Sydney Tramway Museum Festival

Sunday 27th February - 2022

To promote our upcoming Sylvanvale Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show on Sunday 20th March, 2022. We arranged a bunch of Vintage cars to be on static display at the Sydney Tramway Museum's Festival at Loftus on Sunday 27th February.

The Tram operating past us is No.1740 and is a 1933
R Class model built at Clyde Engineering in Sydney.
Photo: Steve Core

(Above) We parked Warbo's 1929 AA Ford truck in a perfect high-profile position at the Sydney Tramway Museum annual Tramway Festival Open Day.

Part of Tram Museum's tram lines and heritage building and facades.

And the cluster of Vintage cars we helped round
up to make up the static displays.

Photo: Steve Core

On Sunday the 27th February, the Tramway Museum were having their annual Vintage Tramway Festival and with their 'Open House' they were operating numerous heritage and vintage trams along their few kilometers of private track. Anyone who paid the entry fee was free to ride on the Vintage trams, unlimited all day.

(Above) Hopefully, this Vintage double-decker bus, No.1579 from the Sydney Bus Museum will also be on static display at our upcoming Car Show. This is yet to be confirmed due to the Sydney Harbour Bridge's 90th Birthday festivities. Photo: Steve Core

Every year for the past few years we have helped the Tramway Museum out by providing a display of Vintage motor vehicles to help recreate the era of the early trams running along Sydney's streets.

(Above) The Tramway Museum's own double-decker bus is a AEC Regent 3 Double-Deck Half-Cab No.2619. Built in 1952 by Clyde. One of the last traditional double-decker motor buses in Sydney upon withdrawal. Acquired by the museum in 1976. Restored in 2016. This bus will be on static display at our Show on Sunday 20th March, 2022. Photo: Ken Warburton

I took my '29 AA Ford Truck nick-named 'Hoover' to the day because we have the back tray panels adorned with our corflute signs advertising our Car Show in two weeks time at Sutherland.

'29 Packard prepares for its Sutherland debut

Saturday 26th February - 2022

With less than 3-weeks now until the Sylvanvale Pre-WWll Vintage Car Show it is such a pleasure & relief to know that the government is starting to remove some of the regulations & restrictive conditions that have hindered all of our lives over the past couple of years.

I have been very busy this past week attending three Car Club general monthly meetings. Car Clubs have not been able to hold their monthly meetings due to the Virus for more than eighteen months now, so this week I attended & spoke to many members of the Chrysler Restorer's Club of Australia, Buick Owners Club of NSW & the Chevrolet Club of NSW about Sylvanvale's Pre-WWll Car Show. 

John Hewitt's 1929 Packard 4-door Club Sedan

All the Clubs were well aware about our upcoming show on the 20th March, however it was just nice to meet, greet & rub shoulders with many of my petrol head colleagues once again.

One of the magnificent cars that will be making it's Sutherland debut by attending our 2022 Show is this 1929 Packard 4-door sedan owned by John Hewitt.

As you all know there is always a story to accompany all of these Vintage Vehicles.

The '29 Packard sports this elaborate and ornate

hood ornament.

John purchased this 1929 Packard when he was only 22-years old (he is now over 70) with the help of his uncle they restored the car way back when.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the car was reluctantly sold in 1980 & purchased by Green's Motorcade Museum in Leppington, NSW. Unfortunately the Museum closed its doors in 1984.

John Hewitt's 1929 Packard 4-door Club Sedan

From its home at the Museum in Leppington it was once again on-sold to a gentleman in the Northern Tablelands of NSW where it remained for 30-years. 

As I say "the wheel always turns" & guess what, somehow John was once again fortunate enough to re-purchase his original 1929 Packard back recently. What a journey.

John was once again fortunate enough to re-purchase his original 1929 Packard back recently. What a car - what a journey.

Ken Warburton

Photos: Steve Core

Sylvanvale Pre-WWll Vintage Car Show 

Date: Sunday 20th March, 2022

Venue: Sutherland Council Car Park, Flora Street, Sutherland

Time: 9:00am to 3:00pm

Admission: $5.00 per adult

There's plenty of history in Hoover

Monday 21st February - 2022

Keep your eyes peeled around the Sutherland Shire's major roadways over the next month in the lead-up to our Sylvanvale Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show on the 20th March, 2022.

You may just spot my 1929 AA Ford truck nick-named 'Hoover'. This past week we've just added the promotional corflute signs to its rear tray side panels.

The 1929 Ford AA Truck of mine that actually worked
on the construction of the Hoover Dam

We will be parking the truck in high-profile locations as a promo for our upcoming Show. Nothing like the sight of the 93-year-old 'Hoover' to grab someone's attention.

'Hoover' was named after the Hoover Dam project which is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. It was referred to as Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover in bills passed by Congress during its construction, but was named Boulder Dam by the Roosevelt administration. 

The Hoover Dam name was restored by Congress in 1947.

 

February '22 - Informational Update

Tuesday 6th February, 2022

Hello to everyone from the coalface here in the Shire.

At the moment it is head down & tail up with preparations for the 6th Annual Sylvanvale Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show to be held in Sutherland on Sunday 20th March, 2022.

Example of our 2022 Car Show flyer

From Tuesday the 8th of February it will be a short 40-days until our extravaganza on the asphalt of the Sutherland Shire Council car park that is situated on Flora Street, Sutherland. For those of you that do not know the area there is no way that you could possibly mistake it for anything else. (The Car park is huge).

I must also inform those entrants that wish to trailer their Vintage vehicles to Sutherland on the day that there is plenty of off street parking for your car trailers, or in one of our exhibitor's case; to park his semi-trailer that he will use to transport his vehicles to the show.

Entry to the car park will be via an entrance (clearly marked below) on Flora Street Sutherland, where either myself or other parking officials will meet & greet you from 7:00am to guide you to your parking position. The earlier you arrive the more time you will have to settle in & enjoy your day.

Satellite image of the Flora Street Car park with 
indicators of our main entry points on Flora Street.

For those of you that have not as yet contacted me with a commitment to attend our 6th Annual Sylvanvale Pre-WWll Vintage Car Show on Sunday the 20th March'22, there is still plenty of time left & heaps of room (not like Cronulla). 

The main reason why we had to relocate our show from the tiles in Cronulla Mall to the asphalt in the Council car park in Sutherland is that we have outgrown the venue in Cronulla. We have the room to facilitate up to 150 Vintage Vehicles in the Sutherland Car park.

I know that I am dreaming, however wouldn't it be a blast if we could fill that Car Park with our Vintage vehicles, what a spectacle that would be!

Examples of our Entry Form and Judging Category form

Please read all the following information to familiarise yourself with our procedures, it will make things so much easier for yourselves & us on the day to help things run as smoothly as possible.

Upon arrival at the Flora Street carpark you will be greeted at the entry gate by one of our friendly staff, everyone will need to pay their $20 entry fee. You will be handed an Entry Form (above) that you will need to fill in.

We will also hand you a Judging Category Card (above) with the list of 17 different categories printed on the reverse side of that card. If you wish to have your vehicle judged please complete the form & return it to the judges desk near the community hall.

If you do not wish to have your vehicle judged, that's OK too.

Examples of our Partnership & Sponsorship documents

Our BarBQ Sponsor ($2,000) has already been taken up by one of our loyal followers, however, there are other levels that you may be interested in.

That's just about all for this week's informational guide, if you require any more details please do not hesitate to contact me immediately on 0438 692 737. (24/7)

Stay safe, I want to see you all & your Vintage Vehicles in Sutherland on Sunday the 20th March '22.

Regards,

Ken Warburton

NB: If it makes life easier for you, you can pay your entry fee of $20 at the gate when you arrive on the day. Or if your require any of our forms or documents, please don't hesitate to contact me.

South to Pheasant Wood

Saturday 29th January - 2022

This is what happens when all the holes in the cheese line up.

In my quest to bring you exciting & unusual Pre-WWll Vintage motor vehicles to our annual show I am very fortunate to meet many enthusiast car owners that have the most extraordinary vehicles parked in their sheds. This week was one of those occasions, however, the story that I am about to tell you will blow your socks off as it did mine.

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a fellow that I used to fly with at Qantas. His name is Ben Powell, he wanted to know if he could enter his 1948 Riley Special into this year's Pre-WWll Vintage Car Show, this vehicle was built by his father (Ray Powell) way back when. Unfortunately I could not accept his entry because Ben's beautiful Riley Special was not built before WWll.

I have not seen Ben for at least 16-years since we both hung up our wings working as Trolly Dolly's for Qantas Airways. We got a chat on, as you do when you haven't seen someone for all those years. He mentioned that he will be attending & driving his magnificent 1948 Riley Special at the "All Historic Racing" meet at Pheasant Wood Race Circuit at Marulan, NSW, on Saturday the 29th January '22.

The boys and myself at Pheasant Wood Race Circuit, Marulan, NSW

Immediately my ears pricked up because my neighbor Steve Shelley who lives here on the Insular Peninsular at Burraneer just happens to own this race circuit & I have heard so much about it I really wanted to check out the circuit for myself. This would be the ideal opportunity for me to take a leisurely 2-hour drive south from the ‘Shire’ to meet up with Ben once again after all those years to watch him race his Riley Special & take a bird's eye view of the circuit for myself.

Now this is where the story starts to get exciting & all the holes in the cheese start to line up. Less than 5-days later I just happened to check my emails before retiring for the evening for my beauty sleep & (believe me I definitely need my beauty sleep).

I opened the email & there before me was this magnificent photo of a Vintage Vehicle plus the following message. "I'm just wondering if you are the same Ken Warburton that I knew from the Sutherland Shire Automobile Club back in the early '60s. I now live in Mittagong & have a few old cars including this 1924 Lancia Lambda".

Well I almost fell off my chair, I could not believe what was before my very eyes. This gentleman's name is Greg Mackie & we had not laid eyes on each other for 60-years.

Greg sitting behind the wheel of his magnificent 1924 Lancia Lambda

Greg & I exchanged a few emails to & fro. I mentioned that I would be coming down to his neck of the woods on Saturday the 29th January to watch my long lost flying mate drive his 1948 Riley Special in the Historic Races at Steve Shelley's race track at Marulan. Greg said, why don't you come to my residence first in Mittagong, you can leave your car at my place & I will drive us to the circuit which is approximately 40-minutes from my place & we can have a good old chinwag on the way. How could you knock back an offer like that when we hadn't seen each other for 60-years.

Everything went to plan, I arrived at Greg's residence in Mittagong at 9:00am Saturday morning. I must be totally honest with you that I did not recognise him nor him me. The only thing that we remembered about each other was our names. One cannot forget it has been 60-years since we have seen each other & a hell of a lot of water has passed under the bridge in that time, trust me. What a blast that was, we caught up with each other's lives. This has never happened to me before, where on earth do you meet up with someone you haven't seen for 60-years. Usually one or the other is pushing up daisies, if you get my drift.

We finally arrived at the circuit in Marulan, Ben was there playing with his 1948 Riley Special to make sure his "baby" was road worthy because he was just about to hit the track for a run. You wouldn't believe it, I also bumped into another old Trolly Dolly friend of ours, a chap by the name of Ron Reyn, he is also from the Shire & is interested in Historic Car racing. I thought to myself Wow! What an opportunity for a great photograph (below).

Photo of the four of us outside the official office at the track.  

LtoR. Yours truly, Ben Powell, Greg Mackie & Ron Reyn.

It was now time for Ben to hit the asphalt to show us his worth, unfortunately his car threw a wobbly & lost a rear right wheel, so that was the end of the day for Ben. As the professional motor racing drivers say; "that is motor racing".

Myself & Ben standing beside his very sick 1948 Riley Special
without the R/R wheel

Greg & myself stayed at the circuit for a few more hours & then it was time to head back to his place in Mittagong for a Ham & Cheese Roll washed down with three cups of Bushells Tea. Now for the money end of this beautiful story.

I was chomping at the bit for Greg to show me his "few old cars" as he had mentioned in his first email to me. After lunch he took me out to his shed. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he opened his shed door. Inside his shed he had four absolutely mind blowing very, very rare sensational motor vehicles. Where do I begin to start telling you about them, what I will do is let the photographs tell you the story.

1923-60 Vauxhall still shod with it's original
NSW number plates (39-988)

My favorite vehicle (I think) is his 1924 Lancia Lambda, closely followed by the 1923-60 Vauxhall still shod with it's original NSW number plates (39-988), then there is the magnificent specimen of his British 1938 4/4 Morgan. It's '4-4' designation stood for four wheels and four cylinders.

In the background tucked in behind the Morgan you can just see his original black 1958 VW Beetle with only 60,000 miles (96,560 kms) on the clock. If my arithmetic is correct that works out to be 937.5 miles per year or 1,508.75 kms per year over that 64-year period.

Hopefully if all the planets line up on Sunday the 20th March, 2022, Greg will join us at Sutherland to display his 1924 Lancia Lambda in our 6th annual Pre WWll Vintage Car Show. I am so excited I just can't wait.

The magnificent specimen of Greg's
1938 British-built 4/4 Morgan

What a day, I really had to pinch myself to see if all this was true. By now it was late in the afternoon, Greg had been invited to a party & I had a 2-hour drive back to the Shire. 

I arrived home just in time to watch our very own Ash Barty clean up her American opponent Danielle Collins to win this year's Australian Open. I must admit that I was very concerned when Ash was down 5-1 in the second set.

That my friends is all she wrote.

Stay safe & look after each other.

Cheers for now from the "Squire from the Shire".

Warbo.