Gouger Street Party a mainstay of Adelaide Rally giving public a fun close-up experience of its classic vehicles
The Gouger Street Party in the Adelaide city restaurant strip gave the public a close up fun look at vehicles in the Adelaide Rally, the largest event of its type in the world, with its cars including iconic brands such as Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and McLaren.
Images courtesy Shannon Adelaide Rally
The Gouger Street Party, part of the Adelaide Rally in its original (from 1997) and resumed (from 2016) forms, remained an important and highly successful element of the South Australian event.
Attracting more than 300 entrants across several touring and competitive categories, the Adelaide Rally (formerly Classic Adelaide Rally) was the largest event of its type in the world. It included competitive and non-competitive touring categories to suit drivers and vehicles of all levels. From exotic rally cars to iconic brands such as Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and McLaren, vehicles ranged from purpose-built racing machines to stock standard cars, competing or taking part in different ways. All categories were speed limited.
The street party added to the unique aspect of the tarmac Adelaide Rally in having Adelaide city as the start and finish point for its tours and races in and around the towns of the Adelaide Hills. (Adelaide also was able to use the same city-based advantage for the Tour Down Under international cycling event and its stages though a range of near-metropolitan regions.)
The Adelaide Rally party in the Gouger Street restaurant strip allowed the public to get up close to the cars in a fun atmosphere. The close-up experience was also available at regional regroups and Adelaide Hills lunch stops at Bridgewater and Strathalbyn. Several designated spectator zones were integrated into the competitive stages of the rally.
The Adelaide city base for the Adelaide Rally was Victoria Park in Adelaide city’s eastern park lands that also had a section of the track for the Australian Grand Prix staged in Adelaide from 1985-1995 and the ongoing Adelaide 500 event. Victoria Park was also the venue for the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, started in 2014, and later making the Adelaide rally part of the programme.
Adelaide’s attractions for the interstate and overseas car owners attracted to the rally included being easy day-trip distance from the wine and food attractions of the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Fleurieu Peninsula and Adelaide Hills.