2005

20 November 2005, Sunday: Historic Commercial Vehicle Club of Aust., 24th. Annual Display Day, 9am-3pm, Sandown Racecourse, Princes Highway, Springvale, Victoria 3171, .au, Melway Map 80 Ref C 9, $10 adult, u14 free.

4-6 November 2005: 'National Historics' (R4A), Sandown International Raceway, Vic., .au.

20-23 October 2005: National 4x4 Show, Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre, .au [www].

19 October 2005: The Todd River (Alice Springs, NT) is flowing.

13-23 October 2005: Australian International Motor Show (Sydney Motor Show), Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. (was www.australianmotorshow.com)

1-2 October 2005: Winton Motor Raceway's Historic Motor Festival, vintage, veteran, classic, custom,... [www].

1 September 2005:   Oil prices rose to us$70+/- per barrel after Hurricane Katrina caused damage to oil production and refining operations in the Carribean and in southern states of the USA. This is approaching prices seen in the 1970's oil shock (inflation adjusted). Locally, petrol is over au$1.20/L and tipped to rise further.

11 August 2005:   More cold and bleak weather. There was even snow at Apollo Bay.

4 August 2005: After a very mild July, bleak weather => snow in the Victorian Alps. Which makes you think about serious heaters such as... (was www.webasto.com.au/am_rv_heaters_833.html) webasto, 3.5kW.

July 2005:   The annual RACV survey of car running costs includes: Toyota Corolla 1.8L auto, 50c/km, $143/wk; Toyota Camry 2.4L auto, 61c/km, $175/wk; Holden Commodore 3.6L auto, 71c/km, $204/wk; Mitsubishi Pajero GLS 3.8L auto 4×4, 98c/km, $283/wk; Toyota Landcruiser GXL 6-cyl 4.2L t.diesel, $1.08/km, $313/wk — all based on 15,000km/yr and 5-year ownership. Generally, standing costs – depreciation, interest, insurance – are very roughly 3/4 of the total. Running costs range from about 15c/km to 25c/km.
(The recent rise in fuel costs is a very obvious extra running cost, it actually has a much smaller % effect on total costs. Pity the Brits who are paying 90+p/L = au$2+/L.)

29 June 2005:   Severe flooding at Lismore, NSW, and the Gold Coast, Qld.

26 June 2005: Some snow @ Mt. Hotham and Falls Ck., Vic., but "poor" elsewhere.

24-26 June 2005: Goodwood Festival of Speed [www].

24-25 June 2005: National 4x4 Show, Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park, .au [www].

19 June 2005: All Australian Makes Swap-Meet, Sandown, Melbourne, .au.

18-19 June 2005: Le Mans 24-Hours race [www]. 1. #3 Champion Racing (Audi R8) / LMP1, Lehto/ Werner/ Kristensen, 370 laps,  2. #16 - Pescarolo Sport (Pescarolo Judd) / LMP1, Collard/ Bouillion/ Comas, 368 laps,  3. #2 - Champion Racing (Audi R8) / LMP1, Biela/ Pirro/ McNish, 364 laps.

13-19 June 2005: MotorExpo Canary Wharf, UK.

11-13 June 2005: Finke Desert Race [www], .au (Queen's Birthday long weekend).

14-16 May 2005:   Blinman 2005, South Australia – Land Rover Register of South Australia Inc..

25 April 2005:   Anzac Day.

22-25 April 2005: National 4x4 Show, Brisbane, RNA Showgrounds, .au [www].

5-16 April 2005: Lindsay Fox Car Collection open, Queen's Warehouse, corner of Batman and Stadium Dve., Docklands, Melbourne, Vic., .au (adults $10, u12 $5).

1-3 April 2005 (Tues-Sat): Man From Snowy River Bush Festival, Corryong, Vic., .au [www].

31 March 2005:   Toyota will start to "wind down" the Daihatsu "sales arm" (currently Charade, Coppen, Delta truck, Sirion, and Terios 4×4) in Australia.

25 March 2005: Easter, Good Friday.

15-20 March 2005: Australian International Airshow [www] Avalon, Victoria. NB Trade only Tues 15th - Fri 18th.

11-14 March 2005: 29th Port Fairy Folk Festival [www], Victoria, Australia.

6 March 2005, Sunday: Australian F1 Grand Prix, Albert Park Lake, Melbourne, Victoria. 1 Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), 2 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 3 Fernando Alonso (Renault), 4 David Coulthard (Red Bull), 5 Mark Weber (Williams-BMW).

3 (Thurs) - 14 (Monday) March 2005: Melbourne International Motor Show ($16.50, $9 u16).

3-13 March 2005: 75th Geneva Motor Show [www].

20 February 2005, Sunday:   Victorian 4WD Show [www] Wandin, Victoria, .au, (Melways 119 G7).

31 Dec 2004 - 16 January 2005:   27th Paris-Dakar [www]. Cars: 1. Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi), 2. Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi), 3. Jutta Kleinschmidt (VW). Bikes: Cyril Despres (KTM). Trucks: Kabirov, Belyaev & Mokeev (Kamaz 4911).

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