AOMC Classic Showcase at Flemington

On Sunday 29 April 2012, the RACV and the Association of Motoring Clubs (Victoria) hosted the Classic Showcase at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse.

This event included the Victorian MG, Austin Healey and Merecedes Benz concourse events.

Because Melbourne had experienced pretty much a week of (otherwise welcome) rain beforehand, there was a fear that Flemington would provide attendees with a wet track. Instead, the weather on the day turned out to be perfect.

I took my 1961 MGA 1600 roadster on the basis that it runs better than my 1953 MGTD. My father took his 1986 BMW 635 Csi which attracted attention for being one of the more original BMWs there. However, it was really a day for convertible cars.

The MG Car Club was out in force. Many members were recently returned from a tour of Tasmania following the national MG meet in Hobart. The club has 1700 members, so it can always put on a good show.

The Healey club did themselves proud with an excellent display, particularly of Big Healeys. However, the Mercedes Benz club had the most extraordinary club display of the day, with what seemed like hundreds of cars.

Despite being concourse events for the Healeys, the MGs and the Mercedes Benz clubs, there were lots of treasures from many other marques on display. There was everything from a Hartnett (a small car produced in Australia from 1951 to 1955, with just 120 ever completed) to a 1912 Talbot Doctor’s Coupe. The mood was fun, the cars interesting and the pretty site was ideal. In the midst of a Melbourne autumn, the sun shone, but it was never too hot. Convertible roofs were down and, in the gentle sun, paintwork and chrome glistened.

My favourite car was a spectacular 1962 Aston Martin DB4 (pictured at the top of this article). The car was in superb condition. Parked beside the DB4 was its much younger sister, a DB7 from the late 1990s. The styling influence of the fifty year old DB4 was clear.

The whole site was filled with the sort of cars that any car enthusiast would cross the road to admire. My friend Jason brought his smart-looking (and slightly warmed) Porsche 356 which stood out given a surprising shortages of Porsches at the event. A nice silver early 911 added its distinctive profile to the adjacent pair of Karman Ghias. There was also a remarkably well-restored example of a Karman Ghia in the “Best in Show” enclosure with every conceivable period extra.

However, my favourite from the half dozen cars in the “Best in Show” area was a simply superb Lancia Aurelia. The quality of the engineering under the bonnet shows just how well laid out and well-engineered an engine bay can be. Another very beautiful Lancia was a Touring designed (and built) aluminum bodied Flamina GT coupé. Boasting superleggera construction (which Touring licenced to Aston Martin for their DB4 and DB5), this Italian beauty sat by herself, confident that at more than 50 years old, age had not tarnished her beauty.

Spread out across the large collection of cars were pre-war rarities such as a superb Bentley,  a Singer Nine and an early 1930s Wolseley Hornet. In some cases, the treasures were grouped together. The Rolls Royce Owners Club put on a mouthwatering display. In other cases, the fun was in finding the dispersed gems among so many really good cars. Favourites included a pre-war Aston Martin (that the owner tells me may be for sale) and a wonderfully unrestored and extremely well-used Slough-built Citroen. There was a lovely group of Bristols basking in the sun and, nearby a tough looking gang of Jensen Interceptors showed off their long bonnets and serious Chrysler-derived muscle.

A much more delicate alternative was a recently imported pre-war MGTA airline coupe, still with its English number plates. As further evidence of the strong Australian dollar’s impact on the affordability of importing interesting cars, the event at Flemington had three Deloreans. One was even fitted with a flux capacitor and all the associated wiring, gauges and switchgear.

Whether it be the Daimlers (a lovely Majestic Major and a well-used DB18 Consort were my favourites), the many, many Jaguars (including a very nice XK120 and a very handsome cycle-guarded and supercharged SS100) or the wonderful brace of Bentleys (such as the gorgeous Continental pictured above), it was the depth of quality and the breadth of range that made this event a superb day for Melbourne’s classic motorists.