On Friday 14th November we left Oatley at 11:15 am, Elizabeth driving her XC COBRA with Karina as passenger and myself and Tamlyn in the HO. Rochelle had exams the following week so she stayed home to party, oops I mean study!
We had arranged to meet Peter and Kathy James in their XB GT SEDAN at Pheasants Nest for a noon departure. With the combination of traffic and midday sun the HO soon started to overheat with the temp gauge hitting 210 F. As the brand new Car Bra could have been partly to blame it was time to pack it away and suffer bug splatter for the rest of the trip.
After leaving Pheasants Nest we met up with Peter C and his father Bob in the XW GT, about 30 minutes down the freeway. From there the four cars proceeded in convoy to Queanbeyan, cruising at 112 kph (70 mph). The HO's temp was now stable at 180 F and running superbly at 3000rpm & 70 mph.
However as we slowed down through traffic in Queanbeyan the COBRA stalled. For some reason the 780 Holley on the COBRA stops delivering fuel after prolonged driving at speed. (If anyone knows how to fix this please give me a call). We decided to have an enforced break to look at the problem and also to allow Peter James to re-fuel. The cars attracted plenty of attention, with one truck driver stopping to show and educate his young son about the history of the old GT's.
There was plenty of traffic heading toward Cooma for the Motorfest including David L SHELBY GT 500 being trailed, (David normally drives his Mustang but he cannot fit all his family in it for a weekend away), and an immaculate 2 door XP FALCON as well as hundreds of bikes. Our four cars managed to overtake most of the traffic easily, (even 30 years on, the acceleration of a GT is still nothing short of amazing) and we were making good time.
About 30 kms north of Cooma, just before a 3 mile section of dead straight road, 2 bikes and a 6 cylinder XF Falcon decided to finally overtake the convoy even though we were cruising at about 65 mph (104 kph), previously they had been playing ducks & drakes. As we rounded the bend onto the straight I could see that the offenders had cleared out by about 1 km and as the HO was leading the convoy I started to think about letting it have it's legs - you hear so many stories.
I quickly changed down to 3rd and squeezed the accelerator. Within seconds the rest of the convoy was disappearing behind me. Glancing at the speedo I was doing over 100mph (I have no idea about the revs), I short shifted anyway, up to 4th and I passed the two bikes and the XF at 140 mph at 6000rpm. There are times when you wish you could take a picture; this was one of them. (Besides video evidence would have done me in for sure). The HO was extremely stable in a straight line and even uphill still had a little bit more to go. My youngest daughter Tamlyn, in the front passenger seat, did not bat an eyelid, reading a book throughout the entire episode.
At 4:15 pm after a long and very hot drive (3 1/2 hrs of actual driving time) we arrived at Keith W Ford Dealership “Alpine Ford”. We enjoyed a few cold beers as we spent the next 2 hours using Keith's facilities to hose and scrape the bugs off the cars for Saturday's Show and Shine. The cars were then safely locked away inside the Dealership before we headed for the Royal Oak Hotel at 7:00 pm for Show and Shine registration, more beer and a BBQ dinner.
The Hotel, as one of the sponsors, provided a good cheap feed and overnight accommodation for the entrants. Peter and Bob spent Friday night there listening to the band until 2:00 am. Cooma has a selection of terrific accommodation and Peter and Kathy will attest to that having stayed at one of the many Motels available.
The Day family were lucky enough to be invited to stay at Keith and Sue W 500 plus acre farm where they breed cattle, horses, chooks, kangaroos and the odd rabbit. They live in a huge rambling house with lots of fireplaces and wide verandas overlooking the valley. Their daughter is around Tamlyn's age and those two hit it off straight away. Late-ish Friday night after several more welcoming drinks Keith and I took to a FWD vehicle and went spotlight shooting roos and rabbits with the kids. Unfortunately we didn't have any luck, missing everything that we tried to shoot. Maybe because of the alcohol but more likely because we didn't have any rifles.
Saturday 6:00 am I awoke with a massive hangover, must be the fresh air.
Thankfully Keith who was also suffering was brewing the coffee. After a cup of Panadols and a tablet or two of coffee, Elizabeth, Keith and I headed for the Dealership to meet the others and start moving cars down to the Showground.
By 8:00 am we had all of our cars there including Charlie S XR GT, (Charlie had left Sydney at 4:00 am that morning to drive down for the show) and John Nielsen's Red XT GT (John is one of the organisers of the Cooma Motorfest). We set up our Club Display inch perfect with models from left to right as follows; the XC COBRA to one side, followed by the XR, XT, XW, XY, and XB. Keith provided a GTP which was set up behind us. Over 300 cars turned up for the show, however at least 200 of these were of the GM product range including 70 Monaros. The organisers even created separate trophies for this class due to their numbers.
If in 2005, more than 30 GTs enter they would also have separate trophies for our special cars. The event was well organised and well catered with plenty to eat and drink. There was entertainment and competitions, activities for the kids and over a hundred lucky door prizes were given out over the course of the day. The grand prize raffle was a registered trailer full of prizes including a gas BBQ,
compressor, tools, bikes, electrical appliances, clothing, toys, games etc.
The temperature on the day rose to 35o C (who said it doesn't get hot in Cooma?). At around 3:30 pm the trophy presentation began. Entrant's Choice went to some kind of Holden, Public Choice going to an rusty old broken down FJ Holden ute that was once used as a mail truck in the area. (Local's empathising?)
The surprise of the day was Elizabeth's XC COBRA taking one of the sponsor choice awards for Best Top 10 of the show and then getting 1st place for Best Ford Stock (original). How could her XC beat my GTHO Phase III or any of the other GTs on display?
As you might surmise I am not over this shock yet. She will be detailing her car all on her own in the future!
However, the best news of the day was the fact that The Falcon GT Owners Club of NSW won the Best Club Display out of the many displays there, and with only 6 cars. They haven't seen anything yet!
A special thanks must go to Peter and Kathy J, Peter and Bob C and Charlie S who took the effort to go to Cooma and who presented their vehicles magnificently. They were also very patient with me asking them to move their cars at least 3 or 10 times, until I felt we had the perfect alignment. Also a big thank you must be given to Keith W for the hospitality and generosity given to our club.
The event wrapped at 4:30 pm and we all went our separate ways, some to watch the Wallabies beat the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup Semi-Final and others to head for home.
The 2003 Cooma Motorfest had to be one of the best shows that I've attended. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone. The next one is mid-November 2005 so mark it in your diaries. This is one Show and Shine not to be missed and one that we need to attend in numbers as a club to compete against that other make.
Story by Geoff D and pics by Anita S