Gosford Classic Car Museum Weekend

17 November 2017 / Words by John Hansen & Greg Cox, Photos by Greg Cox & Keiran Rodgers

Day 1. The Mid North Coast Chapter on the 11 November held an overnight run to Avoca. The highlight of the run was a visit to the Gosford Car Museum.

8am saw the assembly of five Mazda MX-5s with a couple of honorary MX-5s for the weekend (BMW MX-5 a new Mazda CX-3 MX-5 and a Subaru XV MX-5) at the Port Macquarie Service Centre a.k.a the donut. Several members of the Hunter Chapter of the MX-5 Club also joined us for the weekend.

The weather was fine with some heavy clouds on the horizon. A sedate trip down the Pacific Highway to Kew where we picked up a couple more members. Then another sedate drive along the highway with club member Keiran calling out various scenic attractions over the two-way radio such as the brightly coloured highway patrol cars etc. 

The turn off along the Wootton way (the old Pacific Highway) was irresistible especially as the road surface has been upgraded and provided a chance to blow some of the cob webs out of the cars, all within the posted speed limits of course. The drive was probably a bit more interesting for those not in MX-5s trying to keep up!! Back on the highway and the cry went out from our spotter that the 'sky was falling'; a quick stop whilst most put up their tops. One hardy member demonstrated that its possible to drive through a shower without putting the top up and not drowning!

Back on the highway towards McDonalds at Heatherbrae whilst the traffic started to build up. Dave from the Hunter Chapter secured a table for us and directed us to the old Bunnings car park as the McDonalds one was full. A short stop for morning tea and a leg stretch before going down to the Motor Museum. As it was November 11 and 11am and Remembrance Day; we observed a minute’s silence in contemplation and respect for those who served their country and enabled the development of a society in which we can enjoy activities such as our car run. 

The next stretch of the highway down and along the M1 was slow as the traffic seemed to build up endlessly making it very difficult to drive together. Graham the leader had explained the route to the Museum and so it did not really matter that cars became separated. In fact, a couple of cars decided to take an additional scenic detour around Ourimbah before we regrouped on the ramp off to Kariong Hill down to Gosford. Next stop was the Motor Museum.

The Gosford Motor Museum is on the site of the old Gosford Bunnings Store. Graham had negotiated a very good deal for all of us including the members from Hunter and we were soon inside. The first impressions were simply "wow"; exotic cars seemed to go on fore-ever, all in pristine condition with excellent signage. Signs indicated that all cars would be considered for sale. This prompted one wag to suggest that we were really looking at a very very expensive exotic used car yard!! 

Keiran and Peter photographed the moment where our group leader Graham was allowed to clamber into a Ford GT 40. Clamber was the operative word in getting in and out of the car which was a work of art!! There was something for everyone. We saw cars that one could only dream of and also cars that we had seen and or driven in our younger years. After a couple of hours, it was time to take a break and have some substance from the mobile kitchen caravan outside and then back into the museum. 

A drive through heavy traffic to Terrigal and then a group photo near the famous Skillion and a scenic drive to Avoca beach before docking at our hotel for the night. The hotel had access to the pub’s bistro which provided us with the evening meal. We were entertained watching a live band set up whilst we finished our meal. We were in the front row to the band and when they started to play it was quite loud (bit of an understatement). Many of us took the opportunity to go to an outside veranda to finish conversations. Some intrepid members stayed inside to listen to the band and some even danced! Wayne an accomplished guitarist himself provided interesting insights into how the band was playing.

The motel rooms were comfy and after a good night sleep we marshalled at 8am the next Morning for a short run to a cafe on the Beach for breakfast.  Really great food; a bright and sunny day, magnificent beach and rockpool, good company and conversation, with the prospect of another run the in the MX-5.  Really life doesn’t get much better than this! Paraphrasing the old advertising slogan "you meet the nicest people in an MX-5!"

Day 2 of our ‘Central Coast Escape’, started at 8.00am, when we met in the hotel car park for the short drive to Avoca Beach for a leisurely breakfast at the ‘Point Cafe.

Following breakfast, we enjoyed the beach and ocean views before driving the winding road up the hillside overlooking the coast, where we stopped at Killcare lookout. From this great vantage point we could look south to Pittwater and the Northern beaches peninsular.

After a short stop and lots of photos, we drove down the hillside and through some busy shopping strips to our morning tea destination at Pearl Beach. As some members of our group had private plans for the afternoon, we said our farewells here after enjoying a great weekend drive around the Central Coast, and visit to the Classic Car Museum.

Killcare Lookout photo by Graham Rochester

Thanks to all that participated and to Graham Rochester for organising the weekend.

Click here for all of Keiran's photos

Thanks to the members and visitors that attended the Gosford Classic Car Museum Weekend:

Graham Rochester, Greg Cox, John Hansen, Peter Rodgers, Keiran Rodgers, Kevin and Carole Attrill, Murray and Margret Osborne, Chris Clark and Sandie Hammond, Wayne and Cathy Lang, Barry and Jenny Lutterell, and David Ho.