The vehicle inspired a nostalgia for Mr Donohue and years later he tracked down a similar model online, a 1965 PB Cresta.

"It's pretty well identical to the one my parents had when I was young and I had to buy it," he said.

"I knew a few people who had old cars and I thought 'if they had an old car, why can't I?'"

The vehicle had been in a shed for about 15 years and was still in its original condition when Mr Donohue bought it.

"It's in pretty good nick," he said.

He even had the chance to take his father, Max, for a ride in the vehicle before he passed away aged 95.

"For me it was the memories of the first vehicle I can remember," Mr Donohue said.

"I've had a few people say to me 'oh you've got your father's car' which I haven't but that's how similar it is."

The car was among about 35 from the Vauxhall Owners' Club of Australia's annual rally on Saturday during the event's inaugural visit to Warrnambool.

Mr Donohue's link to the city was one reason why the club chose to host its rally in Warrnambool.

In the past he's travelled as far as Western Australia to show the car.

The oldest car on display was a 1923 Vauxhall 14/40 Princeton Tourer, which Adelaide's David Evans brought across the border on a trailer.

"This was from the era when Vauxhalls were completely independent," Mr Evans said of his car.

"They were taken over by General Motors in the mid-'20s and then by the '30s the body was similar to the body on a Chevrolet."

He said the vehicle was found on a New South Wales farm in the 1970s and restorers then tracked down and reunited the car with its original body in Sydney.

Mr Evans bought the car in 2015 and also owns Vauxhall hearse, which he called his "second love" to his wife.

He said many Vauxhalls arrived from Britain to Australia in the early 1900s because they were "big strong vehicles".

The event is the first time Mr Evans has been to Warrnambool and the club has a plan to drive the vehicles to Hamilton on Friday.

"I'm quite impressed," he said of his visit. "I'm enjoying it, it's quite a large town."

Mr Evans said his car generally could not travel at speeds above 70 to 80 kilometres an hour, had a hand-held brake, a hand throttle and a double clutch.

"One thing you learn driving older cars is you read the traffic," he said.

"You have to give yourself plenty of room."

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