Numbers down, but fun still had

“It’s hard to compete with something like 165 years of railway in Echuca-Moama, which I expect a lot of our regular attendees from Echuca went to instead,” Mr Whateley said.

“And there was also a show and shine event in Finley on Sunday, which seemed to impact on our show ‘n’ shine the same day.

“It meant our gate was down too, but it was not the worst we’ve seen.

“People were generally still quite happy - we got to play with our toys, so how could you not be happy?”

This year’s Spring Rally, held Saturday and Sunday at Deniliquin Memorial Park, had an Australian made theme.

Mr Whateley said it was a hit with those who attended.

“Everyone was impressed to learn just how many items are still Australian made, and how many have been made in Australia over the years.

“The pavilions were full and attracted many people over both days.

“We also had a really good tractor trek on Saturday.

“Among those of us participating were a few first-timers, coming from the Ballarat and the Casterton regions.

“We also had quite a few locals and returning collectors enjoying the entire weekend.

“Everyone was really impressed with the town, and with Memorial Park.

“Edward River Council did a beautiful job cleaning everything up for us in time for the event.”

Six prizes were handed out during Sunday’s show ‘n’ shine event, with half going to local car owners.

Deni’s own Barry Rutledge won the Best Modified category with his 1932 Force Coupe.

“It was originally made in New Zealand and imported to Sydney, at which time it was transplanted with a different motor - a Pontiac motor instead of a Chrysler motor,” he said.

“I got my hands on it in 1982 and rebuilt it as a copy of an American hot rod.

“I am 78 now, and still really enjoy driving it.”

The Best Original trophy went to Ballarat-based Anne Turner, who entered with the 1951 Chevrolet truck.

She has owned the car for only “a couple of years”, and the weekend was the first time she and husband Greg had used it to tow their vintage caravan - just to come to Deni.

“I actually wanted the model one size down than this. I wanted something more like a ute, while this one is more like a truck,” Mrs Turner said.

“But it is beautiful, and I couldn’t not get it.

“We were going to convert it to a right-hand drive, but after we got it we decided we like it just the way it is.

“It’s our touring around car.”

Mr Turner said the Chev is an original six vault, left hands drive.

While they don’t know its full history, the sign writing on the side and rear window lead them to believe it was once a working truck on a winery.

And while they don’t know exactly what the foreign language signs say, they’re not planning to get rid of them either.

Four other show ‘n’ shine entrants received Best of the Rest awards on Sunday - Lyle Wickham, Luke Charlton, David Nolte and Rick Maroszek.

Mr Wickham’s 1938 Chevy was originally his father Bill’s wood truck.

After it sat idle in a paddock for many years, he rebuilt it from the chassis up, added a 350 Chev motor, power steering, air conditioner, Commodore diff and disc brakes.

Mr Charlton sourced his 1968 HK Kingswood from near Sydney five years ago, having always loved the model. It’s metallic red colour was another attraction.

While he’s yet to do research into the car’s history himself, the previous owner said it originally came out of a dealership in nearby Hay.

Mr Maroszek’s eye-catching car was a present from his wife Yvonne.

He was about to complete a project car when she saw this one up on a trailer and for sale at a Bendigo meet nine years ago.

It was completely rebuilt from the chassis up, with custom paint job and interiors.

Mr Nolte is well known in Deniliquin for his love of cars, and his 1964 Falcon two-door was certainly a head turner at the rally.

It was an abandoned project car when he bought it for $100 in 1990, and he took three years to do it up.

Mr Nolte said he was drawn to the car as two-door Falcons are rare. It was made in Australia, with imported parts from America.