The Cooly Rocks On festival cements its place as a high point of nostalgia celebration with cars at its core.
It’s not a bad day’s work, stood between a chopped Ford Model A Coupe hot rod and ’63 Mercury Monterey, face in the winter sun, listening to Elvis belt out Suspicious Minds. If I’ve any criticism of Coolangatta’s Cooly Rocks On Festival, it’s that stepping back into this Fifties and Sixties fantasyland for a few days makes modern life feel far less colourful and fun.
This is Australia’s largest nostalgia fest, held annually on the NSW/QLD border along one of our most spectacular stretches of coastline. It’s the backdrop for more than 900 head-turning cars – vintage, classic, custom, hot rods, street, muscle, ratrods, gassers, bombs, bagged… yep, whatever your car kink, you’re catered for.
Small wonder around 160,000 folk turn out for Cooly across five days, the event now having such a following that attendees come from all over Australia (many with cars in tow), plus international visitors lured in by a truly authentic Aussie nostalgia festival.
This year’s picture-perfect weather helped no end, but festival director Mark Duckworth explained Cooly’s enduring appeal. “It’s about simpler times and simpler memories,” he said. “We all want to embrace what it was like in the 1950s and 60s along the coastline of the Gold Coast, and that’s what this festival does. It just transports you back to a beautiful time.”
This isn’t hyperbole. As I head out early on Saturday morning, camera in hand, my first scene is two black hot rods – a’48 Chevy Pickup and ’29 Model A – out front of The Pink Hotel. Think Old Vegas hues, tall palm trees and deep blue sky, framed with white wall tyres and the distant sound of Elvis warming up his pipes.
The latter’s a constant. Dozens of the world’s best Elvis tribute artists are on rotation at the Elvis Stage, giving Cooly Rocks On a permanent soundtrack. It’s cheese-free, too. These Elvis types can hold a tune, and on occasion I wondered if it was recordings of The King himself belting through loudspeakers, but no, just a very talented tribute.
The bulk of cars line up along Cooly’s beachfront Marine Parade, but side streets and a road running parallel are needed to fit in the hundreds of vehicles. Clubs have their little areas, but there’s no set divisions of vehicle types. A bagged 1960 Mercedes 220S sits beside a ’57 Chev, both near a ’26 Model T Roadster with transplanted 1944 Chrysler Marine side-valve straight 8, which looks quite the funster running near slick rear tyres.
Ideally placed to enjoy the ocean view, a ’65 pop-top VW Kombi’s kitted out with trike-carrying roof rack and full retro camping setup inside. It’s outdone by a ’73 Ford Econoline van for sheer abundance of oranges and browns – its jellybean mags also perfectly of the era. Where to look next? A ’69 Falcon GT dressed ready for Bathurst towers over a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster, ready for James Dean to wrestle it at some rural California road race.
An old cowboy leans on his ’79 Camaro Z28’s bright red bonnet; there’s the Goggomobil collective – including a 1-of-18 1960 Carryall – Rollergirl sinks into a Tiki Bar bath filled with coloured balls; there’s an immaculate ’71 AMC Hornet SC/360; a patina’d ’48 Dodge Pickup hauling a white-walled trailer, then some guy’s letting those keen, sit pillion on his Indian motorcycle behind a be-goggled skeleton. Elvis, meanwhile, is belting out Heartbreak Hotel.
Back at Unique Cars HQ, editor Ange gets emotional over a ’60 Ford Sunliner, but I reckon it’s impossible to start picking favourites at Cooly – the standard’s too high. I take a long walk circumnavigating a ’79 Lincoln Mark V land yacht, and head for Kustomville Club.
Its lowrider heaven here: 40s and 50s Mercurys, a ’53 Buick Super Riviera, every Ford Hot Rod you could dream up, then a pimp-special gold ’n’ chrome ’67 Caddy Coupe DeVille rubbing its belly on hot bitumen. In the background, sparks literally fly as an old Ford gets its roof chopped live on stage.
The event rocks on with bright parasols, pink sunglasses, rockabilly, kids dressed in 50s gear, and a few old timers that really lived the era still impressively bopping away with skirts spinning on the dance stage.
There’s no obsessive car polishing or judge-bribing to be found – this free event’s Show ’n’ Shine has no prizes dished out. It’s not about awards. It’s about embracing the culture and nostalgia and appreciating whatever cars and scene your neighbour’s in to. From a Model T Pickup to a Baja Beetle to a bright orange Chevy Corvette C3 – the best shape, and I’ll milk bar fight anyone who disagrees.
I hear tributes to Buddy Holly, The Beatles and Creedence Clearwater, but the Elvis-spotting fun never stops. The big man’s everywhere. You’ll find him on courtesy buses, foyers, bars, restaurants and even in my hotel lift. I’m talking Young Elvis, GI Elvis and Comeback Special Elvis, but overwhelmingly it’s Vegas Elvis and all the glitter and theatre that goes with it.
It’s a special, wholesome event here. It really does transport you back to a beautiful time, and reminds how cars are at the heart of each decade and each cultural marker point. Rock on, Cooly.
1950 CHEVROLET CAB OVER ENGINE (COE) 5700 HAULER, MARIO SPITERI
HERE’S A hauler you can’t miss. “I bought it nearly five years ago as just a cab chassis, I put it on a C30 chassis, fitted an LS2 engine and Turbo 400,” said Mario. “Nothing special, it’s just a nice engine with about 400hp, but it’s a three-tonne truck and properly used; I’ll carry hot rods with it.”
It’s an elegant giant with standout paint – exact colour unknown said Mario – while the working rear end had to be completely handmade. “With that and the fabrication and paint, it’s so much work,” he said.
“Everyone I talk to at Cooly tells me it’s the favourite thing they’ve seen here. It’s totally unique. I’m building its little brother now, a 3100. It’ll be the same colour, and hopefully when it’s finished it’ll go on top of this.”
Melbourne local Mario said it’ll cruise along happily at highway speeds, but transported it to Coolangatta. “It’s the atmosphere here that keeps me coming back, plus it’s much better weather than Victoria.”
1929 FORD MODEL A HOT ROD & 1948 CHEVROLET THRIFTMASTER PICKUP, ALLISTER BOWYER AND NINA MEIDO
PERFECTLY parked in front of Cooly’s Pink Hotel, Allister and Nina’s black pair with white walls provided the ideal contrast. Allister said it took four years to complete the ’29 Model A’s build: “The front half, including the axle, are original Model A, and the body’s pretty much stock except for the roof which I’ve shaved out and added a made-from-scratch timber insert.”
The bent-eight and six-speed manual combo offer 500 horsepower, while peering inside, once you get past the shrunken head ornament, it’s clear the seats are literally low enough to scrape the road.
The LOCO48 six-cylinder pickup’s an Australian car, this Chevy Thiftmaster assembled by Holden in Perth in 1948. “I’ve had it 17 years,” said Allister. “I bought it as an original, but I’ve chopped and airbagged it, and shaved off everything I could. There’s no windscreen wipers, and no door handles either.
Green metal flake coats the dashboard, and again, the look’s completed with a shrunken head beneath the steering column.
1959 CHEVY BROOKWOOD & 1965 CHEVY C10, HAYDEN OLIVER AND ANGE LOWE
AS ROCKABILLY Winner of the Cooly Rocks On Pin-Up Pageant, Ange (aka Reckless Penny) and her Chev pickup perfectly embody this festival’s look and feel.
Her ’65 C10 long-bed truck’s weathered body has been treated with linseed oil to seal in the history, and is powered by a 350 Chev with Turbo 400 and 4.11 diff. “It’s been rust repaired and customised with full gold metal flake interior,” she said, while admitting fuel use is on the drinking problem side.
Brisbane-based Hayden’s Brookwood wagon proudly wears its worn and surface-rusted original patina paint, while this air ride giant now uses a transplanted six-litre LS motor with six-speed manual transmission. “The paint’s lasted 60-70 years and I’m not about to touch it,” he said.
Ange said Cooly Rocks On was always the best weekend of her year, while Hayden explained there’s always stress to get a car or cars done in time. “We build our stuff to drive,” he said. “Mine’s fuel injected so uses about $25 of fuel to drive the 90 minutes here; Ange’s carburettored truck uses about $200 worth!”.
Photography: Iain Curry, Bianca Holderness