Enthusiasts flocked to Cavan on Sunday (October 15) for the Irish Vintage Engine and Tractor Association (IVETA) National Indoor Vintage Rally.
The venue was the Cavan Equestrian Centre – a facility that is also home to the Cavan Farm Machinery Show.
The event played host to a generous helping of vintage tractors and cars, plus all manner of nostalgia-inducing paraphernalia. In fact, it was the sort of event where you could buy a bumper for a Cortina, a Kenny Rodgers CD or just marvel at a bygone contraption from yesteryear – be it a feisty Fiesta or a fearsome Fordson.
There’s a comforting sameness about many of these events, with familiar faces and machines popping up with reassuring regularity.
These are social gatherings – a chance for long-standing friends to mingle and for enthusiasts to indulge a lifelong passion.
But who or what is the IVETA? It was formed in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary in 1979 by a group of enthusiasts who wanted to promote the restoration and preservation of all aspects of vintage heritage.
The association has grown to a membership now claimed to be in excess of 5,500. Some of the founding members are still actively involved.
In its 38 years of existence, the association has seen membership spread to every county in Ireland and even some participants from overseas.
Below is a selection of pictures from Sunday’s event; with the focus firmly on the tractors that populated the exhibition centre. Among this selection are familiar sights – such as the ever-popular MF 35 and 135 – along with more unusual finds, including a lesser-spotted Ursus.
Click on a thumbnail in the gallery (below) to open up a full-size image; once opened you can scroll sideways to see the next picture.
Among the younger entries was a chunky-looking Ford TW-20, albeit in original, off-farm condition. The hoard of collectibles stretched right back to a scattering of early Fordsons – models that kick-started the mass production of tractors.
These were the mechanical beasts that ousted the horse as the prime-mover on many farms.
