Saturday 26 March 2022

Our Car Show goes off with a Bang... not a whimper

Wednesday 23rd March - 2022

Hello everyone,

It is with great pleasure that I sit down here in my office & report to you all (via email) the day after our Sylvanvale Pre-WWll Vintage Car Show that was delivered as promised to the people of the Sutherland Shire & Sydney was nothing short of a spectacular success.

We were absolutely blessed with perfect weather on Sunday for our extravaganza. It was 27°C (80°F), magnificent blue skies, no wind & the sun shone all day.

The main aim of our Car Show is raise vital funds for Sylvanvale to improve the lives of people living with disability.
We love this shot, Sylvanvale resident Xavier enjoys sitting in the passenger
seat of this classic open air tourer.
Photo: Steve Core

For those of you that for one reason or the other couldn't make it on Sunday you definitely missed out on a truly memorable community event here in the Shire.

We managed to fill the huge Council car park in Sutherland with Pre-WWll Vintage & Classic motor vehicles to the delight of the many thousands of eager spectators that strolled through the venue from early morning until the presentation of the well deserved trophy winners around 3:00pm.

As everyone knows, this year we decided to relocate from Cronulla to Sutherland because we had outgrown the mall in Cronulla. This was of major concern to me, I was betwixt & between about this major change of venue.

Our Show presents a spectacular opportunity for
show-goers to get really close up looks at cars they
would never see out on the public streets.
Like this 1923 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.
Photo: Steve Core

Everything is easy in hindsight, however I am here to tell you that our new venue here in Sutherland went off with a bang. I have received so much positive feedback from everyone that I am completely over the moon. Rest assured we are not going anywhere from this perfect location.

I think that the major plus is that there is heaps of parking for the general public, with easy access & departure for the Vintage Car entrants. This year I was so impressed with the inclusion of many new entrants to exhibit their pride & joy here in the Shire.

As a matter of fact, after the trophy presentation everybody's friend 'Fletch' from Classic Resto's wanted to say a few words about the show.

Fletch and Warbo at the trophy presentation, Fletch had some
astute compliments and observations to say about about our Show
Photo: John Stanley

What 'Fletch' said completely blew me away, he mentioned that over the years he has covered many car shows both here in Australia & overseas & here is the money line.

"The quality & variance of the Vintage vehicles on display here today would match Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California, USA."

We should all be very proud of ourselves that we have this quality of participation in our ranks here in Sydney & beyond & guess what it can only get better. I can't wait to see his coverage of our show on Sunday. I will let you all know when & where to watch his presentation. I believe it will take approximately 5-weeks from now before it hits our screens.

VIPs Left to Right:
Mayor of the Sutherland Shire, Carmelo Pesce. CEO of Sylvanvale, Leanne Fretton. Car Show founder & Custodian, Ken Warburton and Miranda MP, Eleni Petinos.
Photo: Steve Core

As soon as I find out the final finance figures I will let everyone know in a more detailed newsletter.

So until then I will take this opportunity to sincerely thank from the bottom of my heart all the people that helped us make this event the success that it was on Sunday.

We couldn't possibly have done it without the participation of the magnificent Vintage vehicles & their proud owners taking their time & effort to support us once again this year, many thanks.

With the sun shining brightly on Show day,
the colours on the cars really popped.
Like this 1936 Chevrolet Business Roadster
Photo: Steve Core

I would also like to give a big thank you to the guys here in my engine room that worked tirelessly to put this spectacular together & make it the success that it was.

Major thanks go out to all of the Sylvanvale employees, sponsors and volunteers, Steampunk Sydney, the Sydney Tramway Museum at Loftus for their double decker bus, all the musicians that performed from the Caringbah Music School, the Chrysler Restorers Club members for the effort they made to bring us the BBQ. How good were the scrumptious bacon & egg rolls for the early bird arrivals & then later in the day with steak sandwiches & sausage sandwiches for lunch.

I also want to thank those to made the effort to dress in period-style outfits to help create the atmosphere we created on the day. Hang in there, in my next report I will let you know who the lucky winner was for my choice of "Best car of the Show" & the winners of the Raffles.

Until then, stay safe.

Regards

Ken Warburton

NB. I almost forgot to mention the many thousands of people that showed up in their droves on Sunday to check out these wonderful vintage vehicles that were on display from a bye-gone era & gave generously to buy raffle tickets to support our very worthy cause. Many thanks indeed.



Stay tuned for more reports & photos to follow...


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