Acland Street Show, LTR #425
It was the perfect way to spoil dad on Father’s Day…
Feature: Russ
Photos: Foot in the Bowl Photography
Father’s Day is the one day of the year that dads around the country get spoiled. Unlike Christmas and birthdays, when the celebrations are more in house, Father’s Day is when the dads get to go out and do what they enjoy, and one such location is Showcars Melbourne’s annual Father’s Day Acland Car and Bike Festival. The event is held in St Kilda just a short stroll to Port Phillip Bay and is open to classic cars, hot rods, street machines and bikes.
This year was the ninth running of the show and by far the biggest, no doubt in part due to Melbourne’s last two years of covid lockdowns, with 400+ registered entrants which resulted in numerous vehicles being ‘double parked’ whilst others were allotted to the side streets. And whilst the event is centred around cars, there are quite a few bikes that rock up amongst them, with a mix of classics and custom builds, plus the usual personalised Harleys.
A 1930s Triumph which had been resurrected from a garden shed and was now up and running had the ‘best’ patina at the show. Then there was the rather cool 750 GT Ducati from the seventies with its gold fleck fibreglass tank and side covers. The owner had the various decals for the bike but had yet to put them on as he ‘just liked the look of the bike as it was’. There were even a couple of classic Vespa scooters with one being a mobile disco with its custom-built sidecar.
A more modern ride was the S1000RR BMW. And there’s no doubt that the owner is a diehard BMW freak when the bike, helmet and leathers are all pure BMW. Next to the Beemer was a Repsol Honda ‘race’ bike as part of the promotion of the Australian MotoGP later this year, which was quite impressive.
There was even a guy that turned up on a BMW GS with three dogs in his panniers, all with their own goggles. Apparently they love the ride…
Amongst the modern bikes were the various Harleys that ended up in a side street adjacent to the Palais Theatre and being overlooked by Mr Moon, the giant mouth welcoming people to Luna Park. Near the entrance to the park is where the ‘movie’ cars were parked and this year saw a Mad Max car plus a couple of tribute Kwakas with one sporting a ‘oh shit, this ain’t good’ rider which attracted more than its share of photographs.
The usual place for the custom bikes is outside the Vineyard restaurant with this year being no exception. The bikes on display included some Viclas and a few choppers, all with cool paint schemes and some very tasty customising. These bikes always require a close inspection to view some of the subtleties within the custom work. A little further up the road were the ‘rat’ customs which again had some wild customising. Of special note was an old school chopper, not quite sure how he got it registered with those massive extended forks or how it handles for that matter, but good luck to him.
It really is a great day out, and one that dads from all over Melbourne thoroughly enjoy. And with such a great turnout, hopefully the event isn’t getting too big for the venue, as it’s a very popular car and bike show and is a must for any enthusiast on Father’s Day…
Check out our LiveToRide magazines for more exciting information and keep your passion for riding alive always.