Austalian Street Rod Federation logo © STREET RODDER NEWS ©
Issue No. 13 April 1998

U.S.A. Day
Launceston / Tasmania

The '98 U.S.A. Day was a great day's event. This was the club's 8th Show, with 148 cars and 98 bikes entered, making this year's event the biggest since the 1996 Island State Nationals, maintaining it as the premier car show in the State.

There were several trade stalls selling everything from seatbelts to stickers, but for the conservative shopper there were the swap sites.

With 33 trophies up for grabs, it was good to see that they went to all parts of the State, from Hobart to Burnie. Adrian Heazlwood's '88 Corvette took out "People's Choice" & "Best American Car" awards.

Another winner was Wendy Cumming's blown '34, which Wendy drove to the Show. There were some new rods under construction for the public to see.

Mike Evans took out "Under Construction" and "Best Competition" with his Plymouth Cuda drag car. The toughest competitor Mike had to beat was Steve Bye's copy of Allan Moffatt's Bathurst Mustang. There were also the Tassie Sound Off finals, with some of the loudest car audios, including some from the Big Island, giving a great display. It was good to see that we do attract visitors from the "Big Island", with people there from Victoria and NSW. The day finished at 3:30pm with Trophy Presentation.

U.S.A. Day for some of us started the week before. For Nick it was the listing and purchasing of food for Saturday night and Sunday's event. (I feel that Nick does a great job of this as he has no idea of how many people will turn up. He also enlists Jan's help). For others (like Wayne Bellinger & Karl Mansfield) it was taking the day off work on Friday to set up the utes, trailer and cars with the gear they were going to display. Nick set up his Chev Coupe as a display in the Mall for a few hours on Friday, which drew a lot of attention. I went to Hobart to pick up the tent from A.A.M.I. For some of us things didn't go as expected on the days before the Show, but by Saturday night most things had been overcome. Sunday saw things in a different light, as the Show started to get under way. By 7:30 Sunday night the Show site was cleared and it was only deliveries to the various shops and businesses on Monday and Tuesday to return items borrowed for the Show.

I am pleased to be a member of a club that can put on such a great event each year, and I would like to thank everyone who worked hard for the day. Plus a special thanks to those who gave 110%, not only on the weekend, but all throughout the week.

Story : Wayne Burrows
Van Diemens Street Rod Club

'34 Chev Coupe. Owner Steve Cross from Devonport