THE 2023 Florence Thomson Tour drove to Wangaratta and the picturesque North East over the weekend with a display at Apex Park on Sunday.
Proudly sponsored by the RACV, the Florence Thomson Tour was created as an annual event in April 2017 and is a totally unique rally just for women motorists driving a vehicle greater than 25 years of age.
In 1905, Florence Thomson was the sole female entrant in the Dunlop Reliability Motor contest from Sydney to Melbourne.
She was one of the 16 entrants who successfully completed the five–day trial, driving a six horsepower Wolseley, over what was then nothing more than 562 miles of dirt track between the capital cities.
This year they had more than 75 vehicles entered ranging from veteran to more modern classics, more than 165 people participated as either drivers or passengers and men were allowed to be passengers but not drivers.
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To add to the excitement all participants were encouraged to dress in attire matching the period of the vehicle that they were driving.
Entrants chose either a short or longer tour taking in the towns of Corowa, Rutherglen Devenish and St James.
The tour progressed through some of the North East's fabulous driving roads, admiring some unique silo art whilst also supporting the local communities and community organisations.
It was organised by the Association of Motoring Clubs (AOMC), one of the peak bodies representing heritage motoring in Victoria and this year's tour was carbon neutral.
This was a new initiative from the AOMC where all carbon emissions were offset via the AOMC Carbon offset program https://www.aomc.asn.au/carbon–offset.
