BAY TO BIRDWOOD CLASSIC: a biennial motoring event to the Adelaide Hills Region of South Australia
Come the last Sunday of this month and the carpark at the National Motor Museum at Birdwood is likely to be a little more crammed than this.
The Postcards team recently visited this shrine to all things automotive, in readiness for the SA Water Bay to Birdwood Classic.
The Classic is a biennial event open to cars built from the end of World War II and before 1971. While the Bay to Birdwood Run takes place every alternate year and features beauties like this 1925 Rolls Royce and this 1934 Buick, historic vehicles built before the Second World War.
But when you get a bunch of petrol heads together you can expect them to hit the road regardless of the era.
This year's Classic has already attracted a record number of entries, almost 1600, with many interstate motoring enthusiasts planning to make the trip to the starting line at the Bay.
And for all concerned, whether its John Chittleborough from the Birdwood Motor Museum in his 1951 Riley, or SA Water's Anne Howe, the Classic will ultimately be a trip down memory lane, because, as they say with cars, it's personal.
“The rock'n'roll era of the fifties and sixties, that was my youth, loved the music of the time, the American music and we were all enamoured by the whole Hollywood rock'n'roll feel of that era, so it was fantastic to be in a car with leather seats, the sort of thing Jerry Lee Lewis used to ride in in his movies.”
On a classic spring day in the Adelaide Hills, travelling in the classic car, it's not hard to see why so many have become converts to the convertible.
“This is a 1961 Ford Thunderbird convertible and she certainly qualifies for the Bay to Birdwood Classic. Her owner, Matt Ford, great name that Matt, has been a car enthusiast for years, so Matt where did the obsession begin?”
“Well Mark, I think it all started when I was a lad. I used to build my own soap boxes and my dad would take me behind the ute up out on the farm. My mates would be out playing football and I'd be making model cars on my meccano set. So I've always been interested in cars, sports cars in particular and now these types of cars as well, Mark. I enjoy driving them.”
Matt also has a Cadillac which he hires out for weddings and he has similar plans for this beauty. And why not? After all it certainly is the perfect marriage of comfort and classic sixties style.
“Of course, dynamically, it's no where near the standard of the modern car. But as long as you use it for cruising and don't drive and try to do anything silly, it's very comfortable and enjoyable to drive. Chronologically, it was the forerunner to the Mustang, which everybody should know about. In the year of this car, 1961, they sold something like seventy thousand Thunderbirds and about ten thousand of those were convertibles but I don't really know how many would be in Australia, probably only a handful, half a dozen at the most.”
Keep an eye out for this rare little number, as she and hosts of other gems make their way from 9am on Sunday September 30th, from Barrett Reserve at West Beach. They'll head along Tapleys Hill Road, then on to Anzac Highway, Greenhill Road, then across to Northeast Road and up to Birdwood.
Bay to Birdwood Classic - September 30th. Starts 9am Barrett Reserve, West Beach. Ends at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards.sa.com.au
