Holden and Ford rivalry between car fans goes back years, not only at the race track but between the average car buyers where a Holden-versus-Ford battle is still being fought despite neither make still being made here.
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Among the radical faithful, brand logos are tattooed on upper arms and babies are still being christened Brock.
The rivalry extends to car shows like the Gnoo Blas Classic in Brabham Park and on February 17 the club will commemorate Holden’s 70th birthday.
There’ll be nearly every model Holden on show from the first 48/215, dubbed the FX, through the seventies to the Monaro and Commodore.
The Holden camp will be strengthened by the appearance at the show of a big contingent of members and their cars from the Torana GTR XU1 club, a marque made famous by Peter Brock.
But the new-era Ford owners want to steal a march on the Holden and will be there with a fleet of the latest Ford Mustangs and the iconic GT Falcons.
The NSW Volvo Club will be on the sidelines with 15 cars representing all models in the range, starting from James Bond’s S30.
A special feature will be a display of cars built by the late Brian Keegan who built and raced drag cars, hill climb cars, open-wheel race cars and karts.
There’s 20 categories for judging including car of the show, best street car, best local car, best truck, best ute, best clunker, best barn find, best motorcycle and best club display.
The entry lists show entrants are coming from more than 100 Sydney suburbs, Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra and towns in central NSW like Lithgow, Bathurst, Cowra, Dubbo, Mudgee, Parkes, and Forbes.
According to club president Denis Gregory spectators for the show, “now considered the biggest and best in country NSW”, also come from these centres.
“The show started in a small way with a dinner in 1993 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the old Gnoo Blas track,” he said.
“It was also to rename Orange Sportsground in the centre of the old track Sir Jack Brabham Park.
“Sir Jack was a guest here for that.
“Visitors who came suggested it be made an annual event and it grew from there.”
This is the 25th year and with special guests like Swiss international V8 driver Simona de Silvestro and racing icons Fred and Christine Gibson the club is hoping for the best yet.