Its that time of year again, the hanging rock classic car show has one of the biggest car shows of the year, the amount of cars on display is incredible.
knowing that so many cars would be attending i decided to arrive at hanging rock early, even before i got there a mini car show of its own had sprung up, the main BP truck stop before hanging rock was absolutely full of car clubs pre-meeting before the event.

What is a car show without a classic Holden Ute, this one had a fair bit of custom work, the bonnet boob wasn’t to everyone’s liking but most people did admire the immaculate paint work!

With the rising popularity of Magnus Walker the old porsches are showing up everywhere! there was at least 15 of these beauty’s on display.

The Porsche 356 is one of those cars that just has so much character and presence, the shape is so unique and bold.

This car looks like it is straight out of that old english TV show Heartbeat, the Austin A30’s where very popular back in the mid fiftys.

Mercedes never built a ute for the australian market, but this one of a kind W114 Mercedes-Benz really impressed a lot of people. The custom fabricated back window looks factory because it is so well engineered. Sitting nice and low on airbags, this is one ute that definitely shows the mini-truck kids how it is done.

Would the DeLorean have been forgotten if it weren’t for the movie back to the future? Im glad that this is a car that will not fall into the shadows and be forgotten. Being loosely based off the Lotus Esprit, it is a shame that the company never got to make any other models than the DeLorean.

So fresh So Clean Clean, i just cant believe how immaculate this engine bay is its ridiculous!

Dafaq! yeah that’s right its rabbit man, some of you may know of this guy and some will not! He is often seen at ford shows and other classic car shows with his pimp rabbit. Who brings a full spit on a total fireban? Im not sure but the CFA told them off several times, until the no BBQ rule was enforced later in the day!

This thing is so rare! Its the first time i have ever seen one, i just cant believe they made a coupe version of the toyota crown!

Your not an aussie car lover if you don’t like the SLR 5000! pick a colour any colour!

Not all the classics are standard, check out this custom extra large front intake on this Shelby.

So many Shelby Cobras! in one place!

The Viper, such a strange car in person the curves and lines are very odd, it is a truly massive car!

Probably the cleanest Ford Roadster Hot Rod at Hanging rock, simple and not super flashy. Its a shame that there where not many Rat Rods at the show but we hope to see some next year.

The 1970’s Torino is not the type of car you normally see on the road that’s because its an import from america, why didn’t we get such things in Australia? maybe its because Crysler was to much competition at the time and the charger was so damn popular.

This is one of the only Ford Roadster Hot Rods i have seen with a cool old school racing paint job complete with period correct stickers.

You many have seen this at other hot rod shows, its is one unbelievable piece of machinery and it has airbrushing that actually suits the car.

Ok im going to be honest i do not know what type of car this is but it is very unique and cool.

The 80’s saw allot of sports cars, one of the more affordable ones is the corvette, with is sensible clean look it was the choice of many middle class business men.

This car just has so many bold lines! its a second gen Ford Fairlane from america, just look at all the exterior detail, cars these days do not come with any crazy trims like this!

The Toyota 800, this thing is awesome, its kinda like a mini 2000GT. Very ahead of its time and only a very limited amount where made, the main competition for this car was the honda s500, im a big fan of the toyota 800 because i have a strange liking for kei cars.

The interior of old cars have so much more class than cars of this current generation.

Corolla GT E70 that’s right its pretty much a two door version of the ke70! i wish they made more of these to take pressure off the ae86.

The First generation Ford Fairlane, just as magnificent as it was back in the day.

Inside its nothing but a buffet of chrome and style.

This was not the only GT40 in attendance we counted at least 3 around the place and all had there own individual character.

This third gen Toyota Corona looks tough, with its bright white wall tyres, these small sedans from the 60’s are great!

Sneaky sneaky, 90% of the cars are pre 1986, how did this get under the radar? it ok because we love skylines!

Yeah i bet you all know what this is? but did you know this is one of 5 cars built for Gone in 60 seconds, yes that right they built 5 and on the day chose one to film. Originally purchased from america for $70k the owner has been offered over $200k for this car!

Yes i climbed the rock! yet by the time i got around the whole show and then made my way to the top, half of the cars where gone! Every year this show just gets bigger and bigger, there are so many cars it becomes a bit of a blur by the end, but there is always two or three stand out cars that you remember after the show. Another year and another hanging rock show, still the years biggest car show to date, with over 1400+ cars!
Big thanks to our Guest photographer Brendan from BlackTop Images, http://www.facebook.com/BlacktopImages
Thanks for looking,
-Grant

Waking up at 6am was not what I signed up for on a Sunday morning…

Arriving at Hanging Rock at 9am, it was all starting to come together though.

With well and truly over 1000 cars on display it has to be one of the biggest events on the Australian automotive calendar, I must have been living under a rock all these years to have not known about this (no pun intended!).

This was the 25th Picnic at Hanging Rock event, catering for classic cars from a host of different countries.

The most popular being the ‘muscle’ Aussie and American makes. But we thought we would kick things of with the underdog, the Jap cars.

The Japanese line up was absolutely superb, with a large range of Toyota’s and Datsun’s on display.

Race spec Corolla, getting some new stickers from the owner.

Later in the day the driver placed his race suit on the bonnet, because race car.

With any true classic Japanese car, fender mirrors are a must!

Hello there children!

One of the best Nissan R31 Skylines going around, Mark’s balln’ R31 will be with the rest of the team at the upcoming Forum Battle Show and Shine the first weekend in March at Calder. Be sure to come say hi!

There were plenty of nice Datsun 260Z’s on display, none presented as well as this Z.

Mazda R100, smaller then a shoe and powered by a rotor… what more could you want?

Datsun 620 Ute’s are pretty damn cool, add some uber rare 6 stud wheels and it suddenly becomes a whole other level of cool.

Big sticky tyres on an old school RA23 Celica.

One of the cleanest examples I have ever seen in person.

Jap front KE70, looking very fresh and new amongst all the other KE’s at the event.

Rotor powered AE86…

This thing has been receiving a heap of attention after an appearance at a drift day late last year, it was shredding tyres all day long.

My personal favorite: a two tone Datsun 1600.

The car was pretty simple and clean for it’s age.

No monster power here, just clean and factory.

This 1600 sits so well on mesh wheels.

Such a classy badge.

Dat front.

Plenty of classic Celica’s on show, now square…

… Or round head lights, that is the question!

One of the more interesting colours I have seen on an RX3.

No doubt this RX3 was a fast car…

… Judging by the serious stopping power hidden behind the wheels, the brakes were massive!

Crazy front sway bar on this Corolla.

It’s easy to see why the younger kids are getting into them and restoring them or even modifying them completely.

SR swap in an old Datsun is one way to put a smile on your face.

One of the oldest Toyota’s was this KE15 Corolla, it was absolutely mint!

Datsun 180B looking all ‘old timey’.

A very cool Datsun Ute, the funky old caravan hitched to the back was a nice touch.

As we left the show we stopped to get some shots as the cars were leaving, snapped this pretty cool pic of the Datsun 620 ute heading home.

Heaps of coverage coming up for the rest of the show, also plenty of extra pics heading to our Facebook page soon so be sure to check it out.

Thanks for reading,

– Gwyn.

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