Gawler SA, 1957 and 2009

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

This picture was sent in by Philip Ivanov one of the SA Club members, 1957 Murray Street Gawler.


I finally pulled my finger out and tried to get a shot of the same scene today, no FEs to be seen though  :'(

[TTV6FC]

Nice work Glenn,it would be rare to see such a small change in a main street...

[mcl1959]

Great pair of photos - notice the front chimney is gone in the hotel?
Does he know anything about the gathering of FE's - it looks intriguing
Some female drivers, some male drivers
No uniforms
The 3rd car has driving lights so it would seem they are not fleet cars
The cars are all odd colours, but all seem to be specials
The 5th car has a radio fitted
The closest car has passengers in it and so does the second one
Maybe it was a really good sales day and all cars sold on the one day and the purchasers were gathered for a photo?
As I said I am intrigued by the photo - any one else like to hypothesise??? :P

Ken

[FC427]

Great shot Philip & Glen  The good old days before Jap cars invaded the Australian Road........FC427......

[CraigA]

A line up disgruntled FE owners waiting for the FC to be released??  ;D ;D

Amazing picture, the line up even seems to extend past the right side of the image.

Nice find.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

The major changes are the veranda to the row of shops and a chimney lost from the hotel. The Old Spot Hotel is supposedly haunted, not sure of the exact history though.

Here's an uncropped colour shot.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

The number plates were all over the place : 507-086, 519-595, 1913, 12(?)-010 and I can't make out the last one.

Maybe it was the SA Club's very first cruise  :P
Steinborner Holden is just down the road but that didn't open until 1984  :-\

[zulu]

Might have been something to do with the Melbourne Olympic Games ? wrong state & date though?

[Paul In Ireland]

Ken - you missed people in the 3rd car and the kerb has been changed in front of the shops.....  ;D

Is there a church near by? Could it be after mass/service and coincidently a row of holdens? The people look to be in their sunday best.


8)

[Paul In Ireland]

Surely you could get a few FE's for a photo op at some point and recreate it for a laugh?

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

You'd need 8 FE's to re-create that shot, the club's lucky to get 8 cars including ring-ins to a run  :P
The pedestrian refuge would cause a problems and I am sure the council would like some notice of a stunt like that considering we'd be parking against the flow of traffic.
In all not impossible, just bloody difficult

[Paul In Ireland]

And you have a guy in SA with over 20 cars....
;D

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

And you have a guy in SA with over 20 cars....
;D

That lives at the polar opposite of Adelaide, which is dead on 101kms away  :'(

[NosFEratu]

I've got 1 you can use and I'll be out that way next weekend!  ;)

Re the number plates - not so unusual that they are all over the place.  Back then the number plates usually "went" with the owner of the car unless they made a conscious decision to trade/sell it with the car - for example my plate would have been on the car(s) that my dad's uncle owned prior to the FE. 

Kathi

[Johns]

Kathi, thanks for that. (Sorry to hijack your thread Stinky)

I also own a 1965 Fiat 1800 which came from SA and still carries its original plates. The number is 24 -712. I knew the plates were much older than the car, do you have any idea when they might have been issued?

Here is a photo.



Cheers - and apologies - John

[HAD 708]

Hi Guys
A great photo and all FEs too that will get the devotees excited! My thoughts the 3rd car has passengers as well the 6th car looks a bit like a wagon to me, and not to be taken the wrong way but i feel they could be group of "New Australians" possibly on a outing showing off there new found prosperity and there love of Holden cars. Though it does seem a little odd to all be the one model though if they are all related or from the same village etc maybe the shared admiration and availablilty of the model. Would be interesting to know if it was 1956/7 or late 1959/1960/1961 etc as maybe they were all cheaper run out deals or the like.
Anyway great photo all the same!
Brett

[customFC]

This picture was sent in by Philip Ivanov one of the SA Club members, 1957 Murray Street Gawler.

Hey Brett.....1957.
I doubt with the demand for Holdens in the late 50's and the long waiting list that any FE FC was ever reduced to clear.
Regards
Alex

[FE_UTE]

Heres my take on this top photo.......

It appears that the people and cars are at the front of the town hall.

This could be in January for the new Australians to become citizens...this could also be the reason for the Sunday best and also relative to the name of the owner of the pics

Cheers
Gary

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Some additional information on the original 1957 photo supplied recently.

The photo in question was taken for the Centenary of Gawler Council in 1957 (do not know exact date).
The vehicles were supplied by customers of Aero Motors at the time and were driven by the owners and staff of Aero Motors.  All officials were transported to the Town Hall in these vehicles.
My mother is the third woman from the left : Mavis Curnow driving FE Holden reg no : 1913.
Aero Motors was on the northern corner of Lyndoch Road and Murray Street, Gawler.  Now Gawler Country Office.  Aero Motors was a General Motors dealership owned by my father J L Jack Curnow.
Regards
Glen Curnow 

Corner of Lyndoch Road and Murray Street Gawler as described above.


The Old Spot Hotel has recently reopened after a major redevelopment and is now called the Golden Fleece (original name apparently) complete with Golden Fleece "petrolania" and the building to the north demolished with a new carpark and Westpac bank taking it's place.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Here's another picture from GlenC, the Aero Motors site back-in-the-day.
There's also an FB Wagon in there and another car that I can't quite make out.