The couple, both mechanical engineers, have modified their 95-year-old Austin 7 with modern parts to keep up with today's traffic.

"This is our daily transport," Mr Zampatti said. "We use this every day."

They were some of the 257 people who have travelled to Warrnambool from across Australia and overseas for the Austin 7 National Rally.

There were 130 Austin 7s from the 1920s to 1930s displayed at Warrnambool's Fletcher Jones Gardens on Tuesday.

Mr Zampatti said the car was small enough to fit in the city bike lanes.

"Traffic's always banked up," he said. "This fits down the bicycle lane so I'm ahead. I drive faster through the city than most cars do.

"That's why I got it because I'm over sitting in traffic and when I have meetings in town and need to get in and out I use this."

They filled it with 200 litres of potting mix in a trip to Bunnings and said it was a very slow trip home.

"There was a sale on potting mix and we thought 'We'll grab that and that' and then walked out and went 'Oh yeah we're in the Austin'."

He said they both loved engineering.

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"In engineering of this time, there was nothing you couldn't do," he said.

"All modern cars use old technology. It's just the materials of the day are no good which is why they break. I like modifying everything with modern materials so it goes better. We can keep up in this in modern traffic.

This will do 100 (kilometres per hour)," Mr Zampatti said.

The rally, held every five years at a different regional Australian location, is extra special this year as it is 100 years since the first Austin 7 was presented to the public.

The six day rally began on Saturday and will travel through Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Port Campbell and Camperdown, before concluding with a farewell dinner on Thursday.

Entry to the show and shine was by gold coin donation, with all proceeds to be donated to South West Healthcare's Warrnambool Base Hospital.

Money raised will go towards the cost of a rapid infuser, worth almost $44,000, used in operating theatres to help save the lives of trauma patients who have just minutes to live by rapidly delivering high volumes of warmed blood and fluids to replace blood lost from the trauma.

"In our part of Victoria, this lifesaving intervention is most commonly used for the likes of road and farm accidents and childbirth emergencies," a hospital spokeswoman said.

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