The American Car Nationals, held every September in Queanbeyan, will no longer be a feature of the local motoring calendar. Photo: American Car Nationals, Facebook.
One of the ACT region’s longest-running car shows has been forced to fold, with the organiser blaming “exorbitant rising costs”.
But other local car clubs remain hopeful things are about to turn a corner for many of their annual shows.
The American Car Nationals, which includes The Big 3 Car Show and Queanbeyan Swap Meet, is held every September at the Queanbeyan Showgrounds.
It was founded 26 years ago as an event to draw together fans of all American makes, especially the ”Big 3” of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler (now Stellantis). Hundreds of cars would take over the grounds every year.
But in a post to the event’s official Facebook page this month, organiser David (last name omitted) said the nationals would not be going ahead this year and “will cease to operate again”.
“Due to the exorbitant rising costs across numerous factors needed for the event to go ahead, I would need to raise prices substantially … and so it’s just not financially viable to continue,” he wrote.
“I also would like to say a big thanks to all the wonderful sponsors … Your financial support and being there in person helped immensely with shaping the show into what it became.”
Contacted by Region, David declined to comment further.
But it’s understood the two-day event costs $30,000 to run, including venue hire, insurance, traffic control, medics, trophies, signage and more.
The American Car Nationals, Queanbeyan, was founded 26 years ago. Photo: American Car Nationals, Facebook.
For a community event, the Queanbeyan Showground costs $740 to hire for one day, with a “damage deposit” of $550 for “minor-risk” events and $7700 for “major-risk” events. Other fees may also apply for the use of other facilities.
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) recently voted for a “modest increase” of $100 to the showground’s hire fee for 2025/26.
“We understand the issues of rising costs associated with putting on large-scale events,” a QPRC spokesperson told Region.
“We ourselves face many of those same costs when we coordinate our signature community events. We regularly review all of our events to measure their economic and community benefit in terms of enhancing community cohesion and building social capital.”
Vehicles on display at the showground for the Wheels car show. Photo: James Coleman.
Wheels, another major car show held at the showground every year, also faced a tough time during its one-day event in February.
Organiser Greg Francis said the event paid $2500 to a traffic-control company that then failed to turn up on the day, and many of the participating car clubs did not provide members to help usher visitors through the carpark.
However, he described the standard hire fee for the showground as “peanuts”, citing public liability insurance as the real killer.
“It was nearly $3000 for just one day,” he said. ”That’s doubled. That’s gone through the roof, as with all insurance. The year before, we paid about $1300, and this year, we paid $2700.”
All up, Wheels 2025 cost $11,500 to run, including $2500 for traffic control.
Mr Francis said local car clubs were becoming more and more “cunning” with the events, by holding them at venues that had their own insurance included.
For instance, recent car shows have moved to grounds owned by the Vikings Group, or to Hall Showground, to save on costs.
“A lot of these places are clubs, which are more than happy to have you come and not charge a fee, because they know you’ll get a thousand people there who will use their hospitality – buy meals and drinks and play pokies,” he said.
At a recent meeting with the Council of ACT Motor Clubs (CACTMC), Mr Francis told the group: “If we get more support from the car clubs, we’ll run Wheels next year, but if that support’s not forthcoming, we won’t.”
Wheels, like many of the car shows now in Queanbeyan, began 40 years ago on the lawns of Old Parliament House, until revised requirements from the National Capital Authority (NCA) a few years ago pushed it over the border.
Greg Francis at the wheel of his Peugeot 205 GTi. Photo: James Coleman.
But Mr Francis said the NCA had been making overtures in recent times to lure many of the car shows back, even if the offer was initially riddled with terms and conditions.
“They had a list of 32 conditions we had to meet, and we read through them and thought, ‘You’ve got to be joking’,” he said.
“Like, venue hire was exorbitant and the provision of the bond was $5000 alone. And then we’d have to pay to have the sprinklers covered, and traffic management, and parking police, and all the rest of it.”
It’s understood the organisers of German Auto Day, another show normally held in Queanbeyan, have also been in talks with the NCA about their upcoming show in September, and the authority has been “very accommodating”.
“So at the moment, it’s looking like we can get the lawns of Old Parliament House for cheaper than Queanbeyan Showground,” Mr Francis said.
He added that, for now, Canberra’s car clubs were waiting for the outcome with bated breath.
The NCA was contacted for comment.
