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Dodge Brothers Club Australia National Rally


Ken_Lincoln

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Go Ken...........your my proxy !!!

No 34`s here at all ... Not even mine ... Had a distributor problem Saturday 525 kms from home and 200 kms short of Forbes, in central New South Wales.

Fortunately, we were only 45 Kms from a friends farm and had it towed there... come on in a modern car..

I got a phone call this afternoon with the news that it is back up and running .. We have arranged a few rides with others and will keep updates

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Hi Ken Sorry to hear that your car has had a bit of a hick up (Dodges don't break down They just fail to proceed ) Kerry and I would have loved to have been there too but we went to Detroit and Blew The Budget and we needed a new car as well when we got back The Mitsi Magna had clocked up 434000 ks and was well past its UBD So unfortunately we cannot simply afford to be there. Please say a big HELLO to everyone from us and we wish you good luck for the remainder of the rally Ron

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G'day all.

Ken you aren't the only one to arrive without their car. We were really looking forward to being there with our DC8 but our usually trusty LandRover blew a head gasket on the Toowoomba Range. No room in a roadster to carry the luggage so after a day of deliberations and attempts to hire a suitable vehicle as well as getting transport for our Land Rover and trailer back to Brisbane we set off to Forbes in our modern car.

All going well. We have been enjoying the company of all the Dodge owners and have been passengers, and drivers, of several cars.

I enjoyed the ride in Graham Neivant's DC 8 sedan. It is the first Dodge 8 apart from my own I have ever had a ride in.

101 cars entered ranging from the immaculately restored to the feral utes that have somehow managed to survive 80 plus years of farm work and still keep going strong.

There was even a shearer's ute complete with Kelpie sheep dog! The dog's owner was concerned about the dog going bald with all the pats she was getting.

It was also great to see some young blokes in their cars. They wouldn't win any trophies but they were sure having fun. Adam Key's didn't even have his 1916 ute running till the Wednesday before the run. Tom and his mate looked a sight in their 1924 ute with a blue polytarp attached to the windscreen pillars and blowing back but keeping them partially dry. All of us had a great trip despite the weather.

Today was display day at McFeeters Museum. It was great to see so many Dodge Brothers cars displayed. It was a pity we couldn't get a photo of them all together.

I have been taking pics and will post some when I return home.

Cheers. Jim

Aussie 8

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What is a "Feral Ute?.

Firstly a ute is an abbreviation for utility vehicle. In other countries other than Australia or New Zealand known as pick ups or bakkies.

Feral means wild, as in a wild dog.

During World War 2 petrol was in very short supply and was rationed for private cars however it was available for vehicles used for production of food for a lot of the war at least.

As a result many farmers cut the backs off their cars and made up various types of bodies usable for carrying produce and general farm goods to markets. Some were professionally done by body builders but most were pretty rough conversions.

After the war many of these utes were made redundant as the owners purchased new cars and utes. Many were put to very menial farm duties where as long as they went it was good enough. Others were used for pig, rabbit and kangaroo shooting or as general carry alls about farms cattle and sheep stations. Most were deregistered and used solely off road. Most had an extremely hard life but many survived or were just put into a shed to be patched up again later.

These surviving vehicles are made drivable and roadworthy and left in the general condition they were found. These are known as "feral utes"

The Dodge Brothers Club of Australasia freely accepts these utes as an important part of our motoring history.

Jim

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Todays run was 41 Miles / 66 kms to Parkes where the Dish radio telescope is ... Cars assembled early for an aerial shot from a cherry picker crane ... we were unable to do it the other day because the Showgrounds oval was too wet ....only a short run and a Presentation Dinner tonight

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  • 2 weeks later...

The fault was an intermittent ... ran fine back into Wagga Wagga .... about 40 kms ..and played up again .. I had the car sent home on a truck { Payes to have full coverage with the R.A.C.V ... No cost} I will select some photos to post when I work out how to reduce the file size

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The Dodge Bros. Club of Australasia Centenary Rally has now finished and we are home again. Despite not having our car there we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the weeks activities.

We made a lot of contacts, rode in many and varied cars, enjoyed great meals and yarns with members from all states of Australia and even New Zealand.

The activities and places visited were very interesting.

Unfortunately we were unable to get a picture of all the 101 cars together however one will be coming taken from a cherry picker organised by the Forbes Council.

The event ran without a hitch, apart from rain on the Monday. The Towns and villages made us feel really welcome.

Highlights included Eugowra. A very small town, relic of the gold rush in the 1850's and site of Australia's biggest ever gold heist. The town is adorned with very well done and interesting murals depicting the history of the town. All the children came to the park to see the cars and ride on Barry's Dodge 4 CFA fire truck. Barry drove up from Victoria towing a vintage tear drop caravan.

At the farewell dinner we had an extremely interesting talk and presentation from a member Ian Neuss who, together with a mate in a 1927 Whippet is travelling overland to Helsinki in a 1920 Dodge tourer. This trip will take about two years. They are presently in Nepal but have returned home for a winter break.

We also visited Utes in the Paddock. Here 17 old Holden utes have been transformed into art works.

Look up the following for more information and pictures..............

Ian's blog bonditothebaltic.blogspot.com.au

utesinthepaddock.com.au

Eugowra N.S.W murals

and also dodgebrosclub.australasia.asn.au/ Thumbnails of all members cars.

I have now resized the photos and will post them in the next couple of days.

Here is my car that didn't make it. Just a trial posting.

Jim

Edited by Aussie 8 (see edit history)
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post-66948-143142803802_thumb.jpgHere come some pictures of the Rally.

1 Shearer's truck. with Kelpie sheep dog.

2 Very smart DA roadster.

3 Adam had this 1916 ute up and running 3 days before heading to the rally.

4 Steve with his 4 cyl. tourer. Plagued with intermittent magneto problems

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Still more.[ATTACH=CONFIG]277923[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]277925[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]277926[/ATTACH]

Interesting special body but original.

2. John's semi hauled logs in theSnowy Mountains of NSW into the 1950's. Scary thought with 2 wheel brakes. Now has electric brakes on the trav filer.

3.Tom Brown's ute. Tom writes regular articles in theDBCA magazine. Doors are light metal frames covered with fabric.

4. Graham Bros 1 tonner truck

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Edited by Aussie 8 (see edit history)
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Steady John........not good for your ticker !!!!

Thanks for posting Ken, great collection of cars there. I went to the motorclassica last weekend and was a bit disappointed, not one Dodge :( I felt this year it was more like.......how much money do you have to throw at a new car.....Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, mclaren, rolls, Bentley, lotus....rather than restored cars. They even had a lot that were up for auction.....although they did have a nice 1936 Cord I admired but that sold for a whopping $238,000

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Guest peter.k

Hallo Ken_ Hallo Dodge Freunde im fernen Australien. Danke für die wunderschönen Bilder von der National Rally Ich bin begeistert von all den schönen Autos. Herzliche grüsse aus Germany

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