As the late afternoon sun glares down on Church Street in Whittlesea, the sound of roaring engines echoes throughout the town. Soon, the street fills with cars that are ordinarily hidden away in garages, kept under tarps and preserved for nights like these.

It’s a homage to motoring history.

On any other day, the streets would be for members of the Whittlesea community passing through the street for their weekly IGA shop or spend a day out at Funfields with their family. But on the first Friday of every month, car enthusiasts from all over Victoria gather to share stories and show off their pride and joy along Church Street.

“They’re picking up their groceries and all of a sudden, boom, there’s hot rods and cars everywhere,” cruise night regular Gav Stoneham tells upstart.

Since the inaugural meet in 2015, it’s taken off, becoming a core part of the Whittlesea community.

“Ask anybody in Whittlesea [if] they know anything about the cruise night, it’s a whole different ball game now,” says Terry Mountney, who organises the cruise night.

Melissa Peterson, a die hard car enthusiasts, regularly attends. She owns a 1963 Mercury Zephyr and has been coming to the Whittlesea Cruise Night for over a decade. Growing up, her father, John, had a devotion for cars, and tells upstart that she was always destined to follow in his footsteps.

Her father started the Zodiac Melbourne Car Club, a group for people who have a passion for the Ford Motor Company products, like Zephyrs, Zodiacs, Consuls and Granadas, in their garage, she says.

John, also known as “The Burnout King”, was also—according to Peterson—“renowned for creating [the] burnout, so to speak”.

While it was her father who sparked her interest in cars, it’s the community around the cruise night that keeps her coming back.

“It helps when you’ve grown up in the scene your whole life,” she says. “You do know a lot of the people, but it’s the new people as well.”

“Even the people that knew dad, I don’t remember seeing them because I was in nappies at the time, but [it’s] unreal, hearing their stories and memories.”

When Peterson’s father passed away, he was cremated and moulded into tyres, so they could do a burnout to honour his legacy.

“It’s the way he would have wanted to go,” Peterson says. “He had three choices. It was [being] loaded into a bullet, fireworks or tyres.”

“When I gave him those choices, it’s like, I hope you’re getting cremated otherwise it’s going to be frigging awkward.”

Organiser Terry Mountney, the proud owner of four vintage cars made between the 1930s and1970s, has been running the event with his wife Elaine for 11 years. They felt something was missing in Whittlesea, particularly for motor enthusiasts like themselves who often had to travel far to attend similar events.

“We started off at our first event with 60 cars,” he tells upstart. “We used to count them, but we don’t count them anymore, it’s just beyond counting.”

The night is supported by the council. But when the event first started, there was no such support. Every expense came out of the pockets of organisers.

“Anything we got to start with came out of our pocket.”

John Cox, who regularly attends the cruise night, tells upstart that he is grateful that Terry and his wife started the event.

“It’s a little community you get out there,” Cox says. “It’s not all about the cars, it’s the people you get to meet and talk to… it’s putting a smile on other people’s faces, not just your own.”

He says this night can be an outlet and a place to better one’s mental health.

“You feel depressed, you feel down, you ring a mate, you jump in the car, you go for a drive and you’re happy again,” Cox says.

“The cars are your mental health. You use them to get out and enjoy life.”

Mountney says that Whittlesea is the ideal location to hold this event. The large number of cafes and takeaway shops in the town helps attract more people, even those from interstate.

The night has also brought Mountney lots of personal  joy over the years.

“I get a hell of a lot of pleasure walking up the street and seeing [a] mum and dad with a couple of kids in tow,” he says. “It gives me a really good feeling that I’ve done something decent in my life.”

“When I’m gone, somebody else will take it over and it’s a legacy I’ve left for the town.”

Article: Isabella Novella, Thomas Stewart, Harry Smith and Matias Birkeland

Photo: All photos taken by authors.