Vehicle Rallies Converge On Cowra Shire

Cowra Shire proved to be the capital of vehicle rallies last weekend, with the region hosting around 500 motor enthusiasts across three separate historic vehicle groups.

The largest group was the Pre 1931 Autumn Tour, which brought around 260 people to Cowra across around 130 vehicles, which each one being manufactured before 1931.

The first ever Hawkesbury to Cowra trek came to Cowra on Saturday for one night, with around 120 people driving their vehicles from the Hawkesbury region of Sydney to Cowra in aid of the Hope 4 U foundation, which supports mental health. The Australian Clipper Club held its annual rally at the Woodstock Showground on Saturday, which saw 32 Ansair Flxible Clipper buses travel to the village to display their bus models that were manufactured between the 1950s and 1970s.

The three events proved to be a major economic boost for the Cowra Shire, with motels and hospitality venues booked out as a result.

It was the second time the Pre 1931 Autumn Tour, hosted by Dinosaur Drivers Register Incorporated, had been to Cowra, with the first time being back in 2015.

The event started on Friday and ran through to Sunday morning, with entrants coming to Cowra from NSW, ACT, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

The group spent Friday morning at the Rural Fire Service Headquarters at Cowra Airport, before making their way to the Gooloogong Log Cabin for a lunch, hosted by the Cowra Rotary Club. They then spent Saturday afternoon in Canowindra, before linking up with the Australian Clipper Club rally in Woodstock on Saturday, and then making a memorable drive over the Wyangala Dam wall later that day.

Water NSW granted the group special permission to drive their historic vehicles over the wall, making for an incredible photo and video opportunity, with drone footage being showed in Channel 7’s Sydney news on Sunday night.

It was the first time in seven years the wall had been opened to traffic. Dinosaur Drivers Register’s Christine Hatton said the weekend was a huge success.

“It was a great weekend and the weather was great until everyone left on Sunday morning,” she said.

“The RFS bosses in Cowra on Friday morning were so impressed that they now want to host a historic vehicle group every year. We had cars parked all the way down the airport road. There were hundreds of people there to check out our vehicles.”

Mrs Hatton said hundreds also turned out to Woodstock to see their vehicles alongside the Clipper buses.

“There would have been around 500 people there in addition to the participants of both clubs, so we basically doubled Woodstock’s population,” she said. “The CWA Ladies did a great job putting on morning tea for us.”

With so many historic vehicles in the shire on the weekend, Mrs Hatton said it proved Cowra was a perfect place for vehicle groups to come out and enjoy touring around.

“Locals in Gooloogong and Wyangala said there were some local roads where the only saw historic vehicles, and not a single modern one,” she said.

“The vehicle owners love driving on back country roads, and that’s why Cowra and surrounds is so good from them to come out and enjoy.”

Mrs Hatton thanked popular local photographers Chris Watson from Farmpix Photography and Andrew Briggs from Over and Above Photography for capturing their vehicles in Woodstock and Wyangala.

IMAGE: Some of the Pre 1931 Autumn Tour cars in Gooloogong last Friday. SOURCE: Council of Heritage Motor Clubs NSW.

• Topics:
• Motoring