CHRYSLERS ON THE MURRAY

The 2020 COTM saw the largest-ever gathering of Mopars in the Southern Hemisphere

THE streets of Albury-wodonga burst into life over the weekend of 13-15 March, with a Mopar invasion that reset the record books. Held at Gateway Lakes, Wodonga, the 28th running of Chryslers On The Murray offered three days of street cruising, track events and a massive show ’n’ shine that drew 931 entrants from all over the country. Indeed, it was the largest-ever gathering of Chryslers in the Southern Hemisphere. This year’s event also played host to the largest assembly of Amc/rambler vehicles in Australia, with over 70 rolling up!

The Albury-wodonga Chrysler Club may be one of the smallest Chrysler clubs in the country, but it puts on the biggest Chrysler/mopar event in Australia. The first annual Mopars On The Murray, as it was originally known, was held in 1992. Back then it was a one-day show ’n’ shine that saw 60 Chrysler vehicles in attendance at Hovell Tree Reserve, Albury, on the banks of the Murray River. Over the years, the event evolved into Chryslers On The Murray and has become an annual pilgrimage for Pentastar fanatics from near and far. Many started out as spectators, before returning in following years with their own cars to enjoy the event as entrants.

Sol and Maureen Millen from Dysart, Queensland, did just that this year in their 1974 VJ hardtop. “We’ve flown down to this event a couple of times in previous years, and figured we’d bring the car down once we got it finished,” Sol said. “We took three days to trailer it down from home, taking it easy and stopping off along the way – we made a bit of a holiday out of the trip.”

COTM 2020 kicked off on the Friday with entrants rocking up for scrutineering and accreditation at Gateway Lakes Park. Then it was time to either hit the streets of Albury-wodonga for some cruising or head down the highway to the DECA Logic Centre circuit at Barnawartha for some track time in the driving events. With both lap sprint and go-to-whoa events on offer at DECA, competitors got a chance to put their cars through

WITH BOTH LAP SPRINT AND GO-TO-WHOA EVENTS ON OFFER, COMPETITORS COULD PUT THEIR CARS THROUGH THEIR PACES

their paces and lay down some rubber.

At the end of the day the fastest time in the lap sprints was set by Michael Noller in his 2008 Viper SRT10, while Robert Spiller took out the go-to-whoa in his VG Valiant hardtop.

Once the track events were done and dusted, entrants gathered back at Gateway Lakes Park with those that had been out cruising for the unveiling of some of the coolest Chrysler creations and restorations that were making their debut at this year’s show as part of the SS&A Great Reveal. One by one, the covers were pulled off and each owner got to tell the story of their car’s build to the crowd.

Saturday saw the judging take place for those shooting it out for trophies, as well as the first of two days of the show ’n’ shine and swap meet. It was a great chance for entrants to check out the cars coming through and catch up with old mates for a chinwag.

THE 28TH RUNNING OF THE EVENT WAS THE LARGEST-EVER GATHERING OF CHRYSLERS IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

Each year at COTM, a specific model or genre of Chrysler is under the spotlight, and this year it was the turn of the glory days of the US muscle car from 1962 to 1974. On Saturday more than 100 American Mopar muscle cars hit the road for a 30km cruise to the Gerogery Hotel to be part of the fun and enjoy a cold beer and some cool music at the small-town country pub.

Those who were looking for a change of pace on Saturday evening attended a seminar at the Hovell Tree Inn in Albury, hosted by Matt Dean from California. Matt shared stories from his 30-year career as a Dodge mechanic and his long-time involvement with Chrysler/mopar and the big names in the US aftermarket industry. Matt is considered the go-to man when it comes to dealer-fitted performance modifications.

Sunday was the main day for the show ’n’ shine, and as always, it was a family-friendly affair, complete with kids’ face painting and rides to keep the little ones entertained. With 913 entrants rolling through the gates on Sunday, it was a Chrysler lover’s dreams come true. With row upon row of Mopars lining the Gateway Lakes arena, it would take hours to enjoy all the automotive eye-candy on offer.

The weekend’s proceedings were wrapped up with the trophy presentations. Ari Perdikoyiannis’s immaculate 604ci KB Hemi-powered 1973 CH Chrysler By Chrysler hardtop took out top honours with the Chrysler Of The Show award.

“This was the first show I’d entered, and I’m stoked with the result,” Ari said. “I bought it 20 years ago for $1500 and had it sitting in the shed ever since. I’ve had other Chryslers that have come and gone, but I held on to this one with the plan of building it up one day.”

With 2021 being the 50th anniversary of the Aussie Valiant Charger, next year’s COTM is set to be even bigger, with over 1000 cars expected to enter. It’ll be a show not to be missed if you’re a Valiant fan!

ON SATURDAY MORE THAN 100 AMERICAN MOPAR MUSCLE CARS HIT THE ROAD FOR A 30KM CRUISE TO THE GEROGERY HOTEL

STORY PHOTOS

1 Glenn Sheddon’s AMC Gremlin, known as GIZMOE, runs a blown 401ci AMC mill and is a 9sec quarter-mile rocket 2 The swap meet at Chryslers On The Murray is always worth exploring, with everything from unfinished projects and those hard-to-get Valiant parts right through to Chrysler/mopar memorabilia and shed wall art 3 Sean Mckay’s 1973 Plymouth Barracuda runs a tunnel-rammed 440ci Wedge punched out to 542ci with Edelbrock Performer alloy heads. The 727 Torqueflite is backed by a four-linked Dana 60 Sure-grip rear end with 4.88 gears. Sean imported the ’Cuda from the States 18 months ago, basically as-is. “It’s going to get some mods done to the rear end and will be registered and put on the road,” he said 4 Sydney’s Michael Brown had his pro street 1972 Rambler Hornet on display among the huge Amc/rambler line-up. It’s powered by a 454ci LSX topped with a 14/71 blower pushing 22psi of boost, and makes 1580hp at the tyres. Backing the LSX is an Al’s Race Glides twospeed Turbo 400. Painted in PPG Candy Wine Flamboyance, the Hornet was voted one of the top five American cars for the weekend

3 This 1964 New Yorker wagon was displayed by engine builder Charles Le Mesurier of Motoreco in Wodonga. Charles had just finished reconditioning the engine for the wagon’s owner, Ben Triglone. “It’s a 413ci Wedge motor, but it’s now 436ci,” Charles explained. “The motor has a Lunati camshaft and forged pistons, and has only done about 130km since we finished completely rebuilding it” 4 Ari Perdikoyiannis’s 604ci KB Hemi-powered 1973 CH Chrysler By Chrysler hardtop won the coveted Chrysler Of The Show award this year. “It’s fully engineered and legally street-registered,” Ari said. “Jeff from Metal Magic Street & Strip Fabrications built the car, doing all the fabrication work, the tubs and the four-link rear end.” Lou at GM Crash Repairs handled the body and paint before Ari and his brother pieced everything together

1 Rob Groeschel built his 1968 Plymouth Satellite up as a Road Runner tribute. The engine looks stock, but it’s far from it. “It’s based on a World Industries block, stroked out to 540 cubes, and runs Edelbrock alloy heads,” Rob said. “I’ve owned the car since 2004, and it was painted back in 2007, with all the bodywork and paint done by SA Chassis Service. The colour is a custom mix based on Mopar Green Go with a gold pearl mixed through it” 2 Glenn Walker from Currency Creek, SA, had a ball on track in his twin-turbo 440ci Wedge-powered 1972 Charger 770. It’s a home-built, old-school true street car that sees plenty of road use. “I’ve owned it for just over 20 years,” Glenn said. “I’ve upset a few of the HSV boys out on the streets back home.” The 440 is fed 10psi of boost through a pair of 35/82 Chinese turbos and runs Fitech throttlebody injection and an MSD ignition system