A Labor Government would establish a new $2m grant program for car clubs across the state, while also expanding conditional registration to get more classic and historic cars back on the road.
State Labor Leader Peter Malinauskas said the plan was part of a suite of measures designed to “reclaim South Australia’s title as the home of motorsport, adding to Labor’s commitment to bring back the Adelaide 500 and the Adelaide Motorsport Festival”.
The new grant scheme will provide a grant pool of $500,000 per year, over four years, to registered classic and historical car clubs.
Mr Malinauskas said Labor would also expand the conditional registration scheme to include vehicles that are 25 years or older, instead of the current limit which requires cars to be at least 30 years old.
“Since the previous Labor Government introduced widespread changes to conditional registration in 2017, thousands more classic cars entered the scheme, providing a massive boost to car clubs and car restoration businesses,” Mr Malinauskas said
“Car clubs like the Street Machine Association of SA has grown in strength and size from 400 members in 2017 to over 4500 members in 2021
“Labor will also work with car clubs to extend the conditional registration scheme to eligible individually constructed vehicles (ICVs) to ensure replicas of historic vehicles are also covered by the scheme.
“At present, replicas of historically significant vehicles such as AC Cobras, Lotus 7s, Ford GT40s and others are excluded from the scheme, which is unfair on their owners.”
Mr Malinauskas said the changes would mean more cars were eligible for the cheaper registration if they were a member of a recognised car club and the vehicle was driven on a road for fewer than 90 days during any one-year period.
“The more classic vehicles that are brought out of the shed to qualify for the scheme, the more flow-on benefits we will see in the local automotive industry,” he said.
“South Australia has a proud history of car manufacturing and motorsport events and we want to not only preserve that reputation – we want to grow it.
“This is about more than just growing our motorsport and car community; it is also about supporting jobs and the economy.
“Events like the car club runs, the Adelaide Motorsport Festival and Adelaide 500 support jobs in our tourism, hospitality and retail industries.”
