Castlemaine 14

Dates 17 – 19 October, 1997
Guest of Honour
Feature Beta

 

Poster

Castlemaine14

Rally Notes

An A(Ha)ppia Castlemaine

 

The weekend started for early comers with a lunch at Mrs Vellacott’s home in Castlemaine.  It has been several years since I have arrived early enough to attend the Friday lunch and I had forgotten how nice this old home and garden is.

 

Friday night is registration time and you can imagine my surprise and delight to see an Appia Zagato.  I had heard that one had been imported to Adelaide but I believed that the car was in pieces.  The Friday night was at a local restaurant.  The location and food were of the highest standard; what a great start to the weekend.

 

The Saturday drive was longer than in previous years and finished in Ballarat, beside the lake.  This was a beautiful setting but very cold.  The quality and variety of cars continues to improve; now there were two Appia Zagatos.  Peter Catalano arrived in his racy looking coupe.

 

The two Appia Zagatos are considerably different.  Both were second series but Peter Catalano’s car was a very early car with a typical Zagato double bubble roof and large 50’s style American fins, refer page 182 of La Lancia (2nd edition).  This car is bright yellow with a large blue racing stripe.  The other car owned by Scott Woodsmith of Adelaide is a later model and is shown on page 183 of La Lancia.  Scott’s car is painted an attractive red and is more refined in appearance.  The two Appias had recently been imported from the USA with Peter’s car spending most of it’s life in Mexico.

 

The Saturday night’s dinner was a great chance to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, tell a few lies and perhaps drink too much.  All in all a very enjoyable evening.

 

To see four Appias lined up on the Saturday was the highlight of the weekend for me, what a treat to see the two Zagatos.  With another four Appias in the country, who knows maybe we could see eight Appias at Castlemaine 15.

 

The Sunday night dinner concluded a most enjoyable weekend.  Each time Castlemaine comes around, I ask myself if I want to make the long trek again?  After a weekend like this it is a difficult to answer anything but YES!

 

The Appia ran faultlessly for the whole trip, which was almost 6,000 kms.  On the Newell Highway, which has a 110 kph speed limit, we averaged 100 to 105 kph between towns and returned 34mpg (11.8km/I).  Although lacking some of the creature comforts of modern models the car is a joy to drive and a very capable touring vehicle.

 

Neville Anderson

Trophy Winners

 

Class Winner Category Information
Pre-Lambda John Shellard, 1919 Kappa
Don Wright Shield Alan Shepherd, 7th Series Torpedo Best Recent Lambda Restoration
“A” Series Award Scott Woodsmith, Appia Zagato Artena, Augusta, Astura, Appia, Ardea
Fobello Trophy Angelo Catalano, 1st Series Berlina Best Aprilia
Clive Beattie Award Andrew Lawson, 1st Series B20 Best Aurelia
Flaminia Trophy David Long, Flaminia Touring GT
Fulvia Trophy John Pagan, 1st Series Berlina
Beta Trophy Augusto Favrin, 2nd Series Coupe
Gerald Batt Trophy Ray Long, Lambda Torpedo Long Distance Award, Aurelia or earlier – New South Wales
Best Car in Show Alan Shepherd, Lambda 7th Series Torpedo

 

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