VAILO Adelaide 500 Report

One of the highlights of the Club’s celebration of the MG Centenary must surely be our participation in the VAILO Adelaide 500 Supercars event at Victoria Park in November.
We had 32 cars in the Driver’s Parade on the Wednesday, and nearly 40 on permanent display for the four days of the event, Thursday-Sunday.

Adelaide turned on perfect weather for the Driver’s Parade, with one Supercar driver as a passenger in each immaculately turned out members’ car. The route from Victoria Park took in Hutt Street, Wakefield Street (great to see those CBC kids on the footpath waving), Pulteney Street, North Terrace and Gawler Place to Rundle Mall for the traditional signing ceremony. With a police escort and synchronised green traffic lights the parade was a real head-turner, featuring a range of cars from Arthur’s 1934 ND through to moderns and racing vehicles.  To view a YouTube video, Click Here 

Thursday’s weather was . . . wet! Put a dampener on things but not the enthusiasm of the Club volunteers who engaged with the public, handing out our MG Centenary Stickers, information leaflets about the history of MGs and our club, MG Racing SA posters prepared by John Illingworth, and membership application forms.

Things brightened up for the remainder of the event and there was certainly strong interest from the public, ranging from those with no knowledge of the marque through to other current and former owners and one gent who once worked at Abingdon on the ZS assembly line.

Our location was between two main gates – Halifax Street and Angas Street – and while there were some comments that we could perhaps have negotiated a better position, that’s a lesson for next time and it was agreed that there was no shortage of foot traffic throughout the four days. We had a gazebo as our information hub and the display was enhanced by our teardrop banners and a variety of MG flags, all adding to the overall impact.

So what did we get out of it?
It cost us nothing – but that’s not the most important thing.
We celebrated the Centenary; we drew public attention to MGs by displaying a representative range of members’ cars across the years and representing both road and race vehicles; we met a lot of people who shared our love of our cars; we may have enticed some new members; we promoted MG Racing in SA; we attracted some media interest; in the planning phase we built up positive relationships with the VAILO Adelaide 500 organising team which will prove invaluable if we ever come to take part again; and we had fun as a group.

Yes, it rained a bit. Yes, it was a bit dusty. But it was a four-day motorsport event preceded by a parade through city streets and it was an appropriate and successful way to celebrate 100 years of MGs.

Congratulations and thanks to the organising committee, the volunteers who helped set up our presence, staff the position throughout the event, and pack it all up at the end – and, of course, to all the members whose cars featured in the parade and the display.  Job well done.