Classic GM on Display at Pentrith Panthers.

1930 Phaeton V16 (138kw) front

On a freezing cold day in July, Australia’s GM community of car clubs got together to celebrate, communicate and salivate.

Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Holden, Corvette, Camaro and many more clubs brought out their very best to sparkle in the sun albeit on a slightly soggy field at Penrith Panthers, Sunday the 12^th of June, 2015.

Out of the many beautiful restorations, the standout was the 1930 Phaeton. Stunning inside and out, her proud owner braved the cold in a ¾ length chocolate brown fur, of course. This car was used in Leo DiCaprio’s The Great Gatsby and the owner was proud to show the pictures of their car on set. I would be too if I owned a beauty like that. However this isn’t their only Phaeton, well of course it isn’t. How could a person have only one Phaeton. I smiled inwardly when told that as soon as the car was driven into the garage they would give her a light cleaning. “The whitewalls get done with spray and wipe because grass marks easily” she said. The owner made a smart set of calico covers to keep the tyres toasty warm once the Phaeton is back on her blocks. When was the last time you saw a 1930 Phaeton, or any 1930 car for that matter?

Among the Corvettes from all decades, there were Firebirds and Trans Ams as well as a smattering of cars from the 20’s and 30’s.

The 60’s and 70’s were well represented in the Cadillac display with the 50’s dominating at the Chevrolets including a stunning Resto-mod. The “Fooose” name will be known to those family with Chip Foose of American TV fame. Although this is not his work the owners were thrilled when Chip signed their personalized plates as they are great fans. This car recently completed a 13,000k trip averaging 10L/100k (or 10k per Litre) which isn’t bad. Purists will be appalled that a nice shiny new V8 was installed along with a speedo in showing kilometres, and a reversing camera.

There were many luminaries of the car world present and we spoke about having mutual love for “barn finds”. I was directed to a white Malibu which was restored to her former glory after being wheeled from a barn covered in dirt and bird droppings. Considering how bad it could have been, that was probably a very good day. The restoration was fabulous.

Edgar Naidoo from Holden presented the final few prizes. A chat with him later revealed a little on where Holden might be heading in the future. Hinting at the next generation Insignia will be the new Commodore. The All Wheel Drive VRX looks stunning and with the next model being a little larger, the Commodore nameplate can be retired and left in good hands. Or, will Holden rename the Insignia? No probably not. Both Holden and Ford seem to be moving toward world cars being sold in all markets under the same name as in the USA. Edgar tapped his lips and said “watch this space” and a suitably cryptic and slightly 1960’s spy-thriller kind of way. Let’s wait and see since we don’t have much choice.

A studious writer would have collected the names of the prize winners but the list could not be gotten. The GM Display runs on paper and pen in our digital society which is both refreshing and infuriating in equal measure, but that’s classic car people through and through. There were far too many to list each one so please enjoy the shots, such as they are. Of course we forgot our camera so enjoy the Iphone 6 pics. No more words, just pics.