Spa-Car is the Star

It was not BBQ weather but the recent VACC Cars of the World ‘Cavalcade to the Vines’ proved to have all the right ingredients for a great day out.

The threat of poor weather kept entries and spectators down but ironically, ideal conditions greeted participants and visitors on the day and some fine machinery was on view to those who made the trip.

The cavalcade gathered early on Sunday morning at VACC House, St Kilda Road, Melbourne before taking a leisurely drive down to the Mornington Peninsula.

Once at the Morning Star Estate in Mount Eliza, the big draw card was a rare and expensive Italian exotic. But a brash American stole the show.

An undeniable attraction at the idyllic location was a white Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. Quite a show-stopper in itself, but when it is an 8.2-litre converted into an eight-wheeler with a BBQ under the bonnet and a working spa down-back, it proved a ‘must-see’ for spectators.

Competing with the ‘spa-car’ for public acclaim was a yellow mid-engined Lamborghini Miura P400 SV. Equipped with a 380bhp 3.9-litre V12, only 150 examples of the Marcello Gandini-designed P400 SV variant were built between 1971-72.

The featured marque this year was Nissan, with the Nissan Datsun Sports Owners’ Club of Victoria celebrating their 40th anniversary by bringing along numerous examples of this appreciating brand.

Also on show were a 1966 Volvo 122S and 1958 220S Mercedes-Benz ‘Roundie’, the 1924 Wanderer W6, 1963 Hillman Superminx convertible, a lovely 1964 Porsche 356 Roadster and an immaculately presented light blue metallic 1953 Sunbeam Alpine roadster.

“On behalf of VACC and Retina Victoria-Australia, congratulations go to Cars of the World for organising such an entertaining event. As sponsors, we thank the owners of these wonderful vehicles for beating the weather and providing such a rich and varied display,” VACC General Manager, Communications and Marketing, Tim O’Brien said.

“Despite the previous day’s torrential rain, the Morning Star Estate was picture-perfect and in what we believe is a first, there was a superb exhibition of automotive art in the Estate’s Gallery,” Mr O’Brien said.