Whitsunday Lions Classic Car Display draws crowds to Airlie Beach

 The inaugural Whitsunday Lions classic car display proved extremely popular with locals, visitors and businesses in the Airlie CBD, who jointly benefitted from Sunday’s event.

 Lions club member and event organiser Geoff Smith said the concept of bringing classic cars to the foreshore at Airlie Beach originally came from noticing the crowd-pulling appeal of vintage bikes.

 “There were classic bike enthusiasts who used to arrive en masse and park their bikes here. People would always stop and admire the bikes but one day, while the riders were off spending money in town, the police turned up and left what we believe were parking tickets on their seats and we haven’t seen them since,” Mr Smith said.

 With this in mind, Mr Smith approached Whitsunday Regional Council requesting parking permits for a classic car event.

 “They were very helpful. I hope there’s someone here from council to see how good it’s been,” he told the Guardian on Sunday, as literally hundreds of people stopped by to admire the display.

 A total of 34 rare and classic cars were on show, including eight from the Holden Club in Mackay, a number from the Proserpine Restorers Club and one from the Jaguar Club, with the rest being privately owned.

 Mr Smith said there were at least another 10 cars on stand-by “because we just couldn’t fit them in”.

 “I knew there were a lot of cars out there. My neighbour has 30,” he said.

 The location at the junction of Shute Harbour Road and the Esplanade was chosen to maximise exposure for the Airlie CBD.

 “The whole idea was to bring people into the middle of town. We didn’t want to do it in a supermarket carpark or a football oval – that could be anywhere. We wanted it to be in Airlie Beach on a high tide to bring people into town for a family day,” Mr Smith said.

 Mr Smith said the display was so successful he was already looking to organise another.

 “This could maybe even lead to a full concourse event.”

 Local resident and car exhibitor John Cadwallader said he thought a Whitsundays’ concourse could be “bigger than Pebble Beach” (USA).

 “It’s a perfect way to showcase the area and the cars,” Mr Cadwallader said.

 To register interest in any further events contact Geoff Smith on 0437 224 648.