Canberra's 'Iron Man' prepares for the best kind of car cruise

Brett Norton is the managing director of Fyshwick-based IT company OPC. But for one day in September every year, he’s Iron Man – and he’s got the suit to prove it.

The annual Classic Cruise Canberra is coming up when hundreds of exotic and classic vehicles will set off on a gentle drive through the city from the National Arboretum to a show-and-shine display and sausage-sizzle lunch outside Questacon.

“There’s a real cross-section of cars – we have corporate vehicles (one year we had about 20 LJ Hooker VWs come along), exotics like McLarens and Ferraris and Porsches, old Bentleys and Rolls-Royces and some lovely old American Chevys,” Brett says.

Adding colour will be Brett in his Iron Man costume, his wife Cathy as ‘Supergirl’, and their V8 Holden Clubsport, dubbed ‘Jarvis’.

The cruise, now entering its ninth year, raises money for Camp Quality.

Camp Quality is a long-running Australian charity that provides programs and services to kids from birth to 15, dealing with their own cancer diagnosis or the diagnosis of a sibling or parent.

They provide camps, getaways and recreational fun days to “create precious memories for families impacted by cancer”, as well as puppet shows in preschools and primary schools and programs in cancer wards.

This year, the charity is also looking to fund two new ‘Child Life Therapists’, who are assigned to help guide a child and their family through the treatment process.

“These children, facing the impacts of cancer, they’re the true superheroes,” Brett says.

“We wanted to build on that theme. As a kid growing up, I loved Superman, and Iron Man is simply the next step – he has all the human frailties, but he’s modern, super high-tech, and always fighting against evil. And the kids love him.”

Brett and Cathy have championed the local Canberra cruise for the whole nine years, alongside Ivan Slavich (as Thor) and his wife Anna (Wonder Woman). In that time, it’s raised more than $700,000 for Camp Quality.

Brett and Cathy became involved with the charity 14 years ago “by chance”.

“It was someone at my office who said to me, ‘We should adopt a charity, and he had a personal interest in the Camp Quality, so we swung the computer around and found a car that same day,” Brett says.

Their first car was a Holden HZ Kingswood, and they dressed up the Blues Brothers, “but kids don’t actually know who they are”.

So about 10 years ago, they transitioned to ‘Jarvis’ and made a few modifications to not only fit its moniker but make it rough and ready enough to participate in another of Camp Quality’s annual events, the ‘Escarpade’.

The Escarpade is a 3000 km drive between two points in Australia, 75 per cent of it on gravel roads.

“We have to prepare the cars so they’re ready to travel around the back blocks of Australia, so we’ve got bash plates, we’ve raised the suspension, tow bars front and rear, installed trip meters and a CB radio, horns and lights galore so other drivers can see us in the dust.”

A month after the Classic Cruise, this year’s Escarpade sets off from Canberra en route to Geelong.

The most rewarding aspect is seeing how the money really helps.

“To see a child go through the process of being diagnosed with cancer and then the treatment process, it’s quite traumatic,” Brett says.

“I watched a video recently where a child had gone through 1200 individual treatments. I mean, it’s one thing to take the child into the hospital the first time for treatment. You try and get them back the second, and the third, and the fourth … it hurts!

“So to see the impact on the children when Camp Quality brings puppets into a hospital or takes the families away on a camp, it’s heart-warming.”

The Classic Cruise Canberra departs the National Arboretum at 10 am, Sunday, 8 September, and the Show-and-Shine event runs at Questacon until 3 pm. Visit Camp Quality for more information or to donate.