Red Plate Club serves up a decade of cherished cars

By Kayla Jones

Jun 26, 2024

Red Plate Club's Dale Huggard and Kevin Winch with a 1958 Dodge Fargo V6 in front of the new club office. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

The Victorian Red Plate Club has crossed the finish line of its first major milestone, celebrating 10 years of operation in Shepparton.

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On Saturday, July 6, the club’s new office will be transformed into a social hub and showroom, complete with finger food and delightful live music.

The open day is a chance for car enthusiasts to get to know the crew at the office, and learn a bit about the Club Permit Scheme.

The Club Permit Scheme, or colloquially “red plates”, allows unregistered vehicles 25 years or older to make limited use of the road network through a registration permit and logbook.

Red plates must be obtained through a club, but Red Plate Club’s Kevin Winch and many others found that car clubs often meant compulsory meetings and commitments.

So, he saw a chance to kill two birds with one stone.

“(The club) started back in 2014 when the club permit scheme had been going for a few years, and we felt there was a need for it, I had a need for it,” Mr Winch said.

“I thought I could do it. The other clubs weren’t actually doing much, they saw it more as a pain in the neck than anything. None of them wanted to really do it.

“We all knew each other beforehand and formed a committee, then applied to VicRoads. Within a few months we were able to get going.”

Kevin Winch admires this red 1958 Dodge Fargo V6, which is one of the club’s many plated cars across Victoria. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

Now, the club has 3000 cars on club plates, spanning across Victoria.

“We get a total variety, from trucks, buses, cars, all sorts of cars,” Mr Winch said.

“There are so many good cars out there. Some old cars that you might consider pretty crappy have been nicely done up, and they’re quite good cars.

“It’s not about big horsepower or turbos or anything like that, it’s just about whatever you’re into.”

Mr Winch said the club had quite a few hot-rod enthusiasts among its ranks, with this sort of car almost certain to make an appearance at the open day.

All vehicles are welcome: historic, modified, replica or classic; cars, motorbikes, trucks and even buses.

The open day will conclude with dinner at the GV Hotel Function Centre.

Dinner starts at 5.30pm and finishes at 10.30pm, with tables of 8-10 available to book.

The cost is $55 per person, with drinks available for purchase at bar prices.