NEARLY every possible make and model of car was at the Gnoo Blas Classic at Sir Jack Brabham Park on Saturday and often the beauties were found hidden, disused in paddocks.
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That was the case for Graham Barrett who found his Brown four-wheel-drive steer tractor, which was built, around 1953 in a paddock near Mount Canobolas.
He said he watched it for years and as an avid history fanatic he had to own it.
“I thought I have got to get this tractor up and running and I did.”
“It only took me two days,” he said.
Gnoo Blas Classic Car Club president Denis Gregory said he believed visitor numbers were up from previous years but until the finally tally had been completed with North Orange Rotary who collected the gate entry, there was no way of telling.
“We had some feedback that there was not enough shade,” he said.
“But overall one of the best things was the huge variety of cars on display.”
Steph Huysmans was one of those people who wanted to bring something a little different to the show.
She brought along her bantam altered drag car to show people there were many different aspects to motor racing.
“It’s fun, I love it,” she said.
Drawcards for the day were rally champions Neal Bates and Coral Taylor as well as retired motor sport legend Leo Geoghegan who first raced around Gnoo Blas in 1954.
Stuart Saunders had the oldest car of the show with a 1908 model MAB fitted with an aeroplane engine.
He too found his wheels in a paddock and bought the shell of the car for about $300.
“It doesn’t have much in the way of brakes but you get that from old cars,” he said.
“The furthest I’ve been in it is from Darwin and I’ve had it up to about 100mp/h [160 km/h]”
He had to cut down the engine from an old plane and saw off the end where the propeller was and fit the crank shaft, all things he taught himself from the first moment he bought a car.
