The heavens opened up and poured with rain for stage 12 through the Weldborough Pass then cleared away to warm sunshine as the cars passed through St Helens and Scamander for the next stage through St Marys Pass.
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Conditions were very slippery and there were plenty of thrills and spills as drivers struggled to stay on the road.
Two cars ended up on their roofs along the Weldborough Pass and others came into too-close contact with telegraph poles.
Despite the dangerous and unpredictable roads, drivers and their navigators said they had the time of their lives.
While the weather kept large crowds at bay, the local school children weren't deterred and turned out in force to cheer the drivers on.
Melbourne team Nick Geitel and Tim Postgate, competing in the thoroughbred sports cars division, said they were amazed at the willingness of some spectators to spend four hours locked inside racing stages, in the rain, to see the cars in action.
The thoroughbred sport class is a new class this year for highly modified cars.
"It's open slather on modifications as long as we stay within the safety requirements. There's only two entries this year," said Mr Geitel.
Three-time winner of the historic section, Andrew Lawson and his father John, said the Sidling was very slippery.
"But it's a lot of fun out there. It's impossible not to slide so we need to be very, very careful.
"We're just trying to stay on the road and let the lunatics do what they want," said Mr Lawson.
Perhaps the conditions were best summed up by Wes Wilkinson and wife Dianne in their 1920 Frontenac, a replica of the Gaston Chevrolet that won the 1920 Indy.
"I felt like I should have been driving a Toyota out there - Oh what a feeling!" he said.
