The International Oldtimer Festival – also known as Jan-Wellem-Pokal – is as classic as the cars competing at the legendary Nürburgring. This year the three day event celebrated its 25th anniversary from June 15th  to 17th. Friday and Saturday the weather was cloudy and rainy but Sunday was a beautiful sunny day. The programme included around ten different race series attracting more than 600 drivers  from various countries. Among the highlights are the historic motorbikes and sidecar bikes.The range of vehicles reaches from the classic De Dion Bouton GP built in 1908 to the high-tech Group C sports car Jaguar XJR16 from 1991. The International Oldtimer Festival features world-famous sports cars, classic touring cars and rare formula cars like the Tyrell P34 six-wheeler.  The demonstration runs for vintage cars featured more then 100 prewar motorcars like Bugattis, MG J2s, Rileys, Lagondas, Austin Sevens, BMWs and Veritas.

Austin 7 racing enthusiasts are lucky in Australia, and in particular,in Victoria where we have a range of expert automotive engineers who have been involved in the building Austin 7s racing cars for local and overseas challenges for many years. Bob Booth along with Bill Morling and Jim Wilde were responsible for the design and construction of three of the 1981 ‘Raid’ cars for Tony Johns, Graeme Steinfort and Max Foster. Richard Stanley built the bodies using a photo of a Grand Prix Bugatti on a workshop wall, as the inspiration for their final shape. These cars and two others went over to the UK and “set the cat amongst the pigeons” as they say but that is another story.

William (Will) Mahany is making a name for himself as a very competent driver in VSCC racing.  He comes from a line of keen motorists, his grandfather was a garage proprietor in Cornwall and his father Ian is the world’s leading authority on HRG’s

Photos by Martin Stubbs, text and Videos by Bill Hunter

From Martin Stubbs

Text and photos by Bill Hunter. Videos below are by Darcy Dean and Bill Hunter  

From the Dacre Stubbs Collection© - Martin Stubbs 

  In continuation of a long tradition, the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (Australia) sponsored its annual grand tour of classic cars, motor cycles and other vehicles. The 2007 Fly the Flag tour took the 200 partcipants on a demanding week of motoring into the northern regions of the state in an event whose origins were the great reliability tours of the 1920s.      

Photos and text by Bill Hunter