GT40 gathering of enthusiasts, in Melbourne Australia

[Bill Hara]

Hi all, a gathering of GT40 fans and owners has been organised for the 12th of November (this Sunday) and the place is SAAS / AUTO CONCEPT, rear of 20 Glenvale Crescent in Mulgrave, Melbourne, Australia.
Whilst it is well out of the way for most of this forum's members, there are those of us in this part of the world that have been craving the chance to gather and show off our cars, discuss all things GT40 related, whilst enjoying a bbq and good company. So please bring your cars as there is plenty of parking!
The gathering is scheduled to kick off at 10.30am and is open to all, however let me know if you are attending so that there is sufficient catering...

Unfortunately we are clashing with the Sandown Historic Racing event where Ross Nicol will be playing this coming weekend; however Ross has been gracious enough to invite those interested to visit him in the pits after our gathering. The track is only 5 minutes from the bbq gathering and would make a fitting bookend to the day.

Hope to see you there

Bill.

[Ross Nicol]

My garage number is

VHRR M/quee 15. Which I believe is a marquee set up behind the main pit garages.

Ross

[JackW]

Hi Bill

The darling wife is due to have a baby any day now and I have my final 2 exams coming up at the end of the month and, theoretically should probably be studying, but unless my wife is selfishly actually in labor that day, or just as selfishly (note - "selfishly" was used in a joking manner. Cough cough), coming home from hospital that day, I will be there.

Cheers

Jack

[Danny]

G'day Bill,
I've only just stumbled across this thread. I guess that'll teach me for not checking often enough. I could have just about walked there from my place. When will the next one be?

Cheers,
Danny

[Bill Hara]

G'day Danny

A number of people missed this post and of those that I emailed, many didn't receive anything (technical glitch??).
Additionally there was sporadic rain on the day so only 1 GT40 showed up and the BBQ was on the small side. That being said, the next large gathering of GT40s scheduled in Melbourne (Geelong actually) is the Kiwanis All Ford day on the 18th of February, where 7 cars will be on display (hopefully including mine ) and about 1000 Fords will converge on the Deakin University grounds in Waurn Ponds, Geelong.
Unless the Melbourne and Geelong GT40 enthusiasts want one earlier (I'm keen), we'll meet up in February.

Chime in if you want one earlier.

Cheers

Bill.

[ChrisL]

Bill,

May I suggest an early morning run (EMR) on a Sunday morning before we hit the Christmas break? An EMR is where we all meet at a location at say 9:30am on a Sunday, drive through some great winding country roads to a nice pub, have an early lunch (and a chin wag) then be back home by 1:30pm. Perfect for this time of year when everyone is busy and just want a small break to enjoy their cars.

Do we have enough road-going GT40s these days to do it?... then again, as long as we have enough enthusiasts.

Let me know if you want a hand to arrange things. I know some great roads (and old pubs) around the Daylesford/Hepburn area.

[Bill Hara]

Chris

That sounds like a great idea. How about Sunday the 17th of December??
8.00am start, meet at the front of Technical Books Shop cnr of Londsdale and Elizabeth St in the Melbourne CBD???

We can then perhaps organise our numbers into any spare seats and the rest can follow along?

Any takers? Any other suggestions - Destination etc?

Regards

Bill.

[ChrisL]

Bill,
The date sounds perfect to me.
May I just make some minor suggestion based on past experience of organizing this type of event with other clubs? 8:00am might be a bit early for a Sunday morning and it tends to keep the numbers down. Often means setting the alarm for 6am for those a little further away. 9:00am meeting for a 9:30 depart is popular. Maybe we can see what others say. All depends on what time you want to get back home too
A good meeting spot is a large service station in a location close to a freeway so that we can head off in convoy onto the freeway and stay united (traffic lights scramble all the cars and we end up separated). Shell service station on Todd Road South Melbourne (bottom of the city end of the West Gate Bridge) is good. It also allows people to fill up and buy breakfast while they wait.
While I’m on a roll, we could then head off down the Western Ring Road and then the back roads to Daylseford. The Old Hepburn Hotel has plenty of parking and caters for car club bookings.

[JackW]

Hi All

If anyone needs a navigator I am in! And I don't mind where the start point is. Which would seem only fair because I don't own a GT40 (yet!) so therefore don't yet have to deal with the eccentricities. Anyway, I ramble. Let me know when and where, and if anyone has a passenger spot awesome. If not, I will just drive my own car and come along for the thrill of!

Cheers

Jack

[JackW]

on a smaller note. ChrisL I just noticed that in your 2 posts this thread on says you have posted 773 times and the other one says you have posted once. Weird.

[Ron Earp]

Looks like it is two user names, two join dates.

[ChrisL]

Jack,
Yes, its two separate IDs. Well spotted.

Hi Ron,
I sent a courtessy PM explaining my reasons but didn't get a reply so I assumed that you were OK with it. Did you get my PM?

[Bill Hara]

That's settled then, Sunday the 17th of December it is.....
9:00am meeting for a 9:30 departure.
Meeting spot is the large United service station on Kingsway in South Melbourne (see map below). At that time there should be little traffic in the area making for an easy convoy out of town.
I take it then that we can head for the Old Hepburn Hotel in Daylesford, so all that we need now is a posse.

So far we have:

Chris Liokos - Silver RF#18
Jack W - passenger / support vehicle
Bill H - Black RF#61 (won't be ready yet)
???
Any more takers?

Bill.

[Bill Hara]

Just to bring this to the top again, any more takers?

[Bill Hara]

People in the convoy now include:

Chris Liokos - Silver RF#18
Jack W - passenger / support vehicle
Bill H - Black RF#61 (support vehicle only)
Andrew E - Custom Yellow RF# 93
Bob L - Yellow RF#26
Tim M - Red RF#94 (maybe)
Eddie E - Blue RF# ??
John K - Blue RF # ??

Any more?

[Bill Hara]

List of vehicles and people confirmed for the Melbourne to Daylesford run on Sunday morning so far includes:

Chris Liokos - Silver RF#18
Jack W - passenger / support vehicle
Bill H - Black RF#61 (support vehicle only)
Andrew E - Custom Yellow RF# 93
Bob L - Yellow RF#26
Tom Cleggett
Steve Herbstreit - Gulf RF (3 weeks from hitting the road)
John K - Blue RF # ??
Tony Bissett.

From South Melbourne we will be heading through Bacchus Marsh township to meet with a couple of cars and then head on through the twisty bits to Daylsford and the Hepburn Pub. Chris Liokos will have some route maps for us that should look something like the map attached below.
If anyone is still interested please give me a PM or respond to this post asap.

Cheers

Bill

[Bill Hara]

Great day had by all yesterday, here are a few shots of the cars.

Enjoy

Bill.

[Danny]