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Austin Seven Register of Qld Inc, 1376 Old Cleveland Road Carindale, Brisbane (2026)

16/03/2026

PINELANDS CENTENARY FESTIVAL – Sunday 15 March 2026

This month’s Club run was a little different with Hugh, who is a member of both our Club and the Pineland Lions Club, organising for us to display our Austin 7s at the Pinelands Centenary Festival in Runcorn. This Festival was organised by the Pinelands Lions Club to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Club’s beautiful Heritage Hall.

By 10am, the start time of the Festival, our cars were in pride of place in front of the Heritage Hall, and the place was already abuzz with visitors. Displaying their A7s were Brett, Doug & Robyn, Steve, Joe & Margaret, Trev & Elaine, Merv & Margaret, Hugh & Judy, Colin & Gay, and Matt & Trent. In addition, Ian & Valda displayed their Austin Lancer, while Lyn displayed his Austin 10. Our cute cars attracted much attention from attendees, with many photographs being taken of the cars.

Other members drove to the event in their modern vehicles: Allan, Ewen, John, T***k, Neil & Karyn, and Lindsay & Sharon. Lindsay & Sharon had planned to arrive in their A7 but had unfortunately broken down on the Gateway Motorway near Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road. Ernie (their A7) had to be trailered off the Motorway by Transurban and then trailered home by the RACQ. The issue was that the points had closed on Ernie’s new distributor. It was great to see that Lindsay & Sharon finally made it to the event, and that Ernie had been safely deposited at home.

Fortunately, the weather remained fine, with just a light sprinkle of rain at one point. The day passed quickly, with members inspecting the other vintage cars and trucks on display; browsing the market stalls; enjoying the stage entertainment; partaking in the offerings of the numerous food vans; as well as simply sitting, chatting and enjoying each other’s company. Neil’s daughter, Ellen, also dropped in to the event and met the crew.

Congratulations to the Pinelands Lions Club for their excellent organisation of the Festival, and many thanks to Hugh for involving our Club in this enjoyable event.

Karyn

16/02/2026

MORNING TEA AT MT. COOT-THA BOTANIC GARDENS CAFE - SUNDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2026

Valentine’s weekend was predicted to be a rainy one in Brisbane, with constant rain and flash flooding forecast for some areas. In light of this forecast, the decision was made at Friday evening’s meeting to cancel the scheduled Sunday run. It turned out to be a good decision, with Sunday proving the Bureau of Meteorology correct with steady rain falling throughout the day.

Colin and Gay, who were the organisers of the cancelled run, had planned to begin the run with morning tea at the Mt.Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Café. Although the run was cancelled, attendees at Friday evening’s meeting decided to still come together at the Café for morning tea only, driving their modern cars there rather than their A7s.

Colin and Gay had made a booking at the Café for 12-15 members, but instead a whopping 22 members attended, including Russell and Vanda who had travelled from Woodford. The waitstaff kindly added some more tables and managed to fit us all in.

While some members ordered breakfast or tasty morning tea treats, others were happy just to sip a warm drink on this unusually cold and bleak February morning. There was much convivial conversation and laughter around the table as usual, and members stayed chatting for about an hour and a half before heading home in the steady rain.

Thank you to Colin and Gay for organising an enjoyable social morning, and we look forward to going on their planned Welcome to the West Run 3 later in the year.

Karyn

02/02/2026

AUSTRALIA DAY STATIC DISPLAY AT ORMISTON STATE SCHOOL - Monday 26 January 2026

Australia Day at Ormiston State School was another huge annual success with around 730 cars of all “vintages” on display from 7am. The day was hot and sunny as many participants and visitors partook of the free breakfast and pleasant atmosphere of the school grounds.

There was one A7 on display – that of Justin. Other A7 Members driving their Classic cars were Doug & Robyn in their Mini, Ian & Valda in their Austin Lancer and Lindsay & Sharon in their Holden Ute. Other A7 members arriving in their modern vehicles to participate in the event and enjoy the day were Trevor & Elaine and John Q.

At the cooking location was Chef Lindsay, assisted by Doug. Some interesting food statistics of the event: 30K Onions, 80K Sausages, 40K Bacon, 80doz Rolls and 5 loaves of Bread!

Busy selling raffle tickets were Secretary Robyn and Treasurer Sharon assisted by Valda.

At around 10am the raffles were drawn and of the eighteen raffle prizes on offer, none of our A7 members were fortunate to score any. Following the raffle draws and at around 10.30am, the optional navigation runs through the Redlands Coast commenced for some, while for others, it was time to head home and out of the heat.

Our thanks go to the Bayside Vehicle Restorers Club for yet another successful annual Australia Day event.

Neil

12/01/2026

ANNUAL MONSTER SECOND-HAND SPARE PARTS SALE
Sunday 11 January 2026

By 9.30am on the morning of the annual Monster Second-Hand Parts Sale, the driveway of Doug & Robyn’s home was packed with vehicles belonging to members eager to partake of the sale bargains when the doors opened. In total, there were 26 Club members in attendance, with most arriving in their modern cars, but Lyn arrived in his Austin 10, Ian & Valda in their Austin Lancer, Merv & Margaret in their A7 and Karen & Bill in the Austin Freeway.

In the backyard, members could be found in one of two places – either searching through the shed to find that elusive spare part they needed for their A7 or sitting under the outdoor gazebo in Doug & Robyn’s lovely garden.

In the shed, Spare Parts Manager Trevor and Second-Hand Spare Parts Manager Doug assisted members to find what they needed and to price items, with parts being carried away and loaded into cars. Meanwhile, the coffee and conversation flowed in the gazebo area, where Robyn and others had provided a lovely spread of cakes, biscuits, tea and coffee for morning tea.

By about 10.30am, sales had finished and everyone enjoyed morning tea together. At the conclusion of morning tea, President Steve thanked everyone for attending and gave a special thank you to Doug & Robyn for hosting the event. At around 11am, members gradually started to take their leave.

Once again, thank you to attendees and especially to those who made purchases, and to Doug & Robyn for hosting yet another most enjoyable A7 event.

Karyn

15/12/2025

CHRISTMAS LUNCH - Sunday 14 December 2025

There was action at the Carindale Clubrooms early on Sunday morning, as Committee members and helpers arrived to set up for the A7 Register of Queensland’s Annual 2025 Christmas lunch. Tables were decorated, raffle prizes set up, and food prepared.

By 11.30am, everything was ready to welcome Club members. In total, 39 members were in attendance. While most members enjoyed the air conditioning of their modern cars to travel to and from the lunch, Justin McK braved the heat and humidity of a typical Brisbane summer’s day and drove his A7. Ewen trailered his A7, which is currently a work-in-progress; it generated a lot of interest, with members gathering around the vehicle to inspect, admire and undoubtedly to offer advice.

Before lunch was served, members mingled and chatted, as well as bought raffle tickets in the Monster Christmas Raffle from Raffle Queen Valda and Assistant Raffle Queen Karyn. Many had their eyes on winning one of the two large Christmas hampers, while others had identified one of the many minor prizes that they would choose if they were lucky enough for their ticket to be drawn out. All raffle prizes were generously donated by our Club members over the last few months.

At around midday, members took their chosen seats and were welcomed by President Steve. Following the strict instructions on the route to be taken to collect one’s lunch and return to one’s seat, members filed outside and queued up, plate in hand, to be served a delicious lunch of bread rolls, chicken, ham, coleslaw, cheese, pineapple and salad items. It was all so tasty, that some members returned for seconds.

Following main course, President Steve made a special presentation of a framed certificate to Rhonda & Ross, thanking them for their organisation of the Temora Rally in October. The Temora Rally was enjoyed by its attendees, many of whom had also been to the A7 National Rally at Murray Bridge.

While dessert was being prepared, Robyn distributed her annual wordsearch. This year the words were even more impossible than usual, including many yoga terms in Sanskrit. The task this year was a little different, with participants having to complete the wordsearch and then use the remaining letters to work out a secret message. The winner of this challenging task was Julie M, who was presented with a cute owl ornament for her efforts.

As usual, First Lady Helen had done an amazing job creating individual mini- cheesecakes, with layers of biscuit, spiced rum-soaked fruit cake, cheesecake, cream and blueberries. Alternatively (or as well!), there was delicious fresh fruit salad and ice-cream on offer. It certainly took members much less time to consume dessert than it did for Helen to make them.

President Steve, with the assistance of Raffle Queen Valda, then conducted the Monster Christmas Raffle draws after dessert. Peter D was invited to draw the first ticket, with one of the two Christmas hampers being won by Bev & Trev; the winner of the second Christmas hamper was the Potts family, represented at the lunch by Aileen. The lucky winners of the minor prizes were Ewen, Elaine, Lindsay, Greg R, Ian & Valda, Peter D, David & Kirsty, Molly, Doug (Honey), Yuriko, Ann B, and Karyn & Neil. A big thank you to all Club members who donated to the raffles, enabling a fabulous array of prizes to be offered.

A big thank you to Secretary Robyn for her tireless organisation of this successful event, as well as the Committee members and others who organised and prepared the food. Thank you also to all the members who contributed to setting up and cleaning up. With so many members pitching in with the cleaning up, we were all soon able to head to our respective homes.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all members and their families! We look forward to seeing you in 2026.

Karyn

07/12/2025

Bay to Birdwood Rally – 19 October 2025

The Bay to Birdwood rally was held on Sunday, the day before the start of the Austin 7 national rally. Trevor and Bev Mc Culloch in their Austin 7 went from the start at West Beach, Adelaide to the National Motor Vehicle Museum at Birdwood. Media reports say that over 1500 vehicles travelled the 67 kilometre distance and 120,00 people watched the vehicles during the run.

John

16/11/2025

A7 TEMORA ADVENTURE 26 to 30 October 2025

It is a long way from Queensland to Murray Bridge for only 3 days of Austin 7 runs and thankfully Rhonda and Ross Guthrie organised a rally in the Temora area. The distance from Murray Bridge to Temora, NSW is almost 900 kms and many members stopped about halfway at Balranald.
In Austin 7 cars were Jenny and Mia Guthrie, Lindsay and Sharon Jordan, Doug and Robyn Clark, Trevor and Elaine Moore, Merv and Margaret Thompson, Col and Gay Jacobson, Joe and Margaret Mc Cormack, Trevor and Bev Mc Culloch and John and Robyn Ikin. In moderns were Ross and Rhonda Guthrie and John Que. It was great that Jenny and Mia Guthrie could attend.
Day 1 Monday - Coolamon
The run today was to Coolamon and a visit to the cheese factory. Lots of cheese samples to taste inside the historical building.
The return run went through Aria Park with early motoring advertising on old buildings and Plume and Shell gravity fed bowsers on the footpath.
Day 2 Tuesday - Cootamundra
This day it is off to Cootamundra and a history lesson about Sir Donald Bradman at the Memorabilia Cottage cricket museum with many exhibits including his original home.
Morning tea is in a park where there is the Australian Cricket Captains’ Walk with busts of all the captains accompanied by plaques.
Day 3 Wednesday - Junee
Highlights today are the Junee liquorice and chocolate factory and the round train station museum. At the factory we able to view sections of the making of liquorice and chocolate and have morning tea or early lunch.
A short distance away is the car museum and of particular interest is an Austin 7 sports possibly about 1928. Cars start from veteran and vintage Model T Fords through to later cars including fifties Zephyrs, sixties Falcons and Fairlanes. There are also motorbikes and a historic range of push and cylinder mowers and garage items.
Next on to the Round Train Station Museum built in 1947 and one of the few working round railhouses in the southern hemisphere. Half is a museum and the other for servicing and reconditioning of locomotives and rolling stock. Great information about railway history is available throughout the complex. There is a wide range of railway vehicles including steam locomotives, diesels, wooden passenger carriages, a breakdown van and a rail motor.
A final dinner was held at the Temora RSL as some members were leaving the next day.
Day 4 – Temora – final day
On the last day members visited some of the local attractions.
The Temora Aviation Museum includes two of Australia's flying Spitfires, a Wirraway, Boomerang, the only flying Lockheed Hudson and English Electric Canberra in the world and the oldest flying Tiger Moth in Australia. The Hudson was run whilst some members were there.
The Temora Museum has an extensive display of agricultural vehicles and implements and emergency vehicles. There is also a large range of tractors, display of trucks, steam engines, historic fire vehicles and equipment and horse drawn carts. The Ambulance Museum has vehicles and equipment, stationary engines, mowers, a wide range of historic home appliances and Bradman’s Cottage. Rhonda arranged for morning tea at the museum
The twenty one Queensland members who attended the Temora adventure were very appreciative of the large amount of organisation Ross and Rhonda Guthrie had done for the 4 day rally in Temora. The addition of this rally helped to complement travelling the long distance to Murray Bridge for the Austin 7 national rally.
John

16/11/2025

2025 A7 National Rally Murray Bridge, SA 20 to 24 October 2025

The Austin 7 National Rally was held at Murray Bridge, South Australia from Monday 20th October to Friday 24th October2025.
It is a long way from the South East Queensland area to Murray Bridge, over 2000 kms one way. Members who attended from this area were Lindsay and Sharon Jordan, Doug and Robyn Clark, Trevor and Elaine Moore, Merv and Margaret Thompson, Col and Gay Jacobson, Joe and Margaret Mc Cormack, Trevor and Bev Mc Culloch. Members who attended in modems were Russell and Vanda Curtis and John Que.
John and Robyn Ikin travelled from Sydney. Further away were Greg and Kay Shuker from central Queensland with the longest distance travelled was by Barry and Yvonne Young from North Queensland.
A photo of the Queensland Austin 7 members and their cars was taken down by the river.
Day 1 Registration and welcome dinner
Registration was on Monday at the Adelaide Road Motor Inn and the welcome dinner was at the 1924 Riverfront Steakhouse beside the river and close to the starting point.
Day 2 Strathalbyn
The first motoring day was to the picturesque town of Strathalbyn but unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best with rain at times and a strong wind.
At Strathalbyn one of the attractions was the Gilberts Motor Museum which had a large range of motoring vehicles and items to view. It is a credit to the volunteers who run it.
At Collectible Classics there was also a range of cars for sale. The most interesting vehicle was an Austin 7 tow truck with a towbar. Other vehicles included a 1938 Austin 7 Roadster, 1934 Triumph Southern Cross Sports saloon, 1949 Simca 8 Berline sedan and a 1953 Bond Minicar.
Just up the road we find a large antique shop with a large variety of items. Nearby are another 2 antique shops and around the corner is another one with more old automotive items. Apparently Strathalbyn is unofficially known as the antique capital of South Australia and you can see why.
Further on by the river is a scenic park with an ANZAC memorial and a historic church.
Day 3 Monarto Safari Park
This day’s run was to Monarto Safari Park which is one of the largest open- range zoos in the world. It has over 1500 hectares with more than 500 animals and 50 species of exotic and native mammals, birds and reptiles.
Members travelled around the zoo in buses and were able to see were Lions, Cheetahs, Elephants, Giraffes, Rhinoceros, Hyenas, Meerkats, Zebras, Antelope, Ostrich, African Painted Dogs, American Bison, Chimpanzee, Przewalski Horse, Deer, Lemurs, Tasmanian Devils and Scimitars – horned Oryx. No animals or Austin Sevens were harmed on this day’s outing.
Day 4 Tailem Bend
The Bend Motor Sport Park at Tailem Bend was the main attraction for this day’s run. Austins from all states were lined up in two rows. From the steps you could see a widespread range of models and colours with tourers, sedans, coupes, sports, vans, utilities and specials.
On the ground floor was a display of interesting vehicles. Entrants judged vehicles in different classes, a photo session was carried out and lunch was held in the complex.
Next was a visit to a shop which has a wide variety of steel and aluminum figures and custom made designs.
From there we went to a home with a collection of horse drawn vehicles, kitchenware, newspaper pages, car parts, garage items, clothing, signs and automotive items.
On the return home the Austins passed a Rhino figure on the road and then had a ride on a ferry.
Day 5 Swap Meet and Farewell Dinner
A swap meet was held at the rally starting point. Parts available included headlights, wheel spanners, distributor caps, gauges, ignition coils, cutouts, brochures, mudguards and carburettors.
Twenty two Queensland members attended the farewell dinner at the Bridgeport Hotel in Murray Bridge. A great choice as the food was delicious and there were views over the river. Trophies were given out for the different classes of vehicles but none of our members won any of these, however some did win lucky entry prizes. Photos of the event were also shown on a large screen.
In conclusion
The Austin 7 Club of South Australia put on a fabulous week. Their organisational skills were to be admired. Philosophies of: “Keeping it simple” and: “Less is More” were very evident. There were around 90 cars of all descriptions that took over Murray Bridge, Strathalbyn, Tailem Bend and visited Monarto Safari Park. It was a gathering from all parts of Australia and demonstrated that our hobby is alive and well with the running of the event.
Next National Austin Seven Rally
Following the dinner, representatives from each state attended a meeting and discussed where the next Austin 7 national rally will be held. The result was that the New South Wales Club will investigate whether they will hold the next meeting and advise all state clubs of the result.
John

22/09/2025

44th Annual All British Day Brisbane - Sunday, 21 September 2025

On a very warm September morning, the suburb of Tennyson was woken up early by the sound of revving engines. About 600 beautifully restored and modern British vehicles poured onto St Joseph’s College Tennyson Playing Fields for the 44th Annual All British Day Brisbane, neatly lining up ready for viewing by the public.

Representing our Club in their A7 cars were Doug & Robyn, Trev & Elaine, Brett, Colin, Justin McK, Judy H., and Stacey, Jamie, Jayden & Ethan. Peter & Jo were also there in their Wolseley Hornet, and Ken arrived chauffeured by his daughter in his Rolls Royce. Other Club members, including Alan O, T***k, John, Eddie A. and Neil & Karyn, came along in their modern cars to support the crew.

After the Official Opening at 9.30am, members sat and enjoyed each other’s company, while some strolled around and looked at the vehicles; some purchased food and coffee, while others enjoyed theirs brought from home. Everyone was surprised by how hot the Spring sunshine was, seeking out the coolness of umbrellas, hats and shade.

At 1.30pm the Trophy Presentation took place. Unlike last year when President Steve was awarded Best Vintage and Veteran car, unfortunately no cars from our Club received a prize this year. A procession of vehicles then began to make its way out of the grounds, heading for home.

Many thanks to the organisers, sponsors and trade exhibitors who made the day such a success, and to the members who flew the flag for our Club by attending the day.

Karyn

11/08/2025

2025 AUSTIN 7 ANNUAL WEEKEND RUN – Sunday 10 August 2025

The 2025 Austin 7 Annual Weekend Run was intended to be a casual event, with participants travelling from home direct to New Farm Park for morning tea. Great! No run instructions with the usual errors. Rally Coordinator Neil had even driven to New Farm Park the previous Sunday morning to check that there would be sufficient parking on a Sunday morning. Such an easy run, and the weather was fine. So, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, the one thing that was not foreseen was that there would be a fun run involving 2,000 participants being held at New Farm Park. By the time we arrived, there was not a carpark to be found in the park, nor within a two-kilometre radius!

Fortunately, Rally Coordinator Neil & Karyn arrived first in separate cars. Neil snagged a carpark as a car pulled out just near the entrance to New Farm Park. While he stood on Brunswick Street hailing down arriving Club members, Karyn found a strip of parking several kilometres away in Oxlade Drive outside a construction site, to which Neil directed members arriving at New Farm Park.

Once grouped in Oxlade Drive, it was decided that the morning tea be moved to Colmslie Beach Reserve in Morningside. After making phone calls to other members known to be coming to advise them of the change, the group headed off after initial confusion by Karyn as to why Lindsay was not pulling out. She did not realise that she needed to move her car first as A7s require a lot of turning space!

Heading back through New Farm and then across the Story Bridge, the group followed the river, turning towards Hawthorne and eventually arriving at Colmslie Beach Reserve. No sooner had they arrived, when Trevor phoned to say that he was waiting at New Farm Park with some other members. They were directed to the new destination.

We were finally reunited for morning tea, with apologies and laughs. Driving their A7s were Colin & Gay, Lindsay & Sharon, Neil, Justin McK., and Brett; driving their Mini were Doug & Robyn; and driving their moderns were Murray & Fiona, Trevor & Elaine, Joe & Margaret, Peter & Gail with Cavoodle Mia, and Karyn.

And as if Rally Coordinator Neil’s start to the day had not been bad enough, the story was shared of how his A7 had battery issues, but he had forgotten he could crank start it. Instead, he had Karyn push start the car from home and Colin push start it from outside New Farm Park.

Despite the inauspicious beginning to Sunday’s run, our morning tea by the Brisbane River was most enjoyable. Members of the public stopped by to admire our cars, and the weather stayed fine except for a brief light shower.

After several hours of eating, drinking and chatting, the group packed up and headed for home. Thank you, Neil, for organising what turned out to be an amusing and enjoyable run.

P.S. According to Rally Coordinator Neil (with a smile on his face!), New Farm Park was only ever intended to be an assembly point for the run. (Not sure when that changed from what was advertised!)
P.P.S Rally Coordinator Neil has decided it would be better to leave the planning of individual runs to other members in the future.

Karyn

11/08/2025

2025 Austin 7 Weekend Static Display and Lunch
Saturday 9 August 2025

The 2025 Austin 7 Weekend Lunch and Static Display was held at the Clubrooms under grey skies and the threat of heavy showers. Despite the weather, Austin 7s started to roll into the carpark around 11.00am, creating a display of nine cars in total. Displaying their Austin 7s were Trev & Elaine, President Steve, Doug & Robyn, Justin & Patty, Dave & Diane, Trev & Bev, Ian W., Lindsay & Sharon, and Justin McK., while other members arrived in their modern cars. A total of 48 members and guests attended the event.

There was a flurry of activity over the next hour – food preparation was happening in the kitchen, meat was cooking on the BBQ, raffle tickets were being sold, Treasurer Sharon was receiving various payments from members, and many conversations were taking place.

Just after midday, President Steve warmly welcomed everyone and announced that lunch was served. Attendees lined up outside to be served a delicious lunch of sausages, bacon, rissoles, potato salad, coleslaw, pineapple, beetroot, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese and rolls. There was then a quieter moment in the Clubroom while everyone consumed their meal.

While dessert was being prepared, Secretary Robyn distributed the annual wordsearch puzzle. Heads were bowed and voices spoke only in whispers as people vied to be the first finished. After some time, Diane emerged as the winner and was presented with her prize of a lovely fold-up shopping bag. Dessert of individual warm apple or berry pies with vanilla ice cream and custard was then served.

Following dessert, President Steve announced the drawing of the raffles. In total there were twelve prizes, including several donated ones – the Bale family had kindly donated a framed print belonging to the late Ted Bale, a long-time member of the Club, featuring an A7; Rally Coordinator Neil had donated two Austin 7-related posters; and Hugh had donated a bottle of red wine. The lucky raffle prize winners (some winning multiple prizes) were President Steve, Molly, Trent, David Y, Jo H., Justin & Patty, Jo L., Trevor & Elaine, and Ian & Valda.

Next was the presentation of the Best Run & Events Supporter for 2025. No one was surprised when Robyn & Doug were announced the winners, given their enthusiastic commitment to all Club events.

The hotly contested People’s Choice Award was then announced, going to the A7 belonging to members David & Diane by a large margin. David was presented with a gift card for the win.

Finally, President Steve announced that, although the day’s formalities had concluded, everyone was encouraged to continue socialising and enjoying the day.

Those attending the Murray Bridge and Temora rallies later in the year seized the opportunity to hold a quick meeting, while others cleaned up and returned the Clubroom to its usual formation before heading home.

A big thank you to the Committee members and others involved in organising and running today’s event, with special thanks to Secretary Robyn who worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the day.

Karyn

11/07/2025

LONG DRIVE

FIRST DAY OF THE LONG DRIVE 2025 – SATURDAY 12 JULY 2025

After a week of last-minute car prep, the team made an early break from Brisbane. To make things a little easier, we decided to all meet up at Yamanto at 07:30. Merv and Margaret headed over in their 1935 A7, whilst Trev and Elaine drove in from Yeronga in the cream 1935 Tourer. Steve and Col (both in ’29 Sports) met in Kenmore and made their way to the starting point via the Moggill car ferry. By the time we all arrived the sun was up, but it was still pretty chilly in all the cars, especially the sports. John Que came modern, and I think we all envied his heated seats and wind-up windows.

After an event free 50km and easy roads, the first stop was Boonah. The following traffic was constant, but we managed to find plenty of places to pull over and let them pass. A quick check that all was in order and then we pushed on to Moogerah Dam. Completed in 1961, the dam is a beautiful example of a mass concrete double curvature dam. After a walk across the wall, we found the café and enjoyed coffee and cakes.

All cars were still in fine fettle, so we headed towards our lunch stop at Grandchester. There are a few risks with planning long drives off Google Maps and one of them is that you never quite know what the roads will be like. That risk eventuated and before we knew it, the chip seal gave way to gravel roads. No matter, we dropped the pace a bit and cruised along.

Arriving at the Grandchester Hotel a bit after midday, Col heard an unfamiliar noise emanating from the offsite rear hub of his car. We ordered lunch and a few of us snuck in a quiet beer, just to be social of course! But that funny noise needed to be checked and upon jacking up the wheel, no issue could be found and so we decided to push on.

About 100m from the pub, things took a turn for the worse. Trevor and Elaine lost all power; the car would run but wouldn’t rev much above a high idle. All of us quickly diagnosed it as a fuel issue and so the carby was removed, cleaned and re-installed. No change was evident - it ran, it had a strong spark, but it would not rev. We again decided that it must be fuel and that our first effort of carby cleaning was sub-par, so off it came again for cleaning. Back on again and still no improvement. Col suggested it sounded like timing, so we played with the distributor and suddenly it revved like a beast! Problem solved, we took off…. but 200m later we stopped again. What was going on with this timing? To cut a long story short, we found that the distributor gear had lost its locking pin. The first spare dizzy was fitted but found to be faulty; not sure why but it was earthing, no matter whether the points were open or closed. We found a second spare and then we were off to the races (or more correctly, Gatton).

Colin, Gay and John headed back to Brisbane, while the rest of us made a small adjustment to our route and rolled in to the motel just as the last light was fading. We had covered a touch over 200km and seen some beautiful country.

After a quick freshen up, we all headed for the local hotel for a quiet drink and dinner. A great end to a brilliant day out. One lesson from the day is that even the best prepared cars can break down; that’s life with cars that are approaching 100 years old.

A better lesson is that when you drive with the Club, you will be surrounded by people who are ready to help if the worst happens and it’s your car that stops. If you are concerned that you don’t know enough about your car to take it on Club long drives, then don’t be. No one expects you to be the expert, just be willing to have a go and call on your fellow adventurers to lend a hand.

Day One was just brilliant, but we had another day ahead of us and so it was an early night for all.

Steve

SECOND DAY OF THE LONG DRIVE 2025 – SUNDAY 13 JULY 2025

Saturday’s intrepid Long Drive 2025 adventurers, who had overnighted in Gatton, departed their accommodation early in the morning. They were heading via Rosewood for the pre-arranged meeting place at Kenmore in Brisbane. The adventurers included President Steve, Merv & Margaret, and Trevor & Elaine.

Meanwhile, another small group of Austin 7 Club members arrived at the meeting place in Kenmore (a small shopping centre with a café called D&D Espresso) from their respective homes, ready to welcome the adventurers on their arrival. This group included John and Neil & Karyn in their modern cars, as well as Colin & Gay who had participated in yesterday’s leg of the Long Drive and returned home to Brisbane for the night. While Colin & Gay drove their Austin 7 yesterday, today they arrived in their classic Triumph.

The arrival of the three A7s into the shopping centre carpark drew the attention of the Western suburbs’ coffee drinkers at the café. The barista also warmly welcomed Steve, as D&D Espresso is Steve’s regular coffee shop. Coffee was ordered, stories were told, and bathroom visits were made.

After the coffee break, Trev & Elaine decided not to continue and instead to head home due to their A7 slipping clutch, while Colin & Gay headed off on a spin around Mt Nebo. The remainder of the group decided to change the original plan of driving to Dayboro, heading for Walkabout Creek at The Gap instead. This involved a lovely drive through the leafy suburb of Kenmore Hills and through Mt Coot-tha Forest, on the western side of Mt Coot-tha.

On arrival at Walkabout Creek, T***k was there to meet us and to direct us to parking bays within the busy carpark. Walkabout Creek is located within the rainforest of the D’Aguilar National Park. There is a small wildlife park located here, as well as an open-air café with a fabulous view over the trees. We settled at a table in the café and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

It was then time for everyone to head home. A big thank you to President Steve for organising the enjoyable Long Drive 2025.

Karyn

Austin Seven Register of Qld Inc

16/03/2026

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15/12/2025

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