General News
22 May, 2026
A special veteran tour
A STRONG crowd of rally drivers spent the weekend exploring the Camperdown region from last Thursday for a Veteran Car Rally.
Members of the Veteran Car Club of Australia Victoria branch brought along their pre-1919 vehicles for the four-day rally, with residents able to get up close with working examples of motoring history.
A total of 18 vehicles took part, including T-Model Fords, Buicks and more.
Rally director Murray Murfett said the weather proved favourable for the rally, with attendees from Melbourne and New South Wales enjoying the scenery of the district.
“One of our older members had a 1914 T-Model Ford and he drove it up Mount Leura, which was quite an achievement,” he said.
“John Hulm gave us a talk about the clocktower, then about 25 of us walked up the 95 steps to the top.
“We went to Stony Point homestead in Darlington on the Saturday and had lunch there.
“We travelled in a group, but we stopped at the Mount Elephant Information Centre for morning tea on the way up from Camperdown.
“We were given a presentation about the mountain itself as well as the stone walls – that was interesting.”
The rally’s final stop last Sunday was Cobden, where they displayed their vehicles at the Pioneer Park and enjoyed a meal at the golf club before returning home.
Mr Murfett said, due to the age of the cars and the cost of fuel, each run was kept as short as possible.
The main day of the rally – Saturday – proved the longest run at 140 kilometres.
Mr Murfett said there were a number of highlights from the trip, including an introduction to the area through an episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television series Back Roads.
“One of the highlights was having a local lass – Stacey Riches – play bagpipes for us,” he said.
“On the Saturday night, Stacey played the bagpipes, piping the haggis in as is done at the Robert Burns Festival.
“It was a surprise to everyone. Stacy did lovely – she’s quite an accomplished bagpiper.
“She piped the haggis in and gave us a talk about how bagpipes work and their history before playing two tunes – Scotland the Brave and Auld Lang Syne.
“Our car people thought it was the highlight of the rally.”
Another highlight of the trip was the car collection of Laurie Voutier, which included vehicles from a number of different eras.
Mr Murfett said he was pleased to see the amount of interest from the community wherever the cars were displayed.
“Quite a few people came up, and there were quite a few people interested in the old cars,” he said.
“There was a deep interest in the sights and sounds – lots of brass on the cars and interesting sounds.
“Where they were parked – near the clocktower and the bluestone post office – there was a terrific backdrop for photographs.
“They enjoyed themselves so much on the rally and made so many connections they want another one run there in the future.
“I wanted to thank the venues that hosted us for morning teas and lunches and the places we visited for looking after us so well.”
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