VACC Centenary celebrations this weekend

Automotive trade lobby group VACC will mark its hundredth anniversary with a parade of classic cars departing from Calder Park Raceway on Saturday morning.

Named the 'Centennial Cavalcade', the 100-strong parade of vehicles will be flagged off by comic actor Shane Jacobson, who will be bringing along his own 1974 HQ Holden ute on the day.

Departing at 8:30 AM, the convoy will be led by a 1918 Buick E644 Roadster – formerly a hearse and the oldest vehicle in the procession. The 'Cavalcade' will be followed by a 'Show 'n Shine' event at the Bendigo Town Hall precinct, where the drive concludes at 11am.

VACC understands a procession on this scale is unprecedented and the 100 vehicles taking part will include trucks and motorcycles as well as cars.

Lancia, Alvis, Bristol, Graham-Paige, DeSoto and Bentley are just same of the 46 illustrious marques that will be present. Among the more notable cars is an Aston Martin DBS Vantage (pictured) that was filmed for the James Bond feature film, 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. This particular film is best known for the one and only portrayal of Bond by Australian actor George Lazenby.

The DBS is by no means the only high roller in the Centennial Cavalcade; there's also a 1947 Rover P2 Sports Saloon that appeared in local film 'The Dressmaker', starring Kate Winslet.

Other vehicles of interest include a 1932 Chrysler Imperial owned by American Gangster 'Legs' Diamond, a 1939 Hanomag Beetle prototype, a 1968 HK Holden Monaro GTS 327 that ran at Bathurst that year and a collection of military vehicles.

And the early start is worth it just for the opportunity to see an original Leyland Force 7 from 1975 – the year that Leyland Australia ceased production in Australia. The Force 7 was a coupe based on the polarising Leyland P76 and never made it i`nto production. But a handful of pre-production cars did survive the factory closure carnage.

Calder Park will be open to the viewing public from 7am on Saturday.