With temperatures predicted to be around 19-20 degrees C and no rain – it was going to be a great day weatherwise. The Zedders were to meet at Liberty Rd, Huntingwood at 8.00AM and form a convoy to enter Gate A at Eastern Creek Raceway at 8.30AM. Without the security of the usual “follow the leader” style convoy to the destination a number of members became lost enroute. However, in spite of these temporary mishaps – everyone managed to arrive by 8.30AM.
The designated spot inside Eastern Creek Raceway was Area C. A very robust collection of 20 Z cars and 23 members was in attendance and constituted one of the largest group displays.
Overall there was an impressive range of vehicles on display. Noteworthy were the Italian Sportscar display vehicles consisting of makes such as Masserati, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Fiat , an impressive range of Morgan sportscars , a substantial collection of Bolwell Nagari’s and a range of Sunbeam vehicles including the rare Sunbeam Tiger sports. There was also a very large range of Studebaker vehicles being exhibited – including Larks and Silver and Golden Hawks. This was in addition to displays of Holdens, Fords (including Mustangs), Chevrolets (including Corvettes) and a range of English makes.
The Zedders parked their vehicles appropriately, unpacked their gear and started wandering around to view the numerous other makes of vehicles on display. A glance at the supplied programs showed that the Z Car Club had been allocated a time slot at a run on the racetrack at 3.30PM. The previous year at Shannons it had been around 10.00AM. It was going to be a long day! The Shannons Car Show is not renowned for its standard of cuisine – so it was hoped by a number of Zedders to get away early and eat elsewhere – this was not going to happen with the raceway stint not occurring until late in the afternoon . Fortunately some of the members had brought their own provisions.
It started to get quite hot from mid-morning onwards and hats, caps and umbrellas started appearing. There were a lot of spectators and potential members milling around the Z cars – which kept the Zedders occupied. The numerous vehicles on display and conversations between various groups and the members themselves helped pass the time.
Courtney (semi-official photographer) wanted to compile photographs of the excursion as well as capture the Z cars on the track and would be unable to drive her Z32 twin turbo on the race track. William took over the role as “test pilot” to run the over boosted beast on the track.
Finally, the time had arrived for the Zedders to take their individual “pride and joy” to the race track. After sitting in the cue for about fifteen minutes, they were finally released onto the track.
Wow, the highlight of the day suddenly turned into the “lowlight” of the day! The Z cars were bogged down by the lead vehicle slowing down to about 40kms/hr (this appeared to be the “safety” car) – which meant it was rare for the Z cars to even reach the 80kms/hr limit. Most of the time it was more on the brakes than the accelerator. Instead of the customary two laps the Z cars were flagged off after one lap. The Z car group were both unimpressed and disappointed – after waiting all day in anticipation – and then being treated to this “granny lap”. Not happy, Jan!!
Overall, apart from the race track fiasco, it was a good day with an impressive range of rare and exotic automobiles on display, the excellent friendship of the Z car group and the interested and enthusiastic spectators. Let’s hope the organisers of the race track laps for the exhibitors’ cars do considerably better in 2017.
– Ray