IT was revhead heaven at the Fleet Air Arm Museum on Sunday as the second annual Albatross Show n Shine was staged.
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More than 140 cars and 10 bikes were displayed at the museum as a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and the Australian Leukodystrophy Support Group.
Entrants travelled from as far as Cooma and Canberra in the south and north from Sydney, while a host of local car enthusiasts also had entries.
It was a successful day for Tony Nassar from Cooma, who started his trek to the coast at 2am just to take part in the event.
He took out best in show with his 1958 BMW Isetta.
Event co-organiser Glenn Smith said Mr Nassar’s Isetta was a spectacular entry and a deserving winner.
“It’s not your typical winner of a show and shine; it’s an early model bubble type car where you actually gain access through a hatch that opens at the front,” he said.
“It was a different but deserving winner, a spectacular entry.”
Mr Nassar also won his class of best European car.
Twenty categories were staged during the show with 14 class winners that included a number of local entries.
Five major trophies, including people’s choice and the Frankies Auto Electrics and Car Audio sound-off, which had a number of entrants from Sydney, were also awarded.
This year’s turnout nearly trebled last year’s inaugural Show ‘n Shine which featured 45 vehicles.
“The response was fantastic and the turn out by the public was great,” said co-organiser Stu Walters.
One popular visitor to the event was Bathurst 1000 winner Bob Morris, who now lives in Kangaroo Valley and he took great delight looking at a number of Holden Toranas, similar to the ones he raced during his career, which were on display.
Mr Smith said the second annual event had exceeded expectations and hopes.
“The response from the public has been fantastic. The Lions Club was catering and ran out of food twice, which was fantastic,” he said.
“I would say we had to have had in excess of 1000 people attend the show.”
Mr Smith said the sound-off, organised by Sean Pretty at Frankies Auto Electrics and Car Audio, was popular, as was the NGK children’s sparkplug challenge, where the girls upstaged the boys as the major winners.
“The whole event was a great success but we must thank the local community for its support,” he said.
The 2012 event also marked the end of an era with one of the organisers, HMAS Albatross chaplain Ian Lindsay, posting out to Cairns.
“Ian has been a wonderful support and was instrumental in getting this event off the ground and we can’t thank him enough,” Mr Smith said.
The Albatross Show n Shine will be planned again for around the same time next year.
* More photographs from the Show n Shine appear in Community Focus.