A Vintage day for all!

For all South Australians, the Bay to Birdwood is one of the events that help define and celebrate the lifestyle of this wonderful state. This year’s Bay to Birdwood event is open to vehicles built before December 31, 1956.

Each year the Bay to Birdwood historic motoring event provides a day of fun and nostalgia for thousands of people who enter and for tens of thousands who line the route or come to the start or finish to enjoy the sights and sounds.

What started as a community celebration for South Australian vehicle enthusiasts has now grown into one of the biggest historic vehicle events in the world, easily surpassing the famous Brighton Run in the United Kingdom in the number of participants.

The first Bay to Birdwood Run was in 1980 and attracted an entry of 637 vehicles, a far cry from our recent entry list of over 1750 cars, motor bikes, buses and commercial vehicles.

The Bay to Birdwood this year will be held on Sunday 24th of September and as usual will start from Barratt Reserve, Adelaide Shores (West Beach) at 9am and will end at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood. A day of special events is planned at the finish including entertainment, fashions in the field and there will be plenty of food and wine.

This year’s event commemorates the centenary of the issuing of the first South Australian driver’s licence back in 1906. This licence was issued to Dr William Hargreaves a distinguished research chemist and analyst. In 1899 he moved to South Australia to take up the position of Government Analyst and Inspector of Explosives for the SA Government. A keen motorist and the proud holder of the first driver’s licence issued in South Australia, Dr Hargreaves studied the problem of alternative fuels during both world wars. He drove his car on a mixture of molasses and petrol at the end of World War I. Here we are 100 years on, still looking at alternative fuels for our modern day vehicles.

On Sunday 24th September you can be a part of this special event by having breakfast with the cars at West Beach or joining in the fun at the finish at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood. Organisers of this years event say they expect over 100,000 spectators will line the 70 kilometre route to watch the cavalcade of motoring history pass by.

For more information about this press release or photographs contact June Taylor, Publicity Officer, Birdwood Classic on 0414 359 429 or e-mail jtaylor@micronet.net.au

back to top
back to media