Driver Diaries
More workshop updates from our regular contributors.
In Australia and Queensland in particular we have been extremely lucky with the number of local cases of COVID. As a result, the earlier local restrictions that cancelled last year’s Triumph Sports Owners Association Queensland annual Car Festival are now relaxed, allowing the club to operate their show in May of this year. I was heavily involved in the organisation, so please excuse the different style of diary this month, but I thought it would be good to give readers an idea of the efforts that go in behind the scenes from all the volunteer club members to organise any major car event.
We chose to once again run it on a shooting range close to central Brisbane that provides good road links with the area, but this year was always going to be an extra challenge in organisation as we had to conform to the COVID regulations and collect contact details from all those attending. We also had to hope that there would not be any local outbreaks resulting in the government reintroducing restrictions on public events.
The month of May is late autumn in Australia, and is historically a dry month that provides pleasant daytime temperatures of low to mid 20s, which is ideal for a car show. This year however, just to add an additional concern, we had a number of heavy rainfall days in April and early May that flooded parts of the range, making it impassable for cars. We held regular inspections, and it was only a week prior to the event that we decided it would be possible to go ahead, although with some swampy areas roped off.
We normally start the planning process in October/ November of the previous year with organising the publicity material. This year we started even earlier, having discussions with the E and F Type register of the local Jaguar club. Between us we decided that the E-type 60th anniversary would be the main feature of the 2021 show, and highlighted in the advertising. As the event drew closer it was obvious with the feedback from the car clubs that, weather permitting, we were going to see an increased attendance and therefore had to keep updating and expanding the layout plans to allow room for additional vehicles. This was partly due to the E-types expected, but it was also a reaction to having a car show to attend after most shows in 2020 had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
The anticipated attendees were a huge boost to the organisers, but we needed to have a rethink on how we could collect contact details without major delays from the drivers and passengers of hundreds of cars that were going to file through the gates in a couple of hours. Our solution was to encourage display cars to pre-register by completing a contact form and paying their entry fee in advance so they could receive a pass that allowed access through an express lane. We
also set up a phone app to speed up data collection, with completion of a manual entry form being a last resort.
For the two days prior to the show there was a group of helpers marking out, erecting direction and sponsorship signs, marking off wet areas and all the other necessary tasks when organising a successful show. On show day itself, I departed home before 5.30am. The E-type fired up first push of the starter button, and I headed into the darkness – sunrise is not until 6.30 or so at this time on the year, so it was still dark when I arrived at the range 45 minutes later.
The Jaguar club had organised the E-type display from oldest to newest, and had kindly put a sign on my allocated place so that my car was in the correct position when the E-types arrived in chronological order some time later, having organised the convoy in a car park just down the road. Watching a convoy over 70 E-types drive in was quite an experience.
The day went very well. It was fine and warm with some scattered cloud cover. There was an excellent turnout, with around 500 classic cars on display and well in excess of 500 visitors’ cars. This exceeded the space allocated for visitor parking, which resulted in some rapid decision making and redirection of cars to an alternative area.
The final count was 75 E-types, which I understand is the largest single E-type gathering ever in Queensland. The Jaguar Club did a marvellous job in assembling the cars, but even they were amazed at the numbers that came along, many of the cars unknown to them.
We no longer have a concours category, but instead award prizes in ‘show and shine’ judging in a number of different categories. E-types featured in the awards of course, a 1962 example winning Best Competition Car, Jaguar winning the club display and another E-type driven to the event from Gladstone about 350 miles away winning a special award for the most distance travelled to the event.
We were able to handle the COVID checks with minimal delays, thanks to the Triumph team who had put in months of thought and planning. Naturally there were areas where we could have done better, and these were discussed at a wrap-up meeting after the event. No doubt COVID regulations will be around for a while, so it will be additional experience for what we hope will be an even better show next year.