If there’s one thing that can be said for the transport industry, it’s that resilience is a key trait for commercial success.
It’s the sort of resilience that gets into your blood, and flows through the people who become part of the business, rocking up day in, day out, to do their best, regardless of the conditions.
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For those involved in the annual truck, bus and car gathering at the Yarra Glen Racecourse in November, organised under the auspices of the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club of Australia, resilience was on show in a big way.
The challenge participants and visitors were rallying against for 2025 was wild weather, and plenty of rain. The sort of rain that leaves the ground with new ponds for ducks to play in.
For the HCVCA members, the annual Display Day kicks off on the Saturday (November 8) with a dinner at the racecourse that night, followed by a day of trucks, cars, buses, food, music and family fun on the Sunday.
On Saturday, it bucketed down from a great height for most of the day, soaking the grassed area that usually houses lines of trucks to the point of saturation.
Sunday started out wet and drizzly too, and when combined with major roadworks around that weekend, it meant a few less old trucks and their drivers opted to make the trek to Yarra Glen from their homes around Victoria and beyond.
Yet despite all that, there was still a solid base of fans and exhibitors who rolled up to fill the bitumen parts of the venue and enjoy the annual catch up with friends.
This year’s focus was a celebration of the Bedford Truck, which meant there were about a dozen great examples of this old brand on show, along with plenty of Internationals, a Commer or two.
Blackburn brick master Ben Martin brought along his 1950 Bedford.
Ben, who specialises on using bricks for landscape work, told Deals on Wheels he had decided to restore the old Bedford for use as his work truck and found it created a talking point whenever he was on site.
“People want to take photos of it, or talk about it all the time,” he says. “They definitely remember it”.
On grounds on Sunday there was a Touch a Truck station for the kids, along with a Petting Zoo, Face Painting and access to the playground.
Live music of the Beatles-era rocked out from stage all day, with food trucks, barista coffee and market stalls fulfilling the shopping and eating needs of visitors.
The SES were also on hand to showcase their skills at crash rescue, bringing the jaws of life to bear on a light truck that had been in a head on. Their demonstration was popular with showgoers, drawing a big crowd as the team got to work.
The Chrysler Restorer’s Club turned out with their cars, and the back section of the grounds was dominated by historic buses, parked in neat rows, that brought back plenty of memories for those wandering around for a look.
HCVCA president Frank Mercuri says 2025’s show was still a winner.
“I guess all things considered, it was great.
“It was very wet under-foot, but the sun did shine for most of Sunday, and everyone was in really good spirits.
“As we don’t have a registration process in place, it’s always a case of waiting to see how many and who turns up.
“Sometimes it’s a more pleasant surprise than other times, but given the amount of rain that was still falling Saturday night it was a pretty good turnout.
“Whilst we’ve had a few damp events in the past this was definitely the most water we had to deal with.
“Last time it looked like being this wet, it would have been wetter in fact, we pulled the pin and held the day a few months later.
“It’s really hard to know if it was just the rain that kept display vehicles away or if the disruption to the Melba Highway and the closure of the Eastern Freeway played a part as well.
“All academic really. Those who came enjoyed themselves and that’s all that matters. “We’ll do it again next year and hope for the best.”
For the club, there’s no denying it took a bit of a hit, with Frank saying numbers through the gate were down to about 800 adults plus kids, but “still acceptable given the circumstances”.
“We had around 120 commercial vehicles attend and around another 80 or so cars , mostly from the Chrysler Restorers Club and a good little crowd from the Vauxhall Club to help us celebrate our first feature truck, the mighty Bedford.
“We think having a feature truck to showcase was well received and we plan on continuing the trend for the foreseeable future. Maybe next year it could be Dodge/Commer.
“The dinner on Saturday night was well attended, the best in several years and our guest speaker, Liz Martin, was excellent. The meal was also well received, and everyone appeared to have a great time.
“All the feedback we’ve had so far has been positive.”
For the HCVC this event takes a huge amount of planning every year, and Frank was quick to heap praise on the volunteers and members who turned out to help park the trucks, cars, and guide the public throughout the weekend.
“I’d like to thank the 20 or more volunteers who did all the hard yards on the day, at the gate, the merchandise truck, selling raffle tickets, putting out traffic ones etc, and a really big thank you to all the guys who were out on the road directing the vehicles down the correct driveways. It’s one of those thank-less tasks that needs to be done.
“As has been the case for the last few years, the vehicle marshals were a pretty fair mix of guys from the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club and The Chrysler Restorers Club working together. And they did a great job.
“The biggest thank-you of course goes to the all the people who turned up with their vehicles. Without you there is no display. And for you to have the faith in us that we’d actually be able to get you in and parked up is humbling.
“Thank you all very much. And see you all next year.”
As a third time attendee to this particular event, it was great to witness the camaraderie of those who made the trek and they enjoyed each other’s company and shared the work they’ve been doing on their vehicles for the past 12 months.
There was certainly a great variety of historic vehicles on show, which is exactly what it’s all about. Bring on 2026.
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