Thousands of car enthusiasts flocked to the Meander Valley on Sunday for the annual Deloraine Street Car Show, with the town transformed into a riot of colour, music, and food.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
One of those vintage car owners is Chris Smart, of St Leonards, who was at the car show with his 1957 American Chevrolet and a matching 1959 home-built caravan painted a mirroring shade of electric blue.
The two-door, left-hand drive vehicle was in excellent condition, he said.
"It's been pretty much untouched since I've had it, and I've had it for eight or nine years" he said.
Owning a '50s Chevrolet was a longheld dream for Mr Smart.
"I've wanted one since I was a wee child, I've always wanted one," he said. "I'm a very happy man now."
Wayne Lockhart of Valley Rod and Custom, was there with a 1959 Dodge Pickup that he has been working on for about four years.
Finally finished, the restored vehicle will be handed over to its owner this week, Mr Lockhart said.
"It's got a H7 Holden chassis, a Ford Cleveland engine and gearbox, a Falcon diff, and it's had five-and-a-half inches chopped out of the roof, lowered, and painted like it's been under the weather for 20 years," he said.
The Dodge was actually painted in a perfect coat of red when Mr Lockhart first saw it, but the customer wanted a vintage look, he said - required painting it brown, then grey, then red, and then artfully rubbing layers of paint off.
"He wanted it to look old and low and loud, and that's what he got," he said.
The number of Tasmanians owning vintage cars shot up over the past year, Liberal Lyons MHA Guy Barnett said.
Speaking at the car show, Mr Barnett said the number of special interest vehicle registrations in the state had increased by 17 per cent over the past 12 months, and the number of vintage car registrations had increased by 27 per cent over the past 12 months.
Mr Barnett said owning a special interest car was part of the Tasmanian way of life.
"Our government has put in place policies to increase the number of days - in fact, doubling the number of days - from 52 to 104 days, if you've got a special purpose vehicle, to get it out on the road," he said.
"You can enjoy that vehicle for over 100 days of the year. And we're proud of that."
IN OTHER NEWS: