21^st - 23^rd September 2007

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

G'day fellow Coupe lovers and entrants. What a fantastic weekend it was!! Just an awesome sight to see around 70 Coupes, lined up at Morley Ford to convoy down to the Civic Centre for the Sunday Show n' Shine, with the last number count of 79 Coupes parked on display. A new record I'm sure!! The Echuca people came out in full force for the day, we must thank the people of Echuca for making us all feel so welcome and giving us perfect weather for the whole event!!

There was the great day at DECA, John Goss driving his 75 XBGT flat out around the circuit, a sight & sound that will never leave you. Murray Carter, happy to chat, like you have known him for years. The effort from Kerry Turley and his family to bring the Goss car from Broken Hill, & Tom Vondrasek to get an engine in the Morley Ford XC in time for the event, just terrific. There was the Saturday night river cruse, smooth sailing all the way, with no one going overboard.

From the Friday night BBQ, to the Sunday Dinner, we couldn't have asked for it to be any better. And a big thanks to all of the entrants & partners for their top effort, with the quality of cars was just awesome. It is so good to see the obvious pride everyone has in their cars and to see so many Coupes in such good condition just shows how much passion we all have in these cars. To John & Deanna Goss, Murray & Carol Carter, a big thank you. You all made the weekend the success it was. Colin Morley & Geoff Lynch were also huge contributors in making the weekend such a success.

It was amazing too see that from an idea pitched to the two clubs around two years ago, could be run and organized as well as it was. After all it was a car club event, and goes to show how passionate and dedicated the people involved in the two clubs, including the wives, partners and families all are. I look forward, as do most Coupe lovers, to Echuca 2009, when we do it all over again. YEEEE HA!! A little bit bigger, and a lot more sorted.

So if you have a Coupe in the middle of a project stage, want to do some work to your pride and joy, or are looking for that right car just make sure that you have it all together around September 2009.

See ya on the road.

Cheers.

Stuart Dearden                                                          Rod Tiny Hansen

President, Ford Coupe Club of Australia.              President, Falcon Cobra Club of Australia.

RAY IKIN

Ray Ikin was entered for this event. Unfortunately he suffered a heart attack on the Wednesday before the event. He was rushed to hospital for treatment and we're happy to say he is on the mend.

Ray is a well known muscle car enthusiast and the passion he has for these cars is legendary. Needless to say, he was very disappointed to miss this event.

On behalf of the Hardtop Anniversary committee, entrants and sponsors, Colin Morley and the staff at Morley Ford, John Goss, Murray Carter and car enthusiasts everywhere we wish Ray a speedy recovery.

FRIDAY - CHECK IN, MEET AND GREET

We had entrants from Adelaide and beyond, Broken Hill, various parts of NSW and all the way from the Apple Isle as well as various regions of Victoria. We could see a lot of people had travelled great distances to be there which was fantastic to see.

The check in and registration went pretty smoothly and everyone got settled in. Thanks to the huge amount of work put in by Peter Mason and also by Ben and Barry Cowen at the merchandise stall. Great job guys!!

SATURDAY OBSERVATION RUN

The observation run from took place on Saturday morning with Morley Ford being the departure point. Craig, Carlos and Scott had an early start being there by 7am to hook up with Colin Morley and Geoff Lynch to set things up for cars to begin the run at 7.30am. A few eager beavers were there and the guys were treated to the sight of a large group of Coupes arriving.

The cars were marshalled into the holding yard and queued up to depart from the driveway roller door. The drivers were then briefed about how the winner will be decided, the nearest to the pin concept explained in the event of a tie and to emphasize the point that we did not want to see irresponsible driving the winner would not necessarily be the quickest elapsed time. Anyone with an elapsed time of less than 2 hours would be disqualified.

In the weeks and days prior to the event Colin and Tiny each drove over the course to verify the questions and answers. They also established that doing the course in less than 2 hours would most likely involve speeding which we actively discourage on public roads.

The winner would be the entrant who has the most questions answered correctly. Each question was worth one point, some questions had two part answers which were worth a half point each. In the event of a tie the winner would be decided by whichever elapsed time was nearest to the pin, being a random elapsed time decided by the organizers.

The first cars were waved off at 7.30am. What a sight to see all these Coupes and a few Sedans queued up and heading off. There were a couple of Mustangs and even a civilian BA XR6. The teams were varied with couples, family groups and groups of mates. Two of the entrant's wives decided to team up and give the run a go while their husbands were off doing other car stuff!!

Our winner, with a nearest to the pin elapsed time of 2 hours 7 minutes was Mark and Tracey Aldred driving a Wild Plum XA Fairmont Coupe. They won a 1:18 scale model John Goss Yellow #5 XA Coupe. Our second prize winner, with the next nearest to the pin elapsed time of 2 hours 30 minutes was Moya Hannan and Marita Ramsay driving a Silver BA XR6. They won a 1:43 autographed model of the Russell Ingall #9 Caltex BA race car.

The observation run was well received and enjoyed by all. It's just great to get these cars out on the road and into the countryside. Reminiscent of a time when real cars ruled the roads.

The prizes were presented to the happy winners at the Sunday evening dinner where Mark got his prize signed by John Goss.

Congratulations to all the participants, hope you all had fun.

SATURDAY DECA ACTIVITIES

SATURDAY RIVERBOAT CRUISE

SUNDAY - SHOW AND SHINE

It was a very early start for those helping marshal the cars at the staging point at Morley Ford and for those setting up the display area at the Civic Centre. Colin, Tiny and Stuart were cordoning off the area there. Meanwhile a very large collection of Coupes were assembling at Morley Ford where Bruce, Roger and co was organizing the parade.

Tiny and Stuart then arrived at Morley Ford then the conga line of Coupes, headed by the Goss XB (on a trailer) and Tom in the Morley Ford XC eventually made its way through town and to the Civic Centre. What a sight, and sound especially with the straight-out exhaust from Toms XC it certainly got the attention of the locals!! We then got everyone parked, pergolas and banners up, merchandise stands organized and in no time at all we were all set. The great thing was the disruption to the locals was minimal.

It was just unreal to see so many Coupes all in one place and such a high quality standard of cars too, you could see the effort and pride the owners have put into them. John and Deanne Goss along with Murray and Carol Carter were in attendance all day and gave themselves writers cramp signing programmes, shirts, posters, cars and anything else put in front of them. The line-up at the signing table was huge. They were also dragged from pillar to post to pose for photos and to chat with everyone. They were extremely generous with their time and made themselves available to everyone. Having them there was fantastic and they could not have known their following could still be so strong after wrestling with these cars on the track 30 years ago!!

The weather was perfect and the venue was a hit. The great thing was that the town shopping and attractions were right there so families could have a break from things. It was also terrific to have so many Coupe owners all in one place and many new friendships were formed.

The Show n' Shine ran very smoothly and was a huge success. A big thank you to everyone who helped out on the day and kept things running, your efforts were very much appreciated.

All entrants were able to nominate their car to be judged in several categories at the Show n' Shine. There were nine categories and a people's choice award. The judging for the nine categories was carried out by representatives from Shannons Insurance. They also collated the nomination forms for the people's choice award. The winners were:

Best XA:

Rob Hoskins.

Best XB:

Gary Wells & Glenda Roman

Best XC and Peoples Choice:

Craig Barron & Moya Hannan

Best Landau:

Ashley Tickell

Best Mod & Custom Coupe:

Lee Jarvis

Best Superbird:

Joe Novembre

Best John Goss Special:

Murray Brown

Best Cobra:

Alex Beckett

Best GT:

Stuart & Karen Dearden

Congratulations to all the winners and well done to all the entrants for presenting cars of such a high standard. You can all be very pleased with your efforts.

SUNDAY - PRESENTATION DINNER 

What a great way to wrap up a great weekend. The Presentation Dinner was the last formal engagement of an event that ran like clockwork. l take my hat of to all those who had given up their time and worked so hard to make the Hardtop Anniversary such a success. There could not have been no better place to hold such an event that the Jubilee room at the Moama Bowling Club.

The evening began with the signing of one of the two limited edition banners by all those that attended the dinner. (This was to be auctioned off later that night) 120 + signatures on the back with John Goss and Murray Carter signing the front.

As the guess’s arrived and found a table they were entertained by a video of the 1978 Bathurst 1000.

The MCs’ (Stu and myself) took the stage and the evening got of to a great start with the winner of the door prize announced, the trivia quiz got under way and the first course was served.

By the end of the night there had been 10 trophies given out, the winning table for the quiz was given their $50.00 drinks prize, a fantastic meal had been devoured and a huge auction had taken place.

But without a doubt the thing that every one will remember was the inspirational and sometimes candid talk by our two very special guests Mr John Goss and Mr Murray Carter. You could hear a pin drop while the two of them were up on stage swapping stories and giving us an insight into their lives as champion motor racers. It was great to be in that room and to be a part of all that history.

Then it was all over.

The Hardtop Anniversary had come to an end, and all that there was left to do was to go back to the motel, get into bed and think about one of the best weekends ever.

Hope to see you all back in Echuca in 2009 when we line up to do it all again.

See you all then, Tiny…