The McLaren Vale Vintage and Classic Car Show is celebrating 20 years this year. It began in 2006, taking inspiration from the region’s grape harvest — hence the use of vintage in the name.
Nigel Williamson is a local and a serious car buff, running his business Mustangs and Australian Classics. He’s been involved with the event for some time now. When your life revolves around importing, “all sorts of cars from America — Falcons, Mustangs and a lot of other cool cars,” — you’re pretty much the right person for the job.
Nigel explains how he came to take over the show.
“Trevor Sharp had run it for years and years and decided it was time for someone else to take the reins.”
With typical humour, Nigel says it was a case of, “a whole group of people standing around who he was going to pick from. He said, ‘who wants to do it? Please step forward.’ Everyone else stepped back and I was left standing there.”
In reality, Nigel has long loved the event and had a close association with Trevor.
“I’ve entered the show as long as I’ve been here. I’ve always floated around with ideas and been a sponsor.”
During the transition, he also “assisted Trevor running it for the last two years.”
It’s quite the shift — from entrant and sponsor to running a major event powered by volunteers, and there have been some changes. The formal sit-down dinners of years past have been replaced with something more relaxed.
“A local party up at one of the main wineries, Chalk Hill Wines, where anyone involved can come along — people who’ve donated time, marshals, everyone. We’ll have a live DJ. It’ll just be a fun night,” Nigel says.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the Best Dressed Competition, where drivers and passengers dress to match the era of their car — always a crowd favourite.
The centrepiece of the event is the Main Road Parade — hundreds of cars rolling through McLaren Vale. It’s the heart of the show, and Nigel paints a clear picture.
“We all start at Serafino Winery. I’m going to have a stab in the dark — four to five hundred cars. We close the main street of McLaren Vale and parade down with about 20,000 people lining the street. We’ve got a couple of biplanes doing a flyover at the same time.”
After the parade, things branch out, with vehicles splitting off to 11 different venues.
Nigel is enthusiastic about the variety on offer. “The range is insane. We’ve got one guy bringing a 1904 car — the oldest in the event.”
This is where McLaren Vale’s wine culture and automotive passion come together.
“We break the car clubs down into groups. The Mustangs go to one, Holdens to another.” Each winery hosts a mix of cars, alongside its own food, music and atmosphere.
With 30-plus car clubs involved, some wineries host multiple groups. Nigel rattles off just a few — “Escort Club, GT Falcon Ford Club, Capri Club, Ford Falcon Club.”
Each venue offers something different. At Serafino Wines you’ll find MG, Fiat and Italian cars. At the Visitor Centre it’s BMW, Porsche, VW, Saab, Mazda and Volvo. If American classics are your thing head to Paxton McLaren Vale for Buick, Packard, Pontiac, Corvette and Chevy.
As Nigel points out, the winery connection is at the core of the event. “This is how half of it started — a really good way of supporting and building up McLaren Vale and the wineries.
“Every winery’s within five minutes of another. You go out to the Barossa and you’ve got a 20-minute drive between them. Here, you could ride a push bike.”
For Nigel, the real magic lies in the people. “There’s lots of everything for any kind of enthusiast.”
Car club members, he says fondly, are, “funny, kooky people — passionate storytellers”.
“If they bought a car from America, they’ll tell you how it got here. Others will tell you how they bought a pile of shit, brought it home and restored it the whole process.”
There’s not much downtime between events.
“We’ll start the next one only a few months after this one. We’re going to try for government and council grants again — this year was self-funded.”
As for the future? After stepping into the role, Nigel is clear.
“I don’t think we’ll change a huge amount. It’s a great, successful event. We’ve got a pretty good formula that works well — and everyone enjoys it.”
For more information, visit the website: vintageandclassic.com.au