WHO IS MOTORCLASSICA?

RACV Motorclassica - the Australian International Concours d’Elegance & Classic Motor Show is presented and managed by one of Australia’s leading event and exhibition companies, Exhibitions & Trade Fairs Pty Ltd. A subsidiary of the Staging Connections Group, ETF is responsible for the management of over 20 consumer and trade events annually, both locally and abroad, including the Australian International Motor Show, the Australian Motorcycle Expo, the National 4x4 Show and Meguairs MotorEx. For more information on our portfolio of events, please visit www.etf.com.au.

Most importantly however, RACV Motorclassica is brought to you by people who live and breathe classic motoring.

Paul Mathers, Event Director

Paul Mathers has been managing events for over 13 years and has worked in both live theatre and exhibitions for some of Australia’s leading companies. In addition to managing ETF’s major construction machinery expo and with experience managing Australia’s two largest, long-running home shows and a premier design exhibition, Paul’s major passion outside of events is British cars from the 50s and 60s. A member of the Jaguar Car Club of Victoria, his daily drive, a Jaguar MkII is a regular feature in the streets of inner-city Melbourne. Occasionally however, he has been known to don beani and gloves during the winter months, in order to drive his newly-acquired Triumph TR3A to work.

Trent Smyth - Chief Curator, Australian International Concours D'Elegance

A passionate car enthusiast and owner of a number of special cars, Trent is the Secretary of the Ferrari Club of Victoria and the Director of both that Club's  Annual Concours d’Elegance, and the 2011 Ferrari National Concours scheduled to take place in Melbourne. He is also a regular attendee of the Monterey Classic Week and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

John Virgo, Chief Judge, Australian International Concours d’Elegance

John Virgo is an enthusiastic member of the Sporting Car Club of South Australia and the Rolls-Royce Owners Club of Australia, where he has held the position of Chief Concours d’Elegance judge for the South Australian branch for many years. On national level, he has judged Rolls-Royces and Bentleys for over ten years and was recently appointed to the position of Assistant Registrar of Judging for the Rolls-Royce Owners Club of Australia

He has served on the Board of Directors of the Motor Trade Association in SA, has been involved the motoring industry for many years and has a strong engineering background. He has competed nationally in Motorsport since the 1970s in both his JPS BMW 635 at the Australian Touring Car rounds or his Ford Mustang.

Damian Cessario, Advisory Board Member

Damian is an active member of the Alfa Romeo Club of Australia and an avid Italian Motoring enthusiast. He has recently been responsible for organising the Australian celebrations for the Alfa Romeo centenary which included the visit to Australia of the iconic Alfetta Tipo 159, famously raced by Giuseppe Farina and the great Juan Manuel Fangio. Damian has recently raced his Maserati A6G in the 2010 and 2011 Mille Miglia.

David Dowsey, Advisory Board Member

Motoring journalist David Dowsey has written for many of the best car magazines and websites in Australia and overseas, focussing largely on classic cars. He is also the author of the acclaimed books Aston Martin: Power, Beauty and Soul and A Le Mans Diary. His Aston Martin book is about to be reprinted, meanwhile, he is working on a motoring children’s book and a classic car book.

David has driven many of the world’s greatest cars, and has a special passion for European engineering, having visited the Jaguar, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Maserati factories several times.

George Hetrel, Advisory Board Member

George is a noted Melbourne philanthropist. He is also the owner and curator of the Como Gardens Vintage Car Museum, the home of 16-odd important cars including the highly-prized Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet which will feature at Motorclassica. He is a veteran of the London – Brighton event, in addition to being a regular fixture at historic races around Australia in his Bugatti Type 35C.

Don Kinsey AM, Advisory Board Member

Originally a mechanical engineer, Don spent 20 years as a broadcaster and senior executive of Radio 3DB and standby newsreader at HSV7. He then spent a further 20 years as Public Affairs Director of Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.

Don has had a lifetime interest in motor sport as a competitor, commentator and committee member for the organising of a wide range of events involving historic racing, touring, rallies and displays. He is a regular fixture as a roving commentator at most historic race meets throughout Victoria.

Iain Ross, Advisory Board Member

The current President of the Association of Motoring Clubs Victoria, Iain Ross has been the organiser of a number of significant motoring events including shows and swap meets.

He is a long-term historic motoring enthusiast, a foundation member of the Bristol Owners Club of Australia and is well-known and highly-respected member of the historic motoring movement.

Brian Tanti, Advisory Board Member

A renowned designer in his own right, Brian trained as a coachbuilder working at the high end of the automotive restoration / proto type industry, gaining an international reputation for quality and excellence in vehicle construction. He has been described by Lord Elgin, World President of the 20-Ghost Club, as “without peer and certainly the best (he) had seen” and by Mr Jurgen Schremp, Chairman of Daimler Chrysler, as “one of the best car builders in the world”. Brian developed and directed the world-famous Fox Museum, where he is currently a consultant and created its education/ exhibition programs, and in addition to sitting on a number of boards and committees he has recently co founded a new foundation entity, AutoHorizon Foundation, to promote Australian automotive innovation/ manufacturing and career options for the next generation within the auto industry. He was also featured in the book, Rare Trades.

Doug Willersdorf-Greene, Advisory Board Member

PATRICK DEVINE, ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

DAMIEN DUIGAN, ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER