Gloucester's popularity as a destination for motoring enthusiasts is well known, but a recent motorcade was right from the pages of history.
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A visit by members of the Austin 7 NSW club rolled into town for the club's 40th anniversary celebratory jaunt, involving 17 members and nine of the historic vehicles.
Members hail from various locations, though predominantly from Sydney, and for most the visit was something of a case of deja vu.
"We'd been here before when we came up 10 years earlier for our 30th anniversary and we even stayed at the same motel," Austin 7 NSW club foundation member, Maureen Boatright said.
Spending five days in town, the group visited the sights in and around Gloucester as well as engaging in drives to Nabiac, Krambach and Stroud.
It seems that wherever the group and their vehicles went they inevitably drew attention from the locals.
"I went to the cake shop to order a special cake for our anniversary barbecue and as soon as I said the name Austin 7 the reaction was, 'Oh, you're the people running up and down the street'," Maureen said.
"Whenever we would pull over for a coffee or whatever, people would come out from everywhere asking questions and were quite thrilled about it."
Dating back to 1923 and produced until 1939 by the Austin Motor Company.
Nicknamed the "Baby Austin" it was at that time one of the most popular cars produced for the British market and sold well abroad.
Its effect on the British market is said to be similar to that of the Model T Ford in the United States, replacing most other British economy cars and cyclecars of the early 1920s.
The vehicle was even assembled in Australia in the aftermath of World War I when the federal government imposed a tariff on imported vehicles, with tax concessions applying to rolling chassis as a way of stimulating a sovereign motor vehicle industry.
A number of coach builders imported the subsidised chassis, fitting them with locally built car bodies for the Australian market. One of these builders was named Holden's Motor Body Builders.
