WARM weather will greet the more than 20,000 people expected to converge on the 37th Bendigo National Swap Meet today, one of the biggest of its kind in Australia.
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Yesterday 1400 site holders from across Australia and the world prepared 1660 sites with a variety of vintage cars, vehicle parts and bric-a-brac.
Nearly 100 cars have entered the Show and Shine today, with the area to become a used vehicles sale yard tomorrow.
Neil Athorn, Bendigo National Swap Committee secretary and Federation of Veteran, Vintage and Classic Club Victoria president, said there would be a “bit of everything”.
“There are lots of parts and lots of specialised tools and a bit of stuff in the shed for years,” he said.
“The original parts of some older cars are drying up so there’s a fair bit of reproduction stuff too, which is great.”
Mr Athorn said it wasn’t just spare parts that got people through the gates.
“People come because they can get unique things here that are usually hard to find.
“But I also think it’s the general atmosphere Bendigo gives.
“It’s a relaxed place to go to. We like people to be friendly and have a great weekend.”
Adelaide’s Andrew Sutcliffe agreed it was the vibe of the meet that brought people back year after year. “It’s a really good atmosphere here,” he said.
“You get to hang out with people from other states.
“It’s a really good social time.”
Mr Athorn said it would be an early start for treasure seekers.
“There’ll be a lot of people up here at 5.30am,” he said.
“At 6am they’ll start pouring in and we’ll let them go for it.”
