Our Sunday outing this week was to the Devonport Motor Show. Devonport is about an hour’s drive from Sisters Beach so we count it as a short trip. We had not attended the show before and we had heard that it was at a new venue so we went along without very much idea what to expect.

The venue was outdoors so although we had the usual Covid regulations masks were only recommended not mandatory. We chose not to wear them as did most people that we saw.

Neither Naomi nor I had any idea that this car show was such a big deal. I had heard that there were over four hundred cars entered for display, there were also motorcycles but we didn’t go to look at those. There were so many cars. Honestly, I have never seen so many cars on display in one place before.

Both of us had brought our cameras. Naomi decided that she would just photograph the cars she really liked and would skip any that we had seen at other events. I decided to go for a variety of colours and styles to share in this post. There were so many 1960s Holdens and Fords that they began to seem a bit commonplace. Neither of us worried about photographing the more modern hatchbacks. We like the classics.

There were a few left-hand drive American cars on show including this Lincoln Continental. It’s a fantastic car but what a pain in the neck these things must have been to park.

I also really liked this 1953 Austin. It looks really grand. I am afraid that I can’t tell you the makes and models of most of these cars. I have included them where I knew or was able to read an information sheet.

We spotted some Mini’s. I know the Morris Mini Cooper and the Leyland Mini. It’s interesting to see them next to the modern version of the car. Personally I think that the modern ones are way too big. They are about as much like a real Mini as the remake of “The Italian Job” was like the original film. (Not at all)

One of the nice things about older cars is the variety of colours. Today’s cars seem to be predominantly grey/silver, white, burgundy, royal blue and black. I commented to Naomi recently as we drove home from somewhere that we always seem to be following a little blue hatchback of some description. I don’t mind the blue, it’s the greys and whites I get tired of looking at but at a car show it’s so nice to see yellow, orange, emerald green, teal and even purple. In the 1970s purple was a popular colour, especially for the sporty Chrysler Valiant Charger.

Here are a few more that caught my eye.

The Leyland P76. I’d always heard this 1970s car referred to as a bit of a dud. They were made by an Australian subsidiary of British Leyland but only produced for two years. Here is an article about them.

I don’t know what this is. I think it is a Cadillac. It had a fence round it so you couldn’t get too close. I liked the chrome.

We both liked this two-tone Ford Fairlane.

A couple of Jaguars. I have a bit of a soft spot for these cars.

We spent about three hours at the show even without looking at the bikes. We stopped for some lunch from a food van. There were several set up with tables and chairs nearby which we were really glad of. The weather, which had been threatening rain in the morning, stayed dry although it was overcast all day.

Naomi had hoped that there might be another Chrysler 300c like hers there but we didn’t see one. There are not many 300c’s in Australia. If you want to buy a new one you have to order it and it will take about 6 months for it to be delivered from Canada where they are built. We know of about half a dozen in the northwest that we see as we drive around and it would be fun to meet another owner but no luck so far. Next year perhaps Naomi will enter her car in the show. That could be fun.