Cars do not really belong in garages, under dust covers, in dim light and away from the road.
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They are meant to be driven, to have their throttles opened, their tyres warmed. It is all part of keeping them in good nick.
That is why some of the National Museum's collection of historic vehicles were brought out of storage and taken for a spin around Wakefield Park Raceway near Goulburn on Saturday.
Among the star attractions in the fleet is the 1967 Brabham Repco BT23A-1 prototype racing car that Australian racing legend Sir Jack Brabham set the fastest lap time in at Wigram, Christchurch in the 1967 Tasman series.
The museum's large technology conservator, Nathan Pharaoh, who drove the car on Saturday, said it was an honour and a privilege.
"I've worked with these vehicles throughout my daily work but it's a bit selfish of me because I get to enjoy them and no one else does. And for a functioning vehicle collection like this is, it's really fantastic to actually take them out so the public can see them," he said.
"But it's also essential to our conservation treatment because we need to run them, get them up to temperature in order to maintain them."
The Brabham Repco car, which led to the development of the 1967 Formula 1 chamionship-winning BT24, was the first to feature the Brabham Repco V8 engine.
"It's an amazing vehicle, my favourite part is down on the engine cases themselves, it's actually cast into the cases, it says 'Made in Australia', which is quite a unique thing.
"The vehicle, I can only describe it as euphoric to drive. It's quite a thrill," Mr Pharaoh said.
"This car wants to breathe, and it really only kind of kicks in over 6000 RPM, so it's a real goer. But it's quite an easy car to drive, with that being said. So it's a testament to Ron Tauranac's engineering skills and Jack Brabham's feedback into that process."
Although it has been owned, driven and crashed by others since Sir Jack was behind the wheel, the car retains its original green colour scheme and a lot of original components.
But it was not just racing cars hitting the track.
Mr Pharaoh spoke to the Sunday Canberra Times from the backseat of Sir Robert Menzies' Bentley, which was bought new in 1964 for the use of the then-prime minster.
"It's a great car, it's got a walnut wood dash, trays, cigar lighters," Mr Pharaoh said.
"They used to say [Menzies] had bad behaviour because he used to put his cigar out on the dash, but when you're actually in the car you realise that the ashtrays are on the front dash."
The S Series 3 Bentley was retained by Menzies after he resigned from parliament and he was known for being driven to sporting games and watching the action from the comfort of the car.
Also on show was a small, yellow 1925 Citroen that 22-year-old missionary Nevill Westwood drove on the first car trip around Australia.
The 1925 Sundowner car was brought out too. Francis Birtles drove it 26,000 kilometres from London to Melbourne in 1928 after a record-breaking trip from Darwin to Melbourne in 1926.
The car still has sand from the Middle East and mud from South-East Asia caked to its chassis, now carefully preserved.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
