Belletts Nationals in Issue 395 of Unique Cars
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:36 pm
Hey guys,
Let me tell you a little story. Back when I got into Belletts, it was about 1997 and I was around 19 years old. Myself and Ross Smith (2ldohc) had gone halves in a clapped out 1967 Auto which had been traded in at a Subaru dealership in Verdun in the Adelaide Hills.
We paid $100 each for it, knocked the dealership down by $100 and drove it away with rego. I will point out that I'd lost my license for dangerous driving a few weeks earlier, but we won't go into that.
I wanted to learn more about this strange little car. Together we bought two more which eventually became parts and since then I've bought and sold a few more.
Every month, I would buy Unique Cars magazine and check straight away if there was a Bellett article in there, but there never was. Never a road test, resto story or history piece. Nothing, zero, zip.
Over the years, I came to realise that Belletts just aren't on the radar; even when people are talking about the weird, strange, eclectic and forgotten, Belletts barely rated a mention.
In 2010, myself and the aforementioned Ross decided to set up an importing business, Garage of Awesome. We thought that with the dollar good against the US, we'd make a killing, quit our jobs and drive around in cool cars.
Well needless to say, working a small business around your normal daily life isn't that easy and it didn't help that the Australian government's malaise when it came to processing import applications almost broke us.
Wanting to ensure people kept returning to the site, I decided I would start writing articles and uploading them every few days. I also wanted to educate, inform and entertain, styling my writing a bit like "Cracked.com", but with cars.
After about three years of articles on everything from cars we'd spied for sale, cars we'd spotted in real life and 'list' pieces on the various machines that we'd come across on our Internet travels, a mate of mine suggested I apply to Telf from Street Machine as he was looking for fresh contributors.
I got the gig and wrote an article on a Divco van that had been converted into a streeter with monstrous V8 and rear wheels that were, wait for it, 20in by 20in! A small piece on a 27 litre Merlin-powered lawnmower followed and the rest is history; I've now written 44 articles for Street Machine that have been sent to print!
This also opened the door for Unique Cars, for whom I wrote about the Bay to Birdwood last year, followed by five more articles including this latest one; the six-pager on the Bellett Nationals in Albury.
So finally, I can open a copy of Unique Cars and find an article on the mighty Bellett; and not a small article either. It took some negotiation to get the six pages, plus a shortened deadline which meant I put in a couple of late nights.
I'm immensely proud to have this article printed and I'm very happy about the people who have been featured.
As discussed previously, I did send Unique Cars copious photos and I'm not in editorial control of what they run or where they run it.
Also I would like to point out that the more beautiful Belletts of this nation have received the odd photo when combined with a NSW or Queensland show; mainly because the clubs in those states are so active and get out to plenty of events.
I wrote up several "It's Mine" breakouts and requested Unique Cars run as many as they could, because they're all deserving of having their cars in the sun.
Belinda Wild - a third generation Bellett enthusiast, her '69 Deluxe is a rare car in a rare colour in a rare condition! I wanted to include her as she represents the next generation of enthusiasts for these cars which, sadly, is an ever diminishing amount of people.
Stickman - one of the Bellett world's greatest characters. He has driven more miles in his Bellett in the last few years he's had it than some will travel in theirs EVER. His enthusiasm for getting in and driving his car is unbounded. There is nobody in the world who wants to drive for as far and as long, then finish the day sleeping in the Bellett he just drove a thousand miles in!
Terry Hill - bought two cars worth of bits; one sedan and one GT, then worked out how to put it all together himself with no prior car restoration knowledge. His PR90 is not the tidiest PR90 in the world and it's got some wrong bits, but without him, there would be one less PR90 in the world and his car would still be in bits or pressed flat by now.
The Smith Brothers - the most enthusiastic Bellett family in the world, surely. I wanted those boys to get some exposure, because they've been there since day one and are still there today.
Gary Carter - another bloke who has been there since day one, he's one of my favourite characters. His incredible stories and vehicle knowledge makes him a pleasure to see every year. I'm jealous that Matt Smith lives so close to Gary and can experience the insanity of his conversation more often than most. Most of all, featuring Gary gave an opportunity to give some exposure to the rare Isuzu 117 Coupe, illustrating that Bellett enthusiasm is far from capped at Belletts only!
I also sent an "It's Mine" on Glenn Percy's Bellett 1800 Sport; not only has Glenn been around these cars for a long time, his Bellett Sport two-door sedan is something else we've never seen and is (almost) a one-of-a-kind in this country, however editorial limitations meant that Unique Cars did not run it.
Although every person's car was photographed, not every photo got run in the article. All the main award winners got a mention which is important, but I also had to dedicate words to the experience and the history of the event, something one doesn't have to do if they're covering a Mustang event for the billionth time.
So go out and get a copy; it's the largest Bellett article I've seen since Tom Amos and Brett Wild respectively had their cars covered in the now-defunct Australian Classic Car magazine, and given the popularity of Belletts on the wider scale, possibly the last we'll see for a decade or so!
I'm just really proud I could push our cars into the spotlight for however brief a time and if one guy gets misty eyed reading the article and decides to buy one to hoon around in, then we'll have another mad person to welcome to the fold!!
Cheers,
Dave
Let me tell you a little story. Back when I got into Belletts, it was about 1997 and I was around 19 years old. Myself and Ross Smith (2ldohc) had gone halves in a clapped out 1967 Auto which had been traded in at a Subaru dealership in Verdun in the Adelaide Hills.
We paid $100 each for it, knocked the dealership down by $100 and drove it away with rego. I will point out that I'd lost my license for dangerous driving a few weeks earlier, but we won't go into that.
I wanted to learn more about this strange little car. Together we bought two more which eventually became parts and since then I've bought and sold a few more.
Every month, I would buy Unique Cars magazine and check straight away if there was a Bellett article in there, but there never was. Never a road test, resto story or history piece. Nothing, zero, zip.
Over the years, I came to realise that Belletts just aren't on the radar; even when people are talking about the weird, strange, eclectic and forgotten, Belletts barely rated a mention.
In 2010, myself and the aforementioned Ross decided to set up an importing business, Garage of Awesome. We thought that with the dollar good against the US, we'd make a killing, quit our jobs and drive around in cool cars.
Well needless to say, working a small business around your normal daily life isn't that easy and it didn't help that the Australian government's malaise when it came to processing import applications almost broke us.
Wanting to ensure people kept returning to the site, I decided I would start writing articles and uploading them every few days. I also wanted to educate, inform and entertain, styling my writing a bit like "Cracked.com", but with cars.
After about three years of articles on everything from cars we'd spied for sale, cars we'd spotted in real life and 'list' pieces on the various machines that we'd come across on our Internet travels, a mate of mine suggested I apply to Telf from Street Machine as he was looking for fresh contributors.
I got the gig and wrote an article on a Divco van that had been converted into a streeter with monstrous V8 and rear wheels that were, wait for it, 20in by 20in! A small piece on a 27 litre Merlin-powered lawnmower followed and the rest is history; I've now written 44 articles for Street Machine that have been sent to print!
This also opened the door for Unique Cars, for whom I wrote about the Bay to Birdwood last year, followed by five more articles including this latest one; the six-pager on the Bellett Nationals in Albury.
So finally, I can open a copy of Unique Cars and find an article on the mighty Bellett; and not a small article either. It took some negotiation to get the six pages, plus a shortened deadline which meant I put in a couple of late nights.
I'm immensely proud to have this article printed and I'm very happy about the people who have been featured.
As discussed previously, I did send Unique Cars copious photos and I'm not in editorial control of what they run or where they run it.
Also I would like to point out that the more beautiful Belletts of this nation have received the odd photo when combined with a NSW or Queensland show; mainly because the clubs in those states are so active and get out to plenty of events.
I wrote up several "It's Mine" breakouts and requested Unique Cars run as many as they could, because they're all deserving of having their cars in the sun.
Belinda Wild - a third generation Bellett enthusiast, her '69 Deluxe is a rare car in a rare colour in a rare condition! I wanted to include her as she represents the next generation of enthusiasts for these cars which, sadly, is an ever diminishing amount of people.
Stickman - one of the Bellett world's greatest characters. He has driven more miles in his Bellett in the last few years he's had it than some will travel in theirs EVER. His enthusiasm for getting in and driving his car is unbounded. There is nobody in the world who wants to drive for as far and as long, then finish the day sleeping in the Bellett he just drove a thousand miles in!
Terry Hill - bought two cars worth of bits; one sedan and one GT, then worked out how to put it all together himself with no prior car restoration knowledge. His PR90 is not the tidiest PR90 in the world and it's got some wrong bits, but without him, there would be one less PR90 in the world and his car would still be in bits or pressed flat by now.
The Smith Brothers - the most enthusiastic Bellett family in the world, surely. I wanted those boys to get some exposure, because they've been there since day one and are still there today.
Gary Carter - another bloke who has been there since day one, he's one of my favourite characters. His incredible stories and vehicle knowledge makes him a pleasure to see every year. I'm jealous that Matt Smith lives so close to Gary and can experience the insanity of his conversation more often than most. Most of all, featuring Gary gave an opportunity to give some exposure to the rare Isuzu 117 Coupe, illustrating that Bellett enthusiasm is far from capped at Belletts only!
I also sent an "It's Mine" on Glenn Percy's Bellett 1800 Sport; not only has Glenn been around these cars for a long time, his Bellett Sport two-door sedan is something else we've never seen and is (almost) a one-of-a-kind in this country, however editorial limitations meant that Unique Cars did not run it.
Although every person's car was photographed, not every photo got run in the article. All the main award winners got a mention which is important, but I also had to dedicate words to the experience and the history of the event, something one doesn't have to do if they're covering a Mustang event for the billionth time.
So go out and get a copy; it's the largest Bellett article I've seen since Tom Amos and Brett Wild respectively had their cars covered in the now-defunct Australian Classic Car magazine, and given the popularity of Belletts on the wider scale, possibly the last we'll see for a decade or so!
I'm just really proud I could push our cars into the spotlight for however brief a time and if one guy gets misty eyed reading the article and decides to buy one to hoon around in, then we'll have another mad person to welcome to the fold!!
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Cheers,
Dave
Well done Dave,GREAT ARTICLE,always love your photo's,pity you couldn't have the cover,now that would be asking too much,again well done,Gerry
