It looked so promising! Saturday was beautiful and the rain was forecast to arrive late in the day.
It will be fine we all said. Some went as far as leaving their rooves behind they were so confident that it wasn’t going to rain! I mean, another British car club nearly cancelled their display the Sunday prior and that turned out very well indeed.
But lets face it, owners of Austin Healey’s and MGs are made of sturdy stuff. The idea of a few drops of rain wasn’t going to scare us off. So, something well north of a million dollars of Healeys big and small, MG Midgets, race cars, clubbies and delectable Associate cars turned out for the Display Day, 42 cars in all.
We watched the rain radar and the clouds building on the horizon. It all seemed to be skirting Glenelg, hitting KI, Goolwa and Mount Gambier on its way to Melbourne.
Gordon’s phone rang and it was one of our members from Clare … “I’m on my way and I’m in Mallala. It looks bad?”. “No, its just a few drops, it will be fine …”. Famous last words.
Michael McLaren left his beautiful Mk3A in the careful hands of the club. Well, we got the tonneau buttoned down but it wasn’t exactly water tight (sorry Michael!).
And despite the rain, a good few many of us drove home with the rooves off. Some all the way back to Gawler or Clare … as that’s where the roof was!
One highlight was to see SUS back under the power of an A Series, even if it did give Helen a scare on the way to Glenelg by trying to overheat! Given how cold it got by lunchtime theres an irony in there somewhere! We hope she got home without calling the RAA!
Gerard’s amazing restoration of the Morris Commercial Van was a clear crowd favourite, as was Don’s Bugeye and a stunning example of a 100/4 took individual class honours in the People Choice awards, with the Morris Van getting so many votes it was the clear winner on the day.
On the subject of People’s Choice voting …. I’m somewhat concerned tho that, once again, nobody voted for the Presidents Midget. Not even me. I didn’t think that was fair, voting for your own car so I was left to rue yet another display day as I drove home, in convoy with the Club Treasurer, both of us with our rooves off .. in the pouring rain.
And after all of the rain, not finished with the day, Gerard went back to Marque Restorations and commenced making a Sprite … from the aluminium of a Guinness Zero can. Can’t wait to see how this one turns out! Knowing the quality of the work that Marque Restorations turns out, it will likely scoop the awards at the 2026 Nationals!!
Photos courtesy of Gary Dodd, Gerard Miller Paul Charal, Steven Kent, Steven and Kathie Leane (even if they cheated and put their roof on), the Austin Healey Owners Club of SA and yours truly.