Picnic at Ross, 2019

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For those of you new to Tasmania's classic car scene, the annual Picnic at Ross is one of the state's premier car shows and holds a particular place in the hearts of petrol heads from all over the island, being, as it is, held pretty much equidistant from all our major population centres in one of our most historic and picturesque villages.  It's certainly one of the "big ones" on my calendar, along with Targa Tasmania, Club Motori Italia's Lufra hill climb and the Baskerville Historics.   


This year's Picnic - held a little earlier than has been the norm - was conducted on a perfect Sunday in late April and attracted an impressive field of classic, sports and performance cars from all eras and many of the greatest manufacturers in the world.  There were Aussie, British, Italian, Japanese, German and American marques on display, and all of them were magnificent!


The event venue - the town of Ross, approximately one and a half hours' north of Tasmania's capital city of Hobart - is a beautifully preserved 19th century village famous for its lovely sandstone buildings, elm tree-lined main street, convict era Female Factory and Australia's third oldest bridge, resplendent with 186 intricate sandstone carvings.  (www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/regions-of-tasmania/launceston-and-north/ross and http://www.visitross.com.au/.).  It also features two really good bakeries and a fabulous pub, as well as a very popular caravan park. 


As gorgeous as Ross is, I have to admit that I was 99% there for the cars!  So see so many rare, exotic or beautifully restored and maintained vehicles in one spot is my idea of a perfect day out!


Take, for example, this amazing Mk II Lotus Cortina or the elegant Rover P5B coupe a little further down the page.  Both epitomise the British car industry at its best!  











A car doesn't necessarily need to carry a $50,000, $75,000 or a $100,000 or more price tag to get me excited; the pristine early 1970s' Corolla above, the clean, straight XD Falcon below or the VW Beetle parked alongside it are quite enough to draw my admiration.  Someone's put a lot of effort into presenting their vehicles and events like Ross are all the better for it!  




Rather than pretending to know more about the rest of the featured cars than I really do, I'll simply invite you to view the photos and hope that you appreciate them as much as I enjoyed taking them.  I think that they're all quite spectacular enough to speak for themselves!
































































































Plaudits go to the people of Ross for having organised the event and hosting us and, just as importantly, the cars' owners for having brought their pride and joys along to create the automotive feast that is the Picnic.  The event couldn't exist without each party's support!    

Did you like this post?  If so, please feel to have a look-see around the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au site.  There's a search facility in the top right corner of the page that allows you to find any of the hundreds of classic, sports and performance cars from Tasmania and mainland Australia, as well as many, many car shows and motor sports events.  It's like a local on-line car mag but for free!  







U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

Comments

  1. The Vintage Seamstress29 April 2019 at 20:44

    Great photos as always mate. You forgot to mention the best vanilla slice (SB) in the entire world!��

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alastair Watson30 April 2019 at 16:54

      I don’t try the snotblock. However, the smaller of the two bakeries did a damned fine Cornish pastie. Now I know what to have as desert next time I’m in Ross.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous30 April 2019 at 06:23

    Cheers well done we own the little 1967 towel rail VW Beetle you photographed with the added grunt of a Formula V spec motor Was our first event because of being a shift worker etc and what an event and array of vehichles, Cheers Adrian, Bill & Peter the wonder Tenterfield Terrier adrianuc@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alastair Watson30 April 2019 at 16:53

      Hello, Adrian, Phil and Peter, and thanks for the comments. I couldn’t quite work out what the motor was. However, I knew it was something special, particularly because of the markings around that rear pulley. A great looking car an d a credit to you all!

      Cheers,

      Alastair.

      Delete
  3. Gregor Watson30 April 2019 at 12:51

    Maybe you could add a calendar to alert the less organised/informed to upcoming events rather than just showing what we missed out on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alastair Watson30 April 2019 at 16:56

      I only use the same crystal ball as everyone else but I could do an upcoming events alert, I suppose.

      Delete

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