“With the anniversaries of the VW Kombi and the Holden Panel Van being celebrated, we are inviting as many of them as possible,” Historic Winton event co-ordinator John Kessner said.
“So, this has inspired us to attract as many different types of vans, too: Samba vans, ’60s hippie vans, Bedford, Morris, Austin 7, Austin A30 and Austin A40 vans. All are invited!”
The 48th Historic Winton, to be held on May 24 and 25 at Winton Motor Raceway, always showcases paddocks full of displays and well as two days of historic racing.
These will feature alongside anniversary displays in the Shannons Car Park and other pride-of-place vehicles.
Owners who are interested in displaying their vehicle must email displays@historicwinton.org to arrange their free entry pass.
Kessner said the Australian Motor Heritage Foundation’s 2024 Economic Value Study revealed that there were 970,000 historic vehicles in Australia, with $10,240 spent per vehicle per year.
“The economic impact creates tens of thousands of jobs and extrapolates to billions of dollars circulating through the economy, so the impact of what we do here and of the entire historic car movement is significant,” he said.
Along with vans, the heritage displays will include emergency vehicles, trucks, motorcycles and anything unusual that’s on wheels.
“Additionally, anyone with a quirky or fun vehicle is welcome to get in touch to obtain free entry for the driver for the weekend,” Kessner said.
“In past years, we’ve had an antique Belgian fire engine, an old movie fan van, stunning retro caravans, Clipper buses, spruced up semi-trailers and even an old ute with an enormous, fake bomb on the back like in the Road Runner cartoons.”
The organiser, the Austin 7 Club, will invite favourites to join the parade laps on track.
“Concourse quality vehicles through to rusty relics are all welcome,” Kessner said.
“These novel vehicles add to the fun of the event and are a great showcase of the vast amount of work that people put into their hobby vehicles in Victoria and around Australia.”
The full list of anniversary display vehicles can be found at historicwinton.org/the-event/special-features
Presented by the Austin 7 Club, Historic Winton is well known as being Australia’s most popular historic race event, showcasing racing cars from the very beginning (more than 100 years ago) to the mid-1980s.
Preceding Historic Winton is the Benalla Historic Vehicle Tour on Friday, May 23, where motoring enthusiasts tour the rich and varied sights of Benalla and surrounds.
All historic register vehicles are invited to enjoy this fun day and then stay on for Historic Winton.
To add to the fun, Austin 7 Club ‘President’s Choice’ trophies are awarded to tour participants with ‘stand-out’ vehicles.
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