We are Chasing History

There was no last-ditch rescue effort the following morning, no protest at parliament as 22 million Australians woke up short of a cultural icon. Once showing a sprightly 2000 revolutions per minute, the lifeless tachometer proved we took no for an answer.

Turbulent times preceded its demise with a perfect storm of plunging sales and growing resistance to government handouts to the haemorrhaging automotive giants.

Dared to crumble in parliament, the car industry misfired into its darkest hour. Three years later, the lights went out for good.

Gloomy pictures filled news bulletins and newspapers that October, but manufacturing regions entered their next chapter and Australia moved on.

Now, the days when the family motor car was bolted together by your neighbour fade further into history. 

However, the engine still cranks. 

The spirit of our car industry is everywhere.

The Australian motor car is as much a part of our country as spending a summer afternoon at the beach or munching on a pie at the footy. 

It’s up to all of us to carry the legacy of the industry for decades to come and the pride in what we built shall not be bound by age or upbringing. 

But we shouldn’t keep it to ourselves.

Let’s be proud of Australian manufacturing past and present and shout it from the rooftops.

Let’s celebrate the people who spent their days designing and building the cars that powered our adventures.

Let’s share photos and trade stories that tell more people about an industry that gave generations of Australians a chance.

Let’s create a groundswell of ingenuity in dusty sheds around our nation and bind together to save locally-built cars when they’re all but bound for the wrecking yard. 

Let’s add many more chapters to our Australian automotive story, even after the biggest factories have fallen.

We are Chasing History.