a race car but a great cruiser to get the family to Manfeild in all the same.

The Leyland’s received positive attention all day long, even being detail photographed by someone. There was surprise to see four there at all, admiration for Trevor and Ron's car's, real interest in Andrew and Debbie's historic car and probably disbelief at ours being a six!

True story - a bloke asked me if this is for real, they didn't have sixes did they? Another old guy standing next to me said "I can tell you for a fact that this car is as it left the showroom because I did the pre delivery on it" and he even mentioned the first owner by name!

This gentleman was also named Jones but in the conversation that followed I lost track of him and didn't get his other details (I know!) If any of you know who he is please let me know and yes I have / am making enquiries. By this time my camera had failed so I wasn't carrying my notebook! Oh, thank you Jessica for several of the photos from your phone.

Anyway, there was a great bunch of cars to look over. I'm keen on Valiant's of which there were many original, modified, custom, raced and restored models around. That big 1973 Coupe and the older model next to it were both top cars for me, but not my People's Choice.
You may notice in the photos that the cars were directed to park as they arrived in every second car park and offset from each other in adjoining rows. Some drivers thought this a bit strange but in fact it provides both space and protection around the cars and is worthy of consideration if you are involved in such a show. We just got lucky that we came in in pairs.

After a while Abby and Sonya wandered off into town and left me to it. I found a ute with a tray full of model cars for sale, cool. Some money changed hands and then I went for a look around. I only got a few photos but enough really. That 1973 ZF Fairlaine is from Masterton and he'd never been to a show before. A convert. The 1961 FB Holden station wagon got my vote, it was a one owner car and the old guy was as proud as punch of it, as he should be. It was immaculate. I'm happy to include Pete and Jack but why did they pose in front of an old MOT Falcon? The photo's follow on the next page. There was every letter of the alphabet on show, EH, ZA, VH, VK, HQ, VC, HD, HX, XU1, P76, Mk2 and many more.

When the girls came back for lunch we decided to hit the entertainment, especially for Abby. ]eep rides, real hard on the bum and the biggest bouncy castle I've ever seen. It was probably 60 meters long and more like an obstacle course. It looked fun actually and she stayed so long on there she missed her pony ride so we wandered over to listen to the band on a truck and have some refreshment before the prize giving. There were prizes for all FOUR main makes on show and other special prizes as well. As Trevor had already taken HOTO home we managed to grab third best Leyland for the AEB 6 and got a nice certificate. Thank you.

We will be back for the next one, are you coming along too?


1971 Ford Falcon 351 GT	1973 VH Regal Coupe - A Little enhanced