Veteran and Classic Car Club of WA puts history in motion on rally through Wheatbelt

Narrogin residents saw motoring history in action as a fleet of century-old vehicles converged on the southern Wheatbelt for a three-day car rally last week.

Members of the Veteran and Classic Car Club of WA travelled from across the State to meet at Dryandra Woodland Village before setting out for Pingelly and Cuballing.

On the last day of the rally, the fleet of 14 veteran cars set up a public display outside the Dryandra Country Visitor Centre in Narrogin on December 1.

Veteran section organiser Deidre Pyle said it was “motoring history in action” to be able to showcase the veteran vehicles on country roads.

“We feel it’s better to have the cars on the roads and have people see them that way rather than have them in museums gathering dust,” she said.

“We had quite a few people come out to have a look and talk to us about the old cars.

“The majority of them were older people who perhaps remembered them from when they were younger, or from cars their grandad had.”

Ms Pyle said club members met on a regular basis to spread their love of motoring history across country WA.

“We look for a country location with good roads and not too many hills, because these old cars don’t like going up hills as they don’t have a huge amount of power,” she said.

“On the first day we went to Pingelly and we had a picnic lunch and the Country Women’s Association ladies from Pumphreys Bridge agreed to make us sandwiches and beautiful fresh cakes.

“We picked that up on the way through, and had a picnic lunch by the Hotham River in Pingelly and then drove back again.”

The members visited the historic Cuballing Tavern, which was originally built in 1891 before it was knocked down and rebuilt in 1912.

“After we had the most amazing lunch, we parked the cars in front of the tavern ... and then we all stood on the veranda above and took a photo,” Ms Pyle said.

“The tavern was built in 1912 so it was absolutely spot on because that’s the average age of the cars that were there.”

Ms Pyle said the cars required meticulous maintenance to keep them running.

“The members are spending so much time building up their cars, the whole joy is just to be able to drive them,” she said.

“We can’t do that in metro areas because old cars like that just don’t mix with modern traffic, and it’s not fair to even put them on the roads.

“The whole point behind the rally is to be able to drive the cars over a three-day period and be able to enjoy them.”

The VCCCWA is set to hold a five-day car rally for veteran vehicles and motorcycles in Busselton in October 2022.