Mallee’s most magnificent car collection goes on display

This post was contributed by Graham Edwards and Elaine and Roy Bretag of the Auto Collectors Club of Murray Bridge.

Auto Collectors Club of Murray Bridge members have travelled out into the Mallee to see a magnificent collection of cars.

Sixty-five members and guests, in 27 mainly modern vehicles, departed from Murray Bridge’s Johnstone Park clubrooms on October 10 with directions and last-minute information from run organisers Roy and Elaine Bretag, who drove their newly acquired 1986 Honda Accord sedan.

The day’s destination was Lloyd Griffiths’ private vehicle collection at Alawoona, a round trip of nearly 300 kilometres.

After travelling through the farming areas of Chapman Bore and Wynarka, with paddocks looking good for harvest, the group reached Karoonda in time for a quick pit stop, chat and morning tea before regrouping for the next leg of the journey to Alawoona.

With all satisfied after a visit the town’s rest rooms, they were off on a well graded roads to Lloyd Griffiths’ estate.

On arrival Mr Griffiths greeted members and guests in his main shed, containing an almost complete display of Holden vehicles dating from 1948 to 2015, including the latest Monaros and Commodores.

Guests wandered among the 60-plus assorted Holdens, reminiscing about what vehicles they had driven or taken their first girlfriends to the drive-in in, or which one had done the biggest burnout or gone the fastest over a quarter-mile in the popular paddock gymkhanas of the era.

After the first shed viewing, it was off to the main workshop area where a BYO lunch was enjoyed undercover by all, surrounded by the best collection of assorted fan belts members had ever seen.

During lunch, the Bretags thanked Mr Griffiths and presented him with a gift from the club for going to the time and effort of sharing his magnificent collection with all in attendance.

Club president Claude Minge congratulated Mr Griffiths on his vast collection, which showed how passionate he had been over the past 40 years, inspiring all attending.

Mr Minge also thanked the Bretags for another great outing, albeit a long one.

Following lunch, the group moved onto another two sheds containing many more original and restored vehicles, including Daimler, Buick, Dodge, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Toyota Landcruiser, Nissan, Honda, Corvette, Lamborghini and motorcycles, to mention just a few of his 250-plus vehicles.

With the day coming to an end, participants began saying their goodbyes and thank yous to all concerned before heading back to Murray Bridge.

Who was the club member in a shiny black ‘48-series Holden sedan who thought he could buy fuel at the Chapman Bore hall service station?

Maybe a new fuel gauge may be on the repair agenda for that member soon, while not forgetting the guest who had to replace his computer in his white Chevy Suburban … all in a day’s outing.

• More information: Visit www.autocollectorsmurraybridge.com or contact membership officer Trevor Wehrman on 0437 815 782.

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