MG Car Club of South Australia
PRE-WAR MG NATIONAL
MEETING - YAMBA NSW
From..Terry Wright
T
his biennial event was held at
Yamba, NSW, from 6 th to 9 th Sep-
tember 2019, and the South Australian
participants were Bob and Michelle
Bazzica (1934 MG KN) and Arthur
Ruediger (1934 MG ND) with Terry
Wright as navigator/dogsbody. Both
MG’s were trailered to Yamba, but by
vastly different routes.
The format of the meeting followed the
same pattern as in 2017 (also at
Yamba), with a reception on the Friday
evening (6 th ), a display day at the
nearby town of McLean on Saturday,
and touring events (with pub lunches)
on Sunday and Monday. Dinners were
organised for Saturday and Monday
evenings. It was no surprise that there
was a most impressive gathering of
magnificent machines, covering a very
wide range of pre-war production from
M-Types to TA’s, with a good represen-
tation of sedans included.
At the display in the main shopping
street of McLean, Bob and Arthur were
among the group of owners who spoke
publicly about their cars. Spectators
over the weekend ranged from enthusi-
astic children and adults at McLean to
curious cattle along the banks of the
Clarence River.
The event had been scheduled for early
September with the hope of enjoying
more favourable weather than in 2017,
when heavy October rain had affected
proceedings. The 2019 weather condi-
tions were in stark contrast to the earlier
occasion, starting with glorious sun-
shine but, sadly, ending on Monday with
threatening bush-fires in the region
causing the evacuation of the luxury
26
resort at Angourie where the MG contin-
gent was housed. The resort manage-
ment produced a remarkable contin-
gency plan whereby we were re-located
to a motel in Yamba and the farewell
dinner venue was transferred to the
Yamba Golf Club. We were told later
that evening that the fire had travelled
to within a kilometre of the Angourie
Resort.
The highlight of the meeting had been
the touring events which involved con-
siderable distances over narrow country
roads (with ferry crossings) by the
banks of the mighty Clarence River. It
was a perfect setting in which to appre-
ciate the majesty of touring in a beauti-
ful, pre-war MG.