Rivals set to show off in Ford town

Andrew Mathieson
THE call for gentlemen to start their engines is always loud but in Ford town the competition is growing fiercer as rival brands threaten to take over the traditional Australian home of the Blue Oval.
Holden and Chrysler car clubs plan to hog the spotlight on Ford’s traditional turf with Geelong shows on Saturday and Sunday.
But Geelong’s Ford fanatics claim their rivals are riding the tailgate of the home-town brand’s annual car shows.
Falcon GT club president Tony Porter said several Ford clubs had hosted bumper-to-bumper displays for the past 19 years in Geelong.
“I guess what it’s about is the success of the all-Ford day,” Mr Porter said.
“These guys have got together and said, ‘Hang on, they’ve put on this event and had hundreds of cars, so why don’t we’.”
Mr Porter reckoned car shows for other marques were “slowly catching up” to Ford’s success in Geelong.
Ford hosted its all-Ford day a fortnight ago but Mr Porter said numbers were “down slightly” on last year.
He believed the growth in rival car shows demonstrated the eclectic tastes of car fanatics in Geelong.
“There’s always a little bit of healthy rivalry between the fans of each of the brands even though Geelong is a Ford town,” Mr Porter said.
Geelong FX-HZ Holden car club will host its seventh show at Geelong Racecourse despite forming in 1976.
Club president Les Atkins said hosting Holdens in Geelong was traditionally tough in parochial Ford territory.
But he bit back, calling Holden “the true Aussie car”.
“The idea is to beat the all-Ford day, of course,” Mr Atkins said, “but Ford can choose from the 1800s – we’ve only got from 1948.”
Chrysler by the Bay committee organiser Alex Vantano said older generations who drove Chryslers in their younger day were “buying back a bit of their history”.
Chrysler has been quietly running its car extravaganza for 14 years at Geelong Grammar School.
“Lot of enthusiasts appreciate old cars and don’t boo the Holdens or boo the Fords,” Mr Vantano said.
“They just appreciate old cars and what they stood for – it doesn’t matter what brand.”