Rally Festival going big in 2021
Wednesday 13 May, 2020
The third edition of the Rally Retro Festival has been confirmed with the unique car show to be held in February next year at the METEC Driver Education Centre in Victoria.
With a host of historic rally cars to be on display, as well as in action on a short course, the event gives rally enthusiasts the chance to get up close and personal with past state and national rally champions and their iconic cars.
Headlining the solid list of special guests confirmed to be in attendance is four-time Australian Rally Champion (ARC) Neal Bates, who brought three of his title winning Toyota Celicas to this year’s event.
Expected to join Bates at next year’s event is popular Scottish presenter and lifelong rally fan, Colin Clark, as well as the 2016 ARC champion Molly Taylor and 1984 ARC co-driver champion Kate Officer – both of whom attended this year’s event.
While the 2020 guestlist was made up of 10 ARC champions with 23 titles between them, the main drawcard were the vehicles on display with hundreds of restored rally cars from the 1950s to the early 2000s part of the show.
From Austin Healeys and Ford Escorts to Datsun Stanzas and Datsun 1600s, the range of pristine looking cars was endless and in 2021, organisers plan to make the event bigger and better.
With such an extraordinary collection of cars available, event organiser Rob Cranston was looking forward to building on the already popular show.
“The event’s reputation is building so fast,” Cranston said.
“This year we attracted cars from four states and spectators from Sydney and Brisbane. The unique format allows the owners to have fun in the cars and we get to enjoy seeing them doing what they were made for.
“We’re building on each year and we have plans for 2021 that will further engage rally fans. We can’t wait to open the gates come February.”