The Vauxhall Convoy arrived in Walcha on January 31, 1934 with six cars and two Bedford trucks. The Walcha News of February 2 said: “The vehicles made a brilliant display that attracted much attention when parked in front of Bowden’s Garage. The small sedan on show has been made to suit people who find baby cars too small and big cars too large for their purpose.”

The second convoy, part of which is shown in the photo, was a much larger event called the Travelling Motor Show. It arrived in Walcha on October 18, 1934 having departed Sydney during September and was expected to have travelled 6,000 miles by the time it passed through eighty-two towns in New South Wales.

Despite travelling on dusty gravel roads the vehicles were in showroom condition when they arrived here from Uralla. The Walcha News of October 26, 1934, said: “The procession of vehicles was heralded into town with band music broadcast from the lead vehicle, which had £1000 worth of intricate equipment installed for the purpose.

“Usually in a motor show one sees the cars and has all the features explained by the salesman, but on this occasion each driver gave a description of his vehicle and each car was available to prospective buyers for test drives.”

The sixteen vehicles on show included a variety of Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Vauxhall sedans as well as Chevrolet and Bedford trucks and utilities. All had had bodies manufactured in Australia; prices ranged from £275 to £495.

The Fenwicke and Gill building in the photo was originally the Walcha branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank. It was demolished in 1936 to make way for new premises now occupied by the Regional Australia Bank. The building on its immediate left hand side was once the Apsley Shire Council Chambers; it was replaced by the present-day Commonwealth Bank offices.

The saddlery building on the right hand side of the photo still exists and is now the Walcha Gallery of Art.