Diary of a day!
Bay to Birdwood 2012. This is the year of the vintage car (made between 1919 and 1930), veteran (pre-1919) and old. No Classic cars allowed (Their run comes in the 2013).
For more information look at http://www.baytobirdwood.com.au/the_run.html
My photos are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickyj_photos/sets/72157631842204430/
I headed to the grounds early. I was driving a 2 year old Mazda 6 and every set of lights I approached in the city of Adelaide, was a time warp back to the 1930′s.
Old cars were everywhere and other than modern Taxi’s, there was nothing else on the road.
I arrived at the grounds early (about 6am) and watched the oval fill from nothing. 1800 cars were expected for the biggest event of this type in the world.
From the website
“The sun will not yet have risen over the Adelaide Hills when the very first vehicles start arriving at Adelaide Shores. It may only be 6am but the excitement will already be palpable as these marvellous veteran, vintage and early classic vehicles ready themselves for the biennial Bay to Birdwood Run.
Breakfast With The Cars has become a tradition and this is the spectators’ opportunity to mix ‘n mingle with entrants and their vehicles. Enjoy a range of breakfasts provided by local service organisations washed down with jazz and other vintage entertainment, line the start ahead of the flag off by the one and only Glen Dix at 8:30 am and be a part of this icon event. It takes approximately 1.5 hours for all entrant vehicles to depart on the route to Birdwood – give them a send off they won’t forget!
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Vehicles head down West Beach Road after the official Start turning right into Tapleys Hill Road then left into Anzac Highway. Their journey through metropolitan Adelaide en route to the Finish at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood enables the spectators who line the 72km route each year to see Australia’s greatest motoring show on wheels pass right in front of them – 2 hours of motoring history!”
The cars need to meet strict guidelines and the drivers and passengers are encouraged to dress in period clothes.
“Only those motor vehicles built and at ready for sale stage on or before 31 December 1955 are eligible to take part.
The onus of proof of date of build is the responsibility of the entrant and if required by the Committee must be substantiated and be supported by a Statutory Declaration. In the event of false information being supplied all entry monies will be forfeited.
All motor vehicles must be substantially to manufacturers’ specifications, roadworthy and of acceptable standard of quality in the opinion of the Committee.”
I watched the cars file in and fill the fields. I then walked amongst them as it started to rain.
Most of the cars were polished and ready for display. I was waiting for my father driving a Jowett Javelin. The Jowetts were a feature this year. I started taking photos at the entrance.
At one point vintage Biplanes and a mono plane passed overhead. The atmosphere was fantastic.
I then watched the lord mayor make a thankyou speech as the start line was prepared. Glen Dix was surrounded by TV News cameramen as he prepared to wave the flag.
His yellow jacket was like a magnet.
The old police cars arrived to head up the procession and then the Rolls Royce that appeared in all the publicity prepared to leave.
Glen Dix waved on the first cars and we all watched the cars, the people dressed in period clothes, file out.
After an hour, it was our turn. I jumped in the Jowett and my father joined the procession, mixed in with some Austin’s.
We headed to Tapleys Hill road and then turned onto Anzac Highway. It was then that we were greeted by even more vintage cars, parked on the side of the roads and waving us on.
Many people had settled in with their seats and food, all waving us on. There were many other car shows on in Adelaide that day so many classic cars were also parked there.
As we progressed, we came across the bikes and cars that would eventually break down. We passed them onto Fullarton road and followed the signs onto North East Road.
We headed into Tee Tree Gull and towards the chain of ponds. This is the part of the trip my dad does not like.
When we get to the last set of lights on North East road and Hancock, the police are manually directing traffic. He recalls from previous years that the Vintage cars were not readily let through and the modern cars were waved on more frequently. In years past, this was were cars broke down. This is where they overheated. There needed to be airflow over the Jowett engine as the radiator fan is behind the motor.
We finally moved on and on to the road around chain of ponds. This was temporarily a one way road.
As we went up the hill, we passed a broken down fire truck, a Cadillac and a bike. We overtook a slow single cylinder car and up towards Gumeracha. Then we heard a noise from the tailshaft.
We made it to the destination.
We ended up in the fields behind the Birdwood Mill. We poked about the cars but had no hope of seeing them all.
I tried to get to the Concours d’Elegance but many of the cars had left.
We looked through the museum.
We listened to period music and poked about amongst the cars.
It was interesting to see Birdwood transformed to yesteryear. There were vintage cars up and down the main road.
I was also told one of my photos made it into the official program for the day.
The day finished rather late. My dad took the Jowett off to Forreston to look at the Tailshaft and I found my own way home.
I can’t wait for the next event !
