Motoring Vintage car’s new Tableland garage

l HERBERTON

I NICK DALTON

THE first car sold by the oldest car dealership in Cairns has returned ‘home’.

The five-seat 1924 Chrysler Tourer, the first car the late Francis R. Ireland sold nearly 100 years ago, has been gifted by the Ireland family to the Historic Village Herberton which is the new custodian of the vehicle.

Grandson Richard Ireland said the car had been at the company’s dealership since the 1990s but often had to be hidden away in a shed due to lack of floor space.

“My brother David and I decided the car deserves better and should be more accessible to the public,” he said.

“Its return to the Herberton area is sentimental for both the Ireland family and the town of Herberton and nearby Irvinebank, as that’s where the car’s first owner lived and used the car for decades.”

David Ireland said the 1924 Chrysler was restored in the 1980s by Keith ‘Snowy’ Liekefett of Innisfail, who offered it to the Irelands in 1991.

As part of the family’s preparations for celebrating 100 years of business in Cairns, the brothers contacted one of the Far Northern region’s best histori- cal displays to see if they wanted it.

“Now, the car will have pride of place in its ‘hometown’. It will be accessible for all to reminisce about and marvel at its age and history,” David Ireland said.

The model sold in huge numbers.

Chrysler’s Queensland distributors entrusted Mr Ireland with the job of demonstrating the new car. He travelled by the recently opened Gillies Range Road through Yungaburra to Herberton and Irvinebank, a real feat in those days.

“While in Irvinebank, my grandfather heard that a local schoolteacher might be interested in the car and Mr Pienegar from Irvinebank bought the vehicle after several demonstrations by my grandfather,” he said.

The car was passed down to Mr Pienegar’s sons.

Historic village curator Darryl Cooper said the 1924 Chrysler was the perfect complement to the vintage vehicle collection already on display.

“While the Chrysler was a mid-range priced vehicle, they were considered a prestige vehicle and rather special for the time,” he said.

Mr Cooper said it was fitting the village was displaying the first car sold by Ireland’s of Cairns.

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