QLD's Big Pineapple Sold - Tipped to become car museum

One of Queensland’s tourist icons is set to be reconditioned as a motor racing museum. The new owners of Big Pineapple on the Sunshine Coast will use the site to showcase their collection of Australian motor vehicles.

The Bowden family, of Buderim, will house a number of classic racing cars within buildings next to the 16-metre fibreglass tropical fruit.

Several of the traditional drawcards of the Woombye landmark will remain, including the heritage-listed pineapple and its famed sundaes.
The property has been on the market since July last year, when long-time owner Graham Hayes placed it in receivership.

Allan Moffat’s famous Coca-Cola 302 Trans-Am Mustang will be one of the attractions at the revamped Big Pineapple site.


The Bowdens have promised to returning the Big Pineapple to its former glory.
‘‘Our current plans move along the lines of giving the site a much needed birthday [party] and restoring it back to something I can recall from my childhood,’’ Chris Bowden told ABC Radio this morning.

Patriarch David Bowden, a former share trade adviser, has built up Australia’s finest collection of racing vehicles, according to the Sunshine Coast Daily.

The collection includes Allan Moffat’s famous bright red Coca-Cola 302 Trans-Am Mustang, first raced in 1969.
The vehicle Dick Johnson was driving when he hit a rock in the 1980 Bathurst race is also a part of the collection.

Councillor Anna Grosskreutz, Sunshine Coast Cultural Heritage Reference Group Chair, today said she was excited to learn the icon would be restored to its 1970s heyday.

‘‘We definitely need a new tourist attraction on the Sunshine Coast,’’ she said.
‘‘This will bring motoring enthusiasts to the Sunshine Coast.’’
However, Cr Grosskreutz was disappointed to learn employees had reportedly only discovered yesterday morning they no longer had a job.

‘‘I do hope those people can find a job elsewhere,’’ she said.

Several employees have been retained to look after a number of animals housed on the property.
The famed pineapple hosted Prince Charles and Princess Diana when they visited Australia in 1983.