Repco Shines on Overcast Day

By Mark Humphrey

Truganina, Vic/Aus. 2^nd September 2015.  A bitterly cold weather front greeted the participants in this year’s Repco Hoppers Crossing Father’s Day Show n Shine held at the Foresite Training complex in Truganina. Car numbers were down as you would expect given the conditions but for the brave who ventured out to wander through the display they weren’t disappointed.The event showcased some of the stores major trading partners with companies such as Iron Heads Custom Motorcycles, Backlash Automotive, Penrite Oil, Sassy Party Hire & Event Services, Saas Automotive and Nulon showcasing their products. Backlash Automotive in particular was well represented with a number of promotional vehicles on hand to showcase their creative personal touch to the automotive industry.Backlash Automotive had several machines on display

Iron Head Custom Motorcycles was once again supporting the Repco Father’s Day show and I caught up with owner Alastair Coalter to get a few quick words on the expanding custom motorcycle business and started by asking Alastair the background of the business “well we have only been going a couple of years now here in Hoppers Crossing. The last time out at the Repco show was our first and since then we have had to move to a larger premises due to the workload” he said. Alastair added “we thought we would put something together for last year’s show with Repco and since then we have just gotten bigger to the point where we were just running out of room”. Iron Horse Custom Motorcycles caters for the customer off the street and can give your bike that personal custom touch from mild to wild. “Yeah I guess we cater for everything from mild to wild. You can bring in your Harley or metro and we can throw a set of apes’ at it, custom exhausts, complete rebuilds, anything you can imagine we can do at Iron Heads” he said. Looking at the bike on display I asked Alastair how Iron Heads got involved with the build “Yeah this is Shelley’s bike and we got it as a stock standard heritage Harley. We did the fishtail pipes, extended the cables to allow for 18” apes, installed a springer front end and threw a heap of accessories at her to finish it off” he said. Alastair added “whether it’s an update or simply just change the ride of the bike we can do it from full customize packages to engine rebuilds”. Iron Heads Custom Motorcycles are located at 387 Old Geelong Road Hoppers Crossing.Iron Heads Custom Motorcycles - www.ironheads.com.au - sales@ironheads.com.au

For noise the GEMWAR Gemini burnout car provided that familiar open exhaust rumble as it cruised from the trailer to the display point inside the warehouse nestled amongst some of the regions finest late model street cars.

Gemini Burnout CarThe Renegades Hot Rod Club had rolled in with a number of club members displaying their vehicles and the Collectable Vehicle Club had a handful of vehicles also on display. The Boss Mustang was a standout in the Collectable Vehicle Club display.Classic Corvette Stingray

Several of the regions mobile food and beverage vans had set up both indoors and outdoors to feed the interested onlookers while the kids were getting their faces painted inside. The nominated charity of the day was the Victorian Police Blue Ribbon Foundation’s Westgate branch. I talked to Elizabeth from the Westgate branch who informed me that the foundation was set up to perpetuate the memory of officers killed in the line of duty. All money raised by the foundation goes towards public community projects with the recipients more often than not hospitals. The Alfred Hospital has benefited from a lot of equipment purchased through the proceeds of the foundation over the years with the emergency department of the Footscray Hospital the latest beneficiary of the Westgate branch. Elizabeth said “we recently completed a project to redevelop the emergency department of the Footscray Hospital to perpetuate the memory of police officer Tim Lewczuk who tragically died in a car accident while on duty” she said. The Victorian Police force supports the charity and all monies raised go directly to the foundation with proceeds going towards community projects. The foundation retains a very small portion of the fundraising to cover the cost of 3 administration staff. With over 15 branches state wide the foundation is seen as a vital cog in community fundraising.Victorian Police Blue Ribbon Foundation

Although the weather had a major impact on the event, for those that braved the chilly conditions they were rewarded with a small but fun show provided by the host Repco Hoppers Crossing.  Usually run on the Saturday of the Father’s Day weekend the organisation is hoping to return to the familiar date next year.  Mark it in the calendar for next year.

For more information on this year’s event go to: https://www.facebook.com/RepcoHoppersCrossing?fref=ts