Peter and Cherrie take poll position at Rockynats scrutineering
Published on 31 March 2021
Rockhampton couple Peter and Cherrie Collins are so keen to be a part of the first ever Rare Spares Rockynats they were among the first to have their car scrutineered on Tuesday night.
In fact, they arrived at the Rockhampton Showgrounds early enough to secure a spot in the front row for their gleaming red 1969 XW GT Falcon, which passed the stringent safety criteria for the Muscle Car class with flying colours.
And the significance of the occasion was not lost on Queensland Rail administration officer Peter.
“It is an historic moment to be one of the first couple of cars checked over and given the ‘good to go’ for the very first Rockynats – it’s a piece of history when you think about it,” he said.
Peter said not a lot of thought needed to be given to what he and the Falcon would participate in this week.
“I’ll be giving the drifting a miss because last time I drifted I hit something hard – the wall.
“But this week we’ll do plenty of cruising and I’ll give the street drags a crack to see how we go,” he said.
Cherrie, a teacher’s aide at Port Curtis Road State School, shares a deep love of motorsport and car restoration with her husband.
“We used to drive our children Sarah and David to soccer when they were younger and we always got some looks from the other parents,” she said.
“These days I drive it to school every now and then and when I do, the children will invariably ask me for a ride.
“But one thing we both get a lot of pleasure out of is driving special needs children to their school formals each year.
“They love it and there’s nothing better than seeing the grins on their faces when the car club vehicles rock up to take them to their big night,” she said.
The public are invited to come and see the cars and check out the scrutineering process from 9.00am – 6.00pm today (31 March) and 9.00am –7.00pm on Thursday 1 April.
The 2021 Rare Spares Rockynats is presented by Rockhampton Regional Council, Naming Rights Sponsor Rare Spares and supporting precinct and event sponsors