Past Events

The FCCA (Ford Coupe Club of Australia) and the Falcon Cobra Club embarked on a journey into the unknown as planning got underway for the first Hardtop Anniversary in November 2005.

The clubs knew little about each other apart from their mutual enjoyment of the sleek lines of the coupe body. They met at Bathurst for the Hardtop Revenge only weeks before and because of their experiences that weekend, decided to organise a coupe only event of their own. Enthusiasm was at a very high level after the first meeting between the two clubs at the Notting Hill Hotel in Melbourne’s South East.

​After much discussion, multiple Bathurst winner John Goss was selected to be the special guest for the weekend. In addition, Murray Carter was approached to be the second special guest. Both accepted and plans got underway to create a weekend around them.

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Registration

​Registration was conducted in room number one of The Georgian Motor Inn. It was very low key but the boys were in learning mode and it got the job done.

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Saturday

The masses assembled at Morley Ford at a very early hour to be briefed on the day’s activities. An observation run had been set up by Colin Morley to make the trip to Shepparton a little more interesting. The entrants were flagged off at thirty second intervals to avoid congestion. A small advance party had already departed about an hour earlier to set up at the DECA complex in Shepparton. When everyone arrived, scrutineering took place and drivers were briefed on the activities on offer. They consisted of a driving skill course around witches hats, a go to whoa and a lap around a short course. Around lunch time, John Goss strode onto the short course in his driving suit with helmet in hand. The assembled coupe enthusiasts looked on as he got behind the wheel of his 1975 Bathurst XB Falcon GT. They watched attentively as he completed eight laps of the short course, gradually getting faster until he rolled to a stop on the infield with a gearbox issue. The crowd applauded as he got out of the car. It was certainly a highlight of the weekend.

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Saturday Night

After DECA, everyone made their way back to Echuca to wash their cars and get ready for the Saturday night festivities. Around ninety people boarded the paddle steamer “Pride of the Murray” for an alternative evening of steam power coupled with wining and dining. All passengers enjoyed a relaxing evening and the air was full of stories of the day’s adventures.

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Sunday

Sunday morning saw a lot of bleary eyed coupe owners assemble once again at Morley Ford ready to make their way to the site of the show and shine. The site chosen was the car park of the shire buildings in Hare Street. The coupes made their way through the town in convoy and were marshalled into position in the car park and along the old railway line, which passes behind the offices. It was a spectacular sight never before seen. Over eighty coupes parked in one place thirty five years after the first coupe rolled off the production line. There were caps, stubby holders and T shirts on sale at the merchandise stand. Over the course of the day, Murray Carter and John Goss signed autographs on anything from shirts to glove box lids. Around four o’clock the site was vacated and everyone went back to the motels to relax before the presentation dinner.

 

Sunday Night

The Moama Bowls Club was the venue for the presentation dinner. The room was full of people anticipating a great evening. They weren’t disappointed. Tiny Hansen and Stuart Dearden, the presidents of the two clubs, co hosted proceedings. Several items of interest were auctioned including a signed 1/18 scale model car of John Goss 1973 Bathurst XA Falcon GT, a signed poster of Murray Carters 1978 XC Bathurst car and the event banners.

Trophies were presented for best in each category and runner up.

John Goss spoke of his early years in motorsport including racing at the famous Longford circuit in Tasmania and the dangers involved in motor racing in the 60’s. He talked about the evolution of the Falcon, his experiences in motor racing and the problems the coupes suffered. Murray told of similar experiences, the camaraderie between the drivers and how they helped each other during an era when it was still motorsport.

Tiny and Stuart thanked the sponsors and all the people that helped to make the weekend such a success. It was a great experience and everyone went home looking forward to coming back to Echuca two years later.

Hardtop Anniversary 2007 sponsored by Shannons Insurance with huge support from Morley Ford and numerous smaller sponsors.

After the success of the first Hardtop Anniversary, the Falcon Cobra Club decided to leave the FCCA to go it alone. The two clubs had formed an enduring relationship since 2005 and there were no hard feelings.

 

The FCCA boys sat down and wondered how to go about rising to the task and bringing home a second Echuca event. They did not want to let the enthusiasts down and decided that Murray Carter had not received his share of the limelight in ’07.

Murray Carter and long time Ford designer Wayne Draper were the special guests for the ’09 “Hardtop Anniversary” (HTA). Murray had been long admired by Ford fans as the battler, the privateer with no official factory backing but still taking it up to The Generals best.

 

Often Murray was the only Ford driver in the field to wrestle with the Torana hordes. There was a rumour that at one stage Holden management offered to finance Murray so that the Torana drivers would have someone to race other than themselves. Wayne Draper worked at Ford in the era of muscle cars. He was a prodigious designer during the 70’s and left his indelible mark on the coupes, both road and racecars, in so many ways.

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Registration

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Registration was moved to The Paddlewheel Motel for the Friday meet and greet. The Echuca Lions Club helped out with a BBQ for the assembled travellers.

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Saturday

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Once again, Morley Ford was the focal point for the early morning gathering prior to the journey to Shepparton. At DECA, the obligatory driving skill courses were undertaken and the day progressed well. Murray Carter was the focus of attention on the short course and Tom Vondrasek’s black Morley Ford XC racecar was Murray’s weapon of choice. As John Goss had done two years before, Murray had the fans spellbound and the cameras snapping as he negotiated the DECA short course putting in some very respectable lap times. The crowd showed their appreciation as he emerged from the black beast. It was fantastic to see Murray back behind the wheel of a coupe. Then, to add to the fans enjoyment, he took the wheel of Allan Moffat’s City Ford tribute car for a few laps with Stu Dearden as passenger.

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Saturday Night

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Saturday night saw most entrants converge on the Merool function centre in Moama for a relaxing evening. Some people wore fancy dress and children were entertained by participating in a colouring competition. There was a jukebox with Karaoke and some of the ladies were very entertaining with the usual party dances including, Nutbush, Bus stop and the Macarena.

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Sunday

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Sunday dawned and the enthusiastic coupe owners assembled once again at Morley Ford ready to make their way to the site of the show and shine. The site was again the car park of the shire buildings in Hare Street. After making their way through the town, they assembled in the car park and on the grass along the old railway line. It was a spectacular sight with three race replicas including a purple and silver Citizen Watches John Goss XB, the Brut 33 car and the red City Ford. Over eighty coupes had once again turned out to celebrate thirty years since the coupes last raced at the mountain. Merchandise sales were brisk and once again, the crowd enjoyed great weather. During the day, Murray Carter and Wayne Draper signed autographs and chatted with the crowd. By mid-afternoon, the coupes started to trickle out of the park to prepare for the evening’s festivities.

 

Sunday Night

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The Sunday presentation dinner was held at Radcliffes, a rustic reception room and restaurant adjacent to the show and shine site. Radcliffes is an interesting venue with a garden atmosphere and grapevines overhead. The trophy presentations took place in accordance with normal procedure awarding best in each category and runner up.

 

Murray took to the stage and enthralled the audience with stories and anecdotes of a bygone era that no one disputed or queried, such is his credibility in motor racing history.

 

Wayne Draper followed him with a slide show depicting his career at the Ford Motor Company. There were numerous examples of his designs and he showed us a number of cars that didn’t make it to the production line. Fortunately, there were many others that went on to become icons.

 

Hardtop Anniversary 2009 was co-sponsored by Shannons Insurance and Rare Spares with support from Morley Ford and numerous trophy sponsors

When HTA 2011 planning got underway, the boys decided a change of tack was required. There were a number of attendees from previous HTA that were keen on drag racing. Ben Gatt is well known in drag racing circles along with his XA door slammer. They have both been around the Australian drag racing scene forever. Although not a young lad anymore, Ben still races competitively today.

 

Gary Myers is also a well known identity as a result of his involvement with Summernats, Easternats and Gazzanats His purple and silver XA with smoke pouring off the tyres brings a smile to the faces of coupe enthusiasts everywhere.

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Registration

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Registration took place at The Paddlewheel Motel for the second time. On this occasion, the proprietor took charge of the BBQ tongs in a charitable gesture, to raise money for the Charlton Primary School, which along with the rest of the town was devastated by flood. To keep people entertained, someone brought a copy of Mad Max for the enjoyment of the enthusiasts.

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Saturday

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Upon leaving Morley Ford, the coupe faithful turned South and headed for central Victoria and the Heathcote Park Dragway. While the coupes are synonymous with Bathurst, a number of them appeared on drag strips around the country and this was no exception as a healthy field of participants lined up to race in the dial your own competition. This meant that whether you had a 700HP tyre fryer or a bog stock 351 you had an equal chance of winning because consistency is the key. And that is exactly what happened. After the rest of the competition was eliminated, Peter from Queensland in his stock Landau lined up against the “Red Eye Racing” purpose-built racer from SA. Everyone hung over the fence and waited to see which lane would take the win. Winners are grinners and Peter from

 

Queensland was certainly doing plenty of grinning after returning to the pit area.

Once the racing was over there was some light-hearted entertainment with a “spear the spud” competition before everyone hit the highway back to Echuca for a relaxing evening.

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Saturday Night

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2011 was the 100th birthday of the paddle steamer “Pevensey”, which had starred in the movie, “All the rivers run” with Sigrid Thornton and John Waters. This was the vessel chosen by the organisers for the Saturday night entertainment. It was a worthy choice as many of the passengers stood around the engine bay and watched the massive steam engine go through its paces. There was plenty of food and a good time was had by all.

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Sunday

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Around 8am Sunday, the enthusiastic coupe owners assembled at Morley Ford, ready to make their way to the show and shine. Despite the threat of a library being built on the site that had been used on two previous occasions, the construction was held off long enough for the all important display. After motoring down High Street and through the Port area, the cars assembled in the now familiar surroundings of the shire offices. Fletch from Classic Resto’s was in attendance with his video camera. After a hard Saturday night on the Pevensey, Fletch got down to the task of filming the coupes and their enthusiastic owners and the resulting episode of Classic Restos was a resounding success.

 

Sunday Night

 

The Sunday presentation dinner returned to the Moama Bowls club. Ben and Gary took to the stage to be interviewed about their respective specialties. Ben talked about his drag racing career, which commenced in the sixties with his brother Joe. They raced a Capri funny car before purchasing the famous XA coupe, which he still drives today. They also operated an EA Falcon Top Doorslammer, which became the fastest Ford in the world with a 6.67 in 1995.

 

Gary Myers is best known for events ending in ‘nats. That’s Easternats, Summernats and of course, there is Gazzanats. These events revolve around big horsepower “tyre friers” like his famous ’66 Mustang coupe and his XA Falcon coupe. Most guys love a burnout, which is why these events draw such a huge crowd every year. It’s not just blokes I might add, the girls enjoy it too.

 

Hardtop Anniversary 2011 had Rare Spares as its naming rights partner with support from Shannons and Morley Ford along with numerous trophy sponsors.

The Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars Hardtop Anniversary Echuca 2013 raised the bar.

 

There were a record number of entrants, a record number of Landaus and a record number of racecars. In addition to the club member’s racecars, it was a privilege to have Eddie Abelnica’s Touring Car Masters XB racer and transporter present for the weekend.

 

Little did we realise when we started planning this year’s event that it would grow so much. As this was the anniversary of the first coupe winning Bathurst, we thought it would be appropriate to invite the two Ford works drivers to our little get together. After many months of chats and subtle negotiation, Allan Moffat and Fred Gibson sat down, signed the agreement, and became the event patrons. Of course, no trip to Echuca would be complete without our friend Murray Carter.

Registration

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We were advised that the motel used for registration on the two previous occasions was not available to us, so Colin Morley offered the Morley Ford dealership for our meet and greet. It proved a good venue with lots of room and a great backdrop for the start of a great weekend. The girls handled the registration process with ease and the Morley Ford team did an excellent job with the BBQ. Colin organised a DVD player with a projector and after watching a concert for a while, someone inserted the 2011 Hardtop Anniversary DVD. That got the crowd interested in a hurry with quite a few coupe faithful watching the Saturday action from Heathcote.

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Saturday

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After gathering at Morley Ford again, the eager group of coupe owners turned around and headed back into the township briefly before John led them back out of town via a different route turning south again, heading for central Victoria and the Bendigo Livestock Exchange. Numerous car clubs have used the BLE and organised similar events, so there was no need to reinvent the wheel, just follow their example and design our own layout. It worked out really well with a diverse motorkhana layout involving high speed, low speed and tight manoeuvring. The morning session saw a few drivers dice with disaster having close encounters of the concrete kind, but by lunchtime the standard of driving had improved and everyone had the measure of the course. There was also a go to whoa section just for variation. With plenty of spectator area on offer, everyone had a good vantage point.

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Saturday Night

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The PS Pevensey was the feature of the Saturday night festivities again. The 102 year old paddle steamer proved popular with the crowd the previous time and it didn’t disappoint this time either. Our special guests joined us on the cruise and although they had not been on a paddle steamer before, they took to it like ducks to water. They were especially interested in the steam engine and took the opportunity to ask the engineer lots of questions. The food was of a very high quality and no one went home hungry. We had booked for a two and half hour cruise but the crew had some interesting moments turning the vessel around so the trip took a little over three hours. There were no complaints as the happy passengers disembarked and wandered off to their respective accommodation.

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Sunday

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As Sunday dawned there was light rain falling. Not exactly what a coupe owner wants to see on the day of a show and shine. By 7.30am however, the rain had all but disappeared and everyone gathered at what had become the focal point for the weekend, Morley Ford.

Just before 9am, the long train of coupes made their way down High Street to the new site at Carters’ car park. The library had finally taken over the old show site so finding a new site had become a necessity. Carters’ car park ticked all the boxes. Close to the centre of town, good size and access to a power supply. We were uncertain if it would fit all the cars so as entrant numbers crept up we became concerned. This eventually caused the committee to close entries prematurely. This was not a popular decision as some people missed out on entering. We managed to fit all the cars into the car park, but it was a close thing.

 

Sunday Night

 

The Sunday presentation dinner returned to the Moama Bowls club. The venue is ideal for large numbers and that was another issue facing the organisers. More and more people were booking for the dinner. Almost two hundred people had taken their seats just after six thirty. Once the crowd of eager diners was seated, the special guests were escorted into the room by three ladies that had played a significant role in the weekend. After main course, the special guests were invited onto the stage to entertain the enthusiastic crowd with their version of the development of the XA as a race car. During the question session, one diner suggested there may have been cheating. An agitated Alan Moffat invited him to the stage to clarify what he meant. Really, the things people say to get attention. The evening finished with a promise to return in two years time to do it again.numerous trophy sponsors.

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Thanks

 

Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars was the naming rights partner for Hardtop Anniversary 2013, with major support from the Shire of Campaspe, Biante and Rare Spares. Additional support came from Shannons, Ute Covers Direct.com, Penrite and Sidchrome. Morley Ford was a significant partner in the running of the weekend. Without the support of these people, the event would not be possible.

Gossy Returns

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Hardtop Anniversary 2015 marked the 40 th anniversary of the John Goss Special so it was good manners to ask the man himself if he would be our special guest. John had been our guest at HTA 2007 along with Murray Carter. When we approached John and asked the question, he recalled his first visit and said he would be delighted to come again. Problem was he was spending a lot of time in Europe and wasn’t sure if he would be in Australia when we needed him.

 

We also invited two other mountain legends that hadn’t been to HTA before. Kevin Bartlettand John French were added to the guest list along with club patron Murray Carter. Echuca just wouldn’t be the same without Murray

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Registration

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Registration took place at the rotunda opposite the Bridge Hotel in the port area. It was a great setting and close to the pub. Good thinking guys.

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Saturday

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Saturday morning saw the faithful assemble at Morley Ford as usual and departed for DECA as in ’07 & ’09. In the morning, the skidpan was set up for Motorkhana only and the short circuit operated also. Just prior to the lunch break, our three guests arrived after a visit to the Shepparton motor museum. Colin Russell had come up from Melbourne to join them for a couple of hours. After lunch, the three race replicas treated everyone to a few display hot laps. The skidpan was converted to a “go to whoa” strip, which had some interesting moments. One car suffered a diff failure and there was an interesting display of turbo V8

driving, which kept the officials on their toes.

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Saturday evening

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A casual evening was organised at Radcliffes and John French, KB and Murray joined us at Radcliffes along with their partners. The night involved quite a bit of crowd participation, which was entertaining to say the least. “Celebrity head” had the room laughing, “Know your coupe” got the boffins on their toes and “Gender warfare” brought out the competitive side of the girls. As the evening was starting to warm up, a well known face entered the room unexpectedly. It was Gossy of course and the room erupted. A couple of the boys had driven express from Shepparton to Melbourne to pick John up from the airport and bring him to

Echuca. The set was complete.

 

Sunday Night

 

We returned to the Moama Bowling Club for our Sunday night presentation dinner. This is a great venue and worthy of our patronage.

There was a special tribute to the late Murray Brown. Murray had been a member of the Coupe Club for a number of years and it was with great sadness that several members attended his funeral in April 2014. Murray’s JGS had won trophies at all but one Hardtop Anniversary. That was the year he bought his replica racecar to show off instead.

 

The evening went really well with our guests sharing some memories and a few stories we hadn’t heard. After the guest speakers left the stage, John Goss did a solo, telling us the inside story on the John Goss Special and how it came to be. John Spoke passionately about the car named in his honour and left us with no doubts about how much it meant to him. This was arguably the most successful HTA to date with 115 entries. Social media had been a contributing factor but I think that the event has developed a reputation as a must do event for any coupe enthusiast.

 

At the end of the night, we announced that HTA 2017 would be held in Bathurst to mark the40 th anniversary of the 1-2. We have set ourselves a huge task but rest assured, HTA 2017 will be hug

“The Ford Coupe Club of Australia (Vic) Inc was pleased to hold the Hardtop Anniversary (HTA) Reunion in the fantastic city of Mildura on the 18th, 19th and 20th of November 2022. This is a pared back event to brought hardtop owners together after the ravages of COVID-19.

 

An action-packed weekend was held, starting with a Meet & Greet on Friday afternoon/evening. A busy Saturday included a mini car show in the City Mall in the morning to promote the Show and Shine, a Khanacross at the Kelly Brothers favourite Test and Training Circuit, and to finish off the day, we had a massive thunderstorm, so the Drags Under Lights, in the evening had to be cancelled.  For those who preferred a less competitive and more relaxed Saturday, there was a cruise and poker run that took in the highlights of the Mildura area, and a shuttle bus service was kept busy to the Trentham Winery just across the NSW border.

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Sunday experienced the traditional cruise through the town centre early in the morning, followed by our Show & Shine adjacent to The Gateway Mildura which had ample space to display our coupes.

Link to Event Newsletter