Tag - Cars

Something was obviously happening. Everywhere we looked we saw beautifully preserved or restored cars from a bygone era.

We headed to Burswood yesterday where some markets had been set up to celebrate Chinese New Year. There was lots of yummy Asian food as well as a range of Asian entertainment from places such as China, Japan and India.

We noticed lots of shiny old cars were heading through the Burswood car park towards a large grassed area. When we were leaving we drove past the area and saw many more cars and enthusiasts.

During the afternoon we met up with Pauline’s parents to have a swim at a riverside pool and we noticed dozens of old cars driving up and down a road by the river.

Later, we headed towards Pauline’s parent’s home. We stopped along the way to grab some dinner and saw hundreds of the cars, all polished and purring, driving up Canning Highway. Pauline and her mum managed to ask the occupants of an old Holden Monaro what was going on and they were told that it was Big Al’s Poker Run. The run is an annual event that regularly draws around 700 vehicles.

In an all-but-forgotten corner of the Frankston Caravan Park in Victoria can be found the birthplace of WA’s most famous hot rodding event. Nestled amidst the weeds and long grass is the very caravan within which Al Erdman and Eric Warren, after participating in the Confederates Rod & Custom Club Poker Run of 1980 and armed with little else besides a pencil, some beer and an out-of-date Perth street directory pulled from the clutter on the back seat, created the very first Big Al’s Poker Run.

Soon after their return to the west coast, the inaugural Run was held. On that second Saturday in February 1981, entrants paid $5 to enter and cruised from the Carousel Shopping Centre carpark to the finish at Bernie’s Drive-in Hamburger Bar on Riverside Drive where the judging was done by Mal Hardwick. Eight trophies were given away that night, amongst them Top Street Rod which was won by John Hyde’s ’39 Ford Sloper and Top Street Machine awarded to Lee Weir’s Pontiac. History doesn’t record who won the Joker prize of a monster-steak barbecue pack. That first Poker Run attracted 52 entrants. Two decades years later, it takes a staff of 60 just to man the event. The Run has grown to a size where it demands six months worth of organising, involves numerous government departments and attracts a growing list of sponsors.

I’d heard of Big Al’s Poker Run before but really knew nothing about it. From my understanding, the participants are given instructions and then make their way via various detours to their destination for an evening of celebration.

Maybe we should mark the second Saturday in February 2009 on our calendar and be at the starting point to have a closer look at the vehicles involved.