Drive Against Depression – Autumn Sydney Drive Day
- Mar 25
- 4 min read
The forecast never got better. As a bit of a fusspot, I was watching 3 different weather apps for days in the lead-up to the Drive Against Depression (DAD) Sydney Autumn Drive Day. The question of which car to take was unanswered and perplexing, given the last time I drove the DC2R in the rain was well over 10 years ago.
In an act of complete and utter flippancy, I loaded up all the gear for the event into the cargo space of Honda. “It’s been a daily at some point in the 26 years you’ve owned it mate, move on!”, the internal dialogue as I carefully stacked flags, banners, prizes and merchandise.
Looking at the full cargo space drew the realisation that i'd never loaded so much gear in there - ever! In fact, the only time the rear seats had been folded down was to remove them at one point. The reason? well, obviously losing the weight in the boot would improve performance. I worked hard to convince myself that it did, however the lap times did little to validate the theory.
An early start saw the nose pointed towards a familiar start point at Benzin Cafe', a short drive from home. It’s a spot we go to as a family on a weekend. The food is always on point, but the real reason (dont tell the better half) is because there’s always a cool car or two about. It’s a popular haunt for Sydney car people and if you’ve not visited – I encourage you to do so.
With the gear unloaded and the car parked up, it was time to watch the 60+ cars, representing the biggest Sydney turnout ever, roll in.
Before long the mettallic wail of a GT3RS announced Justin from Torquebase's arrival, followed shortly by an Infiniti G37 Convertible. I was amazed to hear the driver had come from Melbourne - literally driven and parked up at the end of his trip.
A duo of Kia Stingers, a restomod MGB from the Modern Classic Car Foundation and a neat Falcon GTP were amongst a range of makes, model and colours. I love the variety that presents at these events.
But what always gets me is the smiles. Drivers rock up, park up and its instant joy. It really resonates with the ethos behind these drives. Fostering mental health and connections around the shared joy that comes from motoring and going for a drive. It’s contagious, and hard to miss.
After some formalities from Sarah, co-founder of DAD, and our trip lead, none other than legendary rally driver Cody Crocker, it was time to hear from registered psychologist Jimmy Mueke. His short talk was an important reminder of the reason why we were here – and I’m certain everyone took a snippet out of it to ponder on.
The first leg was a run out to Wisemans Ferry, another oft-frequented family destination. Having my eldest daughter along on the day was all the more special as a result.
These really are some of my favourite roads – although I didn’t recall them being so bumpy. A silly ride height and coilovers will do that though. Before long we were at the switchbacks down into Wisemans Ferry and parked up at Convict Road Kiosk.
A chance to have a yarn with old friends and new, with a coffee for dad and hot chips for the tag-along under a beaming sun and perfectly blue sky.
Hitting the road to get to the Shannons showroom for setup saw those familiar switchbacks in my preferred uphill format. A stretch out to redline was in order to clear cobwebs, before settling back to cruising speed just in time for the heavens to open.
The mind went directly to the Ariel Atom that CCI Company had brought along; it doesn’t have doors let alone a roof. Then a glance at the rear view revealed the S2000 I had admired earlier, also driving through the rain roofless. Chatting to the owner at our destination revealed a logical reason for the decision; stopping would’ve resulted in more exposure!
Memories flooded back as I drive into the Shannons showroom. Firstly, of the various auctions that would be held there back in the day, but also setting up the brand's NSW CTP product many moons ago. Working with this brand was one of many highlights early in my insurance career. It presented a real alignment between my work and personal life, which led to similar pursuits later on.
Seeing all the cars parked up neatly in this brightly lit space was an impressive sight indeed. Access was organised through our host for the day, Adam, Jim and the team from ReDriven.
If you haven’t seen what these guys do, check them out – they’ve flipped the car review script. Whilst most focus on reviewing new vehicles, these guys focus on used cars; a novel and entertaining concept that I’ve followed for some time.
Which is why it was such an honour to be up on the stage interviewing the boys as part of a Q&A session. It was cool to uncover a little more about what makes them tick and the story behind ReDriven.
After adding the Alpine 110 to the list of cars I now want to drive, and a great list of questions from the floor, it was time to draw the various raffle prizes. We were lucky to have generous donations from our mates at Uniden, Wipertech, Baby and Car and Ford Australia to give away.
Which signalled the end of another successful DAD drive day. If you’ve thought about going to one, please don’t hesitate. It’s a chance to do what we love, while giving back to a tremendous charity that is taking care of people like us.
I guarantee you’ll come back for the next one. I know I will be.
See you there
Kal
Imagery courtesy of Mitchell Oke
Read more about Drive Against Depression
Comments