Cars that changed motoring

Elgee Words and PicturesGary Hill

The RACV Great Australian Car Rally is organised by the All British Classics Car Club, although there will be a lot more than British cars participating in this great event which is again raising funds for the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre.

On January 21st around a thousand classic and historic cars and motorcycles will set off from starting points at Docklands, Narre Warren, Brandon Park and Hastings Maria and travel to the Mornington Racecourse where they will be on display to the public.

Not taking part in the rally but on display at Mornington from 10am will be a collection of cars that made significant contributions to motoring.

The display will feature a 1896 Benz "Velo", one of the first cars built as well as a 1906 Cadillac, one of the first cars to be built with mass production in mind.

Both of these machines have competed in the famous London to Brighton Rally which celebrated the abolition of the law requiring a man with a red flag to walk ahead of the new "horseless carriages".

Talking of mass production, the display would not be complete without Henry Ford's Model T which made cars accessible to the masses.

Germany is represented by the huge supercharged Mercedes Benz 540K and the BMW 328, which after the war was reborn as a Bristol in England.

France produced the first front-wheel drive so the Citroen light 15 will be on display while the most famous and successful front-wheel drive, the Mini will keep the British enthusiasts happy.

Australia's own Holden will be represented by the FX "Special" which was first produced in 1948.

Famous sports cars such as the MG TC and the AC Ace, forerunner to the Shelby Cobra will be joined by the latest in technology, a Lexus Hybrid, which use both petrol and electric motors.

There will also be a Detroit Electric, which went into production in 1907 showing that electric power for cars was thought of very early in their history.

There will be cars from every country and era on display as well as current vehicles displayed by dealers in the commercial area.

Look closely at the old and the new and you will find that not much is really new, just refined and more affordable.

For the racing enthusiasts there will be a F1 display from the Australian Grand Prix Corporation along with three front-engined Lago Talbot Grand Prix cars, together for the first time since the 1940s.

A Cooper MkV will be on show as one of the first rear-engined race cars, a design made famous by Jack Brabham in his pursuit of his Grand Prix world championship.

Entry fee to the display is $15 which will go to the "Peter Mac" while children under 14 get in free.