Cruising in Style: Inside the 2026 Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive
Some mornings begin with an engine turning over. Others begin with a sense of occasion.
At the Samford Showgrounds in the Samford Valley, north-west of Brisbane, the 2026 Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive gathered more than 101 registered cars for a day of classic motoring, dapper style, community and purpose. The send-off was generously hosted by the Samford Men’s Shed and the Samford Riley Club, whose hospitality gave the morning a warm, distinctly local character.
From there, the cars followed the winding roads towards Ocean View Estates, travelling through the green hills and open countryside of South East Queensland.
We were there with cameras in hand.
Watch the film
Our film, Cruising in Style: 2026 Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive | Samford to Ocean View Estates, preserves the movement, atmosphere and people of the day.
Watch the full film on YouTube
We don’t just record a convoy leaving a showground; we capture the anticipation before the engines start, the character behind each car and the feeling of a community moving together.
A morning built around more than cars
The Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive is a worldwide event, held across more than 200 cities on the last Saturday of September. Any vehicle 40 years or older is welcome, which gives the day an unusual breadth.
A Datsun can sit beside a Rolls-Royce. A Mustang can share the road with an MG. A carefully preserved saloon can line up next to an inventive home-built machine that has taken an entirely different route through automotive history.
Nobody is divided by badge or brand.
That is part of what makes the Drive so memorable. It is not simply a display of valuable or prestigious cars. It is a gathering of people who are prepared to bring their vehicles out, dress for the occasion and spend a day driving for a cause that matters.
The Brisbane event raised more than $21,000 this year, taking the city’s total fundraising across the years beyond $190,000. Brisbane was the third highest fundraising city in the world in 2026, while local entrant Doug Robbins finished as the fourth highest individual fundraiser worldwide, raising $6,733.
The figures are impressive. The atmosphere is personal.
Stories carried in metal and leather
A classic car event becomes meaningful when the cars stop being objects and start becoming chapters.
Among the cars at Samford was a 1932 Holden-bodied car, body number 10. Its aluminium body was built by Holden bodybuilders at Woodville, with only around ten to twelve examples believed to have been produced. It is an unusual and deeply Australian piece of coachbuilding history, carrying the marks of a time when local craftsmanship and ingenuity shaped the vehicles on the road.
Another standout was a 1951 Australian Grand Prix-winning MG, known as “the Tillett” after its first owner, Steven Tillett. The car began life as an MG TC before being modified for competition. It went on to race in six Australian Grands Prix and remains one of the most significant MG competition cars in the country.
Nathan, its current owner, is only the fourth custodian since 1948.
He keeps the car at The Muse, his 8,000-square-metre classic car storage facility in Brisbane. But on this day, the MG was not behind a collection-room door. It was out in the landscape, taking part in a 46-kilometre journey and continuing the work it has always done best: moving under its own power and making history feel close enough to touch.
There was also a white 1987 Ferrari 328, brought to Australia from England by an owner who has cared for it for 12 years. A Mercedes-Benz Roadster had already completed the Drive twice in South Africa before arriving in Australia with its owner, Alex.
And then there was a Morris body sitting on a Pajero chassis. A fine piece of Australian ingenuity and a reminder that the classic car world has always made room for imagination.
We don’t just admire these machines; we listen to what they tell us about their owners, their makers and the eras they have travelled through.
Talking shoulder to shoulder
The morning began at the Samford Men’s Shed, where Chairman Dave explained the movement’s simple but powerful principle.
The men’s shed movement began in Australia and has since spread around the world. There are now more men’s sheds in Australia than McDonald’s, and Samford alone has around 160 members.
Dave described why the model works. Men do not always find it easy to talk face to face. But they often talk shoulder to shoulder, while working on a project, repairing something, shaping timber or simply standing alongside another person with a shared task in front of them.
That practical setting can create trust. The conversation opens naturally.
The same spirit was present throughout the Drive. People talked beside open bonnets, in the shade of the showground and later among the vines at Ocean View Estates. They spoke about cars, roads, restoration, family and the things that had brought them there.
Sometimes the car is the subject. Sometimes it is simply the reason two people begin talking.
A soundtrack for the road
Music gave the day its own rhythm.
Electroswiggety provided the soundtrack for the event and for our film, bringing a lively electro-swing character to the morning. Their track “Dr Swing” features throughout the video, adding movement and energy without taking away from the sounds of the cars, the conversations and the road.
Electroswiggety combines the spirit of 1920s swing with modern electronic production. The result suited the Drive perfectly: familiar but reimagined, elegant but playful, and always moving forward.
We’re grateful to Electroswiggety for helping shape the atmosphere of the day and for allowing their music to carry the film.
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Remembering Jeff Gough
The film is dedicated to Jeff Gough:
“In honour of Jeff Gough, whose passion led the way and whose legacy keeps us driving forward.”
Jeff was part of the Brisbane distinguished gentleman community from its earliest days. He was involved for 13 years and hosted for 10, helping create a community in which people could gather, drive with purpose and make room for conversations that are not always easy to begin.
Across those years, 6,220 riders took part in Brisbane and more than $1.2 million was raised there.
Jeff died this year after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. His absence was felt on the day, but so was the generosity and spirit he helped establish.
The message shared at the Drive was a simple one: you do not need to wait until you reach breaking point to reach out. You do not need the perfect words, an explanation or a solution. Tell a friend you are having a hard time. Pick up the phone, send a message or go for a drive with a mate.
That is part of what this event makes possible. It turns a shared interest into a reason to connect.
Arriving at Ocean View Estates
The roads eventually carried the convoy to Ocean View Estates, around 50 minutes north of Brisbane and roughly 450 metres above sea level.
After the movement and noise of the morning, the vineyard offered a natural place to slow down. Cars gathered across the lawn, drivers and passengers stepped out into the spring air, and the day settled into conversation, food and reflection.
Kate and Thomas have run Ocean View Estates for 29 years. Thomas is the winemaker, bringing together his studies in biochemistry with a family history of grape growing in Germany. Kate described the business as an experience built around wine, food, hospitality and the landscape.
There are three cottages overlooking the vineyard and lake, a restaurant seating around 120 people, a function room for up to 140, and experiences including wine tours, picnics, horse rides and weddings.
It is an ideal destination for a drive like this because it gives the journey somewhere meaningful to arrive.
We don’t just measure a weekend drive by its kilometres; we remember the changes in atmosphere along the way: the coolness of the morning, the sound of an older engine working through the hills, the first glimpse of the vineyard and the quiet that follows a long road.
The reason people return
Kip, one of the organisers, explained what keeps bringing people back.
The Drive is one of the few events where the usual divisions between marques and clubs seem to disappear. A Datsun parks next to a Rolls-Royce next to a Mustang, and nobody needs to defend their choice. The shared purpose becomes more important than the badge.
The only requirement is that the vehicle is 40 years or older, and that you want to take part.
There is a practical joy in seeing people connect over completely different machines. Owners compare solutions, tell stories and discover that the problems of a vintage MG are not so far removed from the frustrations of a lowrider or an old Australian custom build.
The cars are different. The enthusiasm is not.
And while the fundraising supports Movember’s prostate cancer research and men’s mental health programs, the day itself offers something immediate: a reason to leave the house, dress up, see old friends, meet new ones and spend time in the open air.
For many people, that is good for their mental health too.
Preserving the day
At Australian Car Collector and Weekend Drives, we are interested in what exists beyond the specification sheet.
Our automotive video production looks for the people, memories and craftsmanship that give a vehicle its meaning. Our classic car documentary work is about preservation as much as presentation. Through lifestyle video production and video production in Australia, we bring together the road, the destination and the human story surrounding both.
This is why we were proud to support the Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive and why being there with cameras mattered.
The film is not a replacement for the day. It is a way back into it.
You can hear the music begin. You can watch the cars leave Samford. You can meet the owners, see the details and follow the road to Ocean View Estates. You can remember Jeff, the cause and the conversations that sat quietly beneath the celebration.
That is what a good film can do.
We don’t just capture what happened; we preserve how it felt.
Looking towards 2027
The 2027 Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive will again take place somewhere in South East Queensland, with details released through the event’s media and social channels.
If you have a classic car in the shed, or know someone who does, keep an eye out for the announcement. It does not need to be the most expensive car in the field. It does not need to wear a famous badge. It simply needs a story, a driver and the willingness to join the road.
For more about our earlier support for the event, read Dapper Drives and Classic Rides: Why We’re Backing the Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive.
And when you are ready to preserve a story of your own, contact HB Media.
The best drives leave something behind.
Sometimes it is a photograph, a conversation or the memory of a particular road in the afternoon light. Sometimes it is a film that allows the whole day to keep moving forward.
Watch Cruising in Style: 2026 Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive | Samford to Ocean View Estates