SWAN Hill Vintage Car Club is gearing up for its upcoming rally, which aims to raise much-needed funds for Swan Hill District Health’s dialysis department.
Coinciding with the club’s 50th anniversary, the rally is designed to showcase the diversity and history of the region with the Moulamein museum and woolshed, Sea Lake silo art, Nullawil historical village and Nyah tractor museum included in the route.
Daryl Pendlebury, a founding member of the club, recalls the cold, wintery night when like-minded motoring enthusiasts met for the first time to discuss establishing a club.
Mr Pendlebury had picked up the remains of an old car the previous year and was looking to restore it.
He said there was a car club in Swan Hill at the time but it was focused on trials.
“After a while, that car club composed more people who were into old cars, rather than trials,” Mr Pendlebury said.
The vote was unanimous and in 1973, Swan Hill’s car club was founded.
“Most of our members were interested in having contact with other like-minded individuals,” Mr Pendlebury said, adding the first club event was held shortly afterwards.
Members of the club came from all over the region, including Robinvale, Quambatook, Cohuna, Kerang.
Mr Pendlebury has owned many cars since being involved with the club, but his greatest accomplishment was the restoration of his Morris Cowley.
“White ants were discovered in (the wooden-framed body). It looked OK from the front but it was a flop. In a moment of insanity I offered the owner $10 to take it off his hands.”
The restoration project was a labour of love for Mr Pendlebury, who spent many years bringing the car back to its former glory.
Piece by piece, Mr Pendlebury began to rebuild the car as he went in search of missing parts.
Surprisingly, many of the parts turned up relatively close to home.
“The missing gearbox came from the floor of a garage in Woorinen South,” Mr Pendlebury said.
The headlights turned up in a chook shed at a Lake Charm farm, while the temperature gauge was found in a shed in Mitiamo.
“Things turn up in some funny places.”
Throughout the process, many members of the car club questioned the project, but he never gave up.
“Seventeen years later, I proved them wrong,” Mr Pendlebury said.
“In 1972 I bought the car as a wreck and here I was driving it on the road in 1989. Restoring old cars is time intensive but, bit by bit, we persevered.
“I felt a sense of triumph that I had beaten adversity and the naysayers.”
Mr Pendlebury said while he’d since reluctantly sold the car, he had acquired a number of others along the way.
In the late 1970s Kerang founded its car club, which attracted away a number of members.
While the club was founded as the Mid Murray Vintage Car Club, in 1993 members voted for a name change and it became the Swan Hill Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club to more accurately reflect its location.
Today, the club boasts 193 members, who have more than 200 cars and 100 motorbikes.
Mr Pendlebury said the camaraderie and connections he’d made during his time with the club had been a highlight as like-minded people with a common goal came together.
“It’s the social side, the interaction with the other members and the ability to work together to help find a part, a specific make or model.
“It gives you a real buzz when you’re able to find it.”
Looking forward to catching up with members as part of the club’s 50th anniversary Mallee Gold Rally, Mr Pendlebury said the rally was open to everyone and they’d love to see a large crowd sign up for the event, which will take place from May 5 to 8.
