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Bayswater VIP Night

On the evening of Wednesday 19th August, the Rare Spares team at Bayswater, just east of Melbourne, hosted another very successful sales night. “Like our last sales event in March, it gives our customers the opportunity to make some great savings and we love talking to them about any projects they have on the go and if we can help,” said Bayswater branch manager Dylan Boyes. “We can’t wait for our next one in November!” he added. The Rare Spares sales nights heave become hugely popular with our customers and for good reason. A massive 20% off all Rare Spares products that aren’t already on sale would be reason enough to head on down. But it wasn't just the bargains drawing over 60 customers to this successful VIP Night. Where else but Rare Spares can you chat to an icon of motorsport like John Bowe whilst filling your basket full of bargains? That’s right, JB himself was on hand to mingle with the customers, have a chat and of course have a few photos taken. If bargains and sporting icons weren’t enough, there was also the chance to win some awesome prizes. A $100 Rare Spares voucher, Touring Car Masters Merchandise Pack and a Rare Spares Merchandise Pack went to three lucky winners. And with the sale running from 6:00 until 8:30, any customers feeling a little peckish were well catered for with heaps of pizza on hand. Four great reasons why the Rare Spares sales nights are so popular and four great reasons why you should head on down to the next Rare Spares sales night near you. To  find out where and when the next sales night will be, join the Rare Spares Rare Owners or Loyalty clubs at www.rarespares.net.au/register

Brisbane South Sales Night

It was Rare Spares Brisbane South’s turn to host its annual sales night recently on the 29th of July. Customers were greeted with the sweet aroma only a traditional Aussie sausage sizzle can provide, thanks to The East Coast Muscle Car Club, and the evening only got sweeter as the night progressed. With the doors opening at 6pm, the attention went from sausages to sales with a massive 20% off everything storewide. V8 Supercar Royalty and Rare Spares Ambassador John Bowe, along with fellow Rare Spares Ambassador and V8 Supercar Superstar Jason Bright were on hand to chat and sign autographs for customers. They were joined by Jason Gomersall and Ian Palmer. Manager and owner for the last seven years, Bruce Waldie was extremely happy with how the evening went. “The night went really well! Everything went to plan and with over 300 customers, turnover was great,” said Bruce. “The drivers stayed about 2 hours and appeared to have a great time. My wife Lyn looked after them. We were so busy I never had time to get outside until after the draws were over.” To top off a fantastic evening, customers, many of whom bought along their own cars to display, were given the chance to win a Double Pass to the Ipswich Supersprint, a $100 Rare Spares voucher or a Touring Car Masters Merchandise Pack. If you like your sausages followed by sales and superstars, find out where and when the next Rare Spares Sales Night will be by registering with us at www.rarespares.net.au

A Winner of a Month!

May has been a massive month here at Rare Spares. Another super popular VIP Night was held at Bayswater in Melbourne’s east. This was followed by Round 3 of the Touring Car Masters at Winton. As a major sponsor of the TCM series, Rare Spares is always heavily involved, however the Winton round was extra special as star driver and Rare Spares Ambassador, John Bowe was in top form all weekend. And to top off the month, Rare Spares is helping to give away an Australian automotive legend to one lucky person. To find out how you could be that winner, read on. Even Melbourne’s notorious weather couldn’t keep the crowds away from the Rare Spares Bayswater VIP and Club Night, held at the store recently on the 13th of May. Over 50 guests attended the evening, including members from The EH Holden Car Club of Victoria, Yarra Valley Chrome Bumpers, The HD and HR Club of Victoria and The East Side Cruisers. Manager Dylan Boyes has been at the Rare Spares Bayswater store for the past fourteen months and even though this was his sixth VIP night, he said it was the best one so far. “These nights are very beneficial for building customer relationships and for us to be able to put names to faces,” said Dylan. “I only heard good feedback from club members last night, and our people all agree it was definitely as successful as we could have hoped. And it’s always great to hear about the projects club members have been working on,” he added. Some awesome prizes were up for grabs as well. A Winton Hot Lap, Winton Double Passes and a $100 Rare Spares Voucher went to the lucky winners. If you missed out this time, you’ll have another chance to win some more fabulous prizes at the next Rare Spares Bayswater VIP Night on the 19th of August. The following weekend, the fun and action continued just a couple of hours north of Melbourne. Rare Spares Ambassador and driving legend John Bowe swapped his Ford Mustang for a Holden Torana SLR 5000 recently at Round 3 of the Touring Car Masters at Winton. And not only did he blitz the field in practice and qualifying to grab pole position, he went on to win both races! “It’s been a great day and a great little car,” Bowe said. “I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be this good, though if there was going to be a track that suits the car, it’s here. We’ve made a few changes but nothing that has required us to think outside the usual parameters – the car is great.” “I’m most pleased for Gary O’Brien and his team. It’s been a two and a half year process to build the car and a real labour of love, it’s great to be able to reward that.” Gary O’Brien played a major role in the third big event for Rare Spares. It’s not every day you get the chance to win a car. And not just any car, but a true Australian icon. This legendary Holden HQ GTS Monaro can be all yours and all you have to do is fill in the entry form inside Street Machine magazine, subscribe or enter via the Street Machine website. Born in 1972, it started out as a 253 V8 four-speed HQ SS and ended up as a Group Nc race car. In 2003, Bendigo racer Gary O’Brien bought a share in it and upgraded it to run in the Touring Car Masters series. It retired from racing and became the new Street Machine Unique Cars project car, getting a full rebuild courtesy of Gary’s business, Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars and his project partner, Rare Spares. After hundreds of hours of blood, sweat and tears, not to mention countless new top quality parts from companies such as Rare Spares, this reborn Aussie icon is back to being “significantly better than new.” If your own project is in need of some top quality parts, then look no further than Rare Spares. Head to www.rarespares.net.au

Rare Spares Welshpool VIP Event.

On the evening of Thursday 30th of April, the Rare Spares team at Welshpool in Perth hosted their very first VIP night, which was a huge success. Rare Spares Welshpool store owners Todd and Teena Gardner, have been selling Rare Spares products for over 20 years and two years ago became an authorised Rare Spares distributor. Todd was delighted by the turnout for their first Rare Spares event. “I literally opened the door at 5:30, let a whole pile of people in and I didn’t get to look up from the computer until 7:30 when it was all over! We were that busy,” Todd said. “It was great to hear everyone had a great time so it's likely we'll host another VIP night next year,” he added. Sausages weren’t the only thing to sizzle on the night with all Rare Spares products massively discounted by 20%. There were even Superstar drivers on hand for customers to chat to, with appearances from John Bowe and Jason Bright. To top off a wonderful night, there were some amazing prizes to be won, including double passes to the Perth Supersprint and a $100 Rare Spares gift voucher. For your chance to attend the next Rare Spares VIP event near you and get some huge savings, join the Rare Spares Rare Owners or Loyalty clubs at www.rarespares.net.au.   

John Bowe‘s Flying B at Bathurst 12 Hour

Aussie motor racing legend and Rare Spares ambassador John Bowe certainly raced in style at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, taking to Australia’s most iconic circuit as part of the Flying B Racing team in a Bentley Continental GT. With over thirty year’s experience at Mount Panorama and five wins spanning the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12hr alike, Bowe was looking forward to utilising his experience and race the classic Marque at Bathurst in 2015. The lead up to the 2015 event was challenging for Flying B Racing, and in testing the drivers found a severe vibration coming through the steering from the front end. After swapping out nearly every part in the steering system, it took the arrival of some Bentley factory team members arriving from England with a complete new front end that the problem was solved and the drivers could concentrate on car setup. Bowe was partnered with Aussie racing legend David Brabham and vehicle owner Peter Edwards for the race and after some tweaks during practice, managed a respectable 15th in qualifying. The Ferrari 458 of sister team Maranello Motorsport had not fared so well, ending with a huge crash in practice with Tony D’alberto behind the wheel, rendering the car unrepairable for the race. The race began before dawn and under the headlights the full field provided an incredible spectacle as they raced up and down the mountain, as campers cooked breakfast from camping locations and headed for the stands. The Flying B Racing Bentley in race trim proved to be a solid machine and the team were on track for a solid result until an Aston Martin punted David Brabham into the wall, resulting in a DNF for the team. “It was a fantastic event, as it has been for a few years. But the disappointment is really acute when stuff goes wrong at Bathurst. Other than my stupid rookie mistake on my first out lap the whole Flying B Racing team performed faultlessly. Great strategy and pit stops and a real joy to work with. They deserved better” said John Bowe. "Anyway, congratulations to the Nissan team, to Liqui-Moly Australia for helping to create an amazing event, and the promoter James O'Brien who has masterminded the race onto a global scale”  

All Ford Sunday

Rare Spares were proud to sponsor the 24th annual Kiwanis All Ford Day. Held on Sunday 15th Feb at Deakin University, Waun Ponds Geelong in Victoria, the All Ford Day  turned on some beautiful summer weather which resulted in the largest event on record.   Over 7,000 spectators joined in the automotive celebrations of all things Ford, to view over 1,300 vehicles on display. There was a great range of all type of Fords, young and old and included both racing machinery and street cars.  Event Organiser Graeme Munro was in awe at the success of the event this year. “It was a magnificent event and the best we have ever held over our 24 year history. The quality of the cars was up on previous years, the huge crowds enjoyed it and the weather was perfect.”    “The All Ford Sunday is the biggest Ford show in Australia and we are looking forward to going again in 2015” Rare Spares set up a trade stand at the event and were inundated by restoration enthusiasts, making part enquiries and entering the Rare Spares promotion, where a lucky spectator had a chance to win a Rare Spares product voucher. “We are very happy to have Rare Spares involved and they are one of our club’s gold sponsors. They also assisted in getting John Bowe to attend the event, so we are very thankful to their support” said Munro. Rare Spares Ambassador and Ford man John Bowe was on hand at the Rare Spares stand signing autographs and taking part in the trophy presentation amongst other motor racing legends including Allan Moffat and Jim Richards. For more information on the event, head to www.allfordday.org.au You can find out more about local events by joining the Rare Spares Loyalty Club at https://www.rarespares.net.au/Loyalty/default.aspx 

Auto One Rare Spares Super Saturday

Auto One Rare Spares Roxburgh Park held a ‘Super Saturday Sale’ as a Christmas get together that provided customers the opportunity to stock up on gifts and car parts before the break and take in all the activities and special guests in attendance. Held on 13th December, the all day sale offered 20% off storewide and adding to the bargains on offer, a BBQ and refreshments were offered to feed the masses. Thanks to a lucky door prize, two winners walked…or should we say rode away, in new mountain bikes. The Christmas spirit was alive and well with Santa making an appearance despite his busy schedule.  Kids were able to take some selfies with the man himself and also receive lolly bags. If that wasn’t enough, a Jumping Castle certainly provided fun times for the kids in attendance. Rare Spares royalty in the form of racing legend John Bowe also came down to mingle with the crowds and as always was happy to have a good yarn and share the passion for cars with other enthusiasts.   To find out about upcoming Rare Spares special events sign up to the Loyalty Club so you don’t miss out on great savings and exciting events in 2015. https://www.rarespares.net.au/loyalty/ 

Bathurst vs Bathurst: A Tale of Two Events with John Bowe

Aussie motor racing legend and Rare Spares ambassador John Bowe is certainly well versed in two special Australian motor races, The Bathurst 1000 and the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Bowe has spent 30 years venturing to Mount Panorama, completing more laps around the circuit than most and winning ‘The Great Race’ twice and the Bathurst 12 Hour on three occasions. [More]

Rare Spares Bayswater Project Partner Night

For a group of lucky car clubs, the evening of Wednesday 12th November was the date of a special Project Partner night at Rare Spares Bayswater. A group of Rare Spares Loyalty Member Clubs were invited to the evening, including the Lions Pride Holden Car Club, the Eastside Cruisers, Southern Early Holden Club and the Early Model Holden Club. A perfectly warm Spring evening encouraged a large number of car club members to bring down their special machines and enjoy the benefits of the Project Partners night. Not only did the 20% off storewide prove a winner for those looking for new parts for their own project, but there was a great bunch of door prizes on offer. The lucky first place recipient took home the awesome prize of a TCM Hot Lap around Phillip Island. Runner up prize was a double pass to Phillip Island and a Pit Tour, with 3rd and 4th prizes a $100 Rare Spares voucher and Rare Spares merchandise pack respectively. With Pizza provided for dinner, everyone had more time to spend mingling with the huge number of high profile special guests who joined the night. Aussie racing legends John Bowe and Jim Richards joined V8 Supercar star Jason Bright  and a group for TCM greats including Les Walmsley, Tony Hunter, Wayne Mercer and Gary O’Brian. To be part of some fantastic car club evenings, simply join the Rare Spares Loyalty Club https://www.rarespares.net.au/Loyalty/default.aspx    

Gold Coast Project Partner Night

On Thursday 23rd October Rare Spares Gold Coast held a Project Partner night for Rare Spares Loyalty Club and Rare Owner members on a perfect spring evening. Attendees were able to access a store wide 20% discount for the evening, with many eager to access the huge savings, scooping up some bargains for their own projects. The Kustoms of Australia Gold Coast car club was happy to be involved, cooking a delicious BBQ for those in attendance. John Bowe was the special guest for the evening and spent time signing autographs and mingling with the crowd who were keen to hear tales from the racing legend. Rare Spares Gold Coast store owner Reg Vine was keen to get involved himself by debuting his just completed, fully restored 1956 Corvette. “It was great to bring the corvette out finally. JB absolutely loved it and even took some selfies in it!” laughed Reg Vine. Another attraction for the evening was the great prizes on offer. A double pass to the gold Coast 600, a Rare Spare merchandise pack and a $100 Rare Spares voucher were all given away to lucky winners.  “It was a fun relaxed evening and we look forward to the next one.” It’s free to join the Rare Spares Loyalty Club and you can sign up to receive exclusive invites to upcoming Rare Spares events and have access to prizes and huge discounts. Simply head to https://www.rarespares.net.au/loyalty/