Note to readers: Due to extreme fire danger and water shortage, the planned 2019 event has been postponed to 19-22 March 2020.
Rust buckets, lemons, gas guzzlers… whatever you want to call them, they’re usually shunned. But come October, there’s one event that celebrates the good old-fashioned clunker.
It’s the Rally for a Cause Dunga Derby. The inaugural event took place on the Fraser Coast, but 2019 marks the first time it’s come to the Sunshine Coast.
The charity rally sees 55 dungas and over 200 people make their way from the coast to the country over four days. The locations along the way? Well we’d love to tell you, but they’re a secret!
Event director, Dave Darmody, said the reason was to get people out of their comfort zone.
“What we tell people right from the start is that it is coast to the country, and we will bring you back to the coast,” he said. “But everything in the middle, that’s where we get to have the fun.”
Let’s be clear, though, it’s not a race. There’s no prize for coming first; the prize is the experience.
Three of the dungas you’ll meet include the very pink Lady Penelope, the green Feroza and the king of the road, the event’s pacer, Road Hog.
They’re big, bright and loud… the perfect combination for this event. So what makes a dunga a dunga? They have to be over ten years old and worth under $2,000…but Dave says you can really enter any car, you just might be charged a small luxury car tax.
“This is all about participation,” he said. “The more colourful the cars are, the more people participate. So it’s great.”
And it’s all in the name of charity. The rally has raised over $750,000 for Rally for a Cause to date, with those funds directly helping to support local families.
