It took me quite a while to fathom the concept of Prod Straight, especially being a Griffith outsider.
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When someone pointed in the direction of Banna Avenue and described the stretch of road in the heart of Griffith as the city’s community car yard, I couldn’t put two and two together.
The first mention I heard of Prod Straight happened when a friend spoke of his desire to sell his old Toyota.
To, ‘see how it goes down Prod Straight’.
I laughed thinking it was a strangely-timed but clever joke about giving the old girl a spin at Bathurst, for old time’s sake.
He of course meant the city’s arterial road, housing sometimes hundreds of vehicles for sale stretching down the main avenue into the heart of Griffith.
He justified his words saying everyone in Griffith does it.
And he’s right.
There’s barely a second-hand car to been seen in any of the town’s dealerships, despite its 25,000-odd population.
Prod Straight’s Monza connection
With a frantic description of Prod Straight from the Prado owner, I quickly pieced together another part of the puzzle making up Griffith’s cultural anomaly.
Families, retirees, teenagers, they all park vehicles, bikes, caravans of all makes and models along the road.
Side by side, in platoon-like unison, reverse parked in customary Griffith fashion on 45-degree angles.
Lining Banna Avenue from BP to the Woolies car park is just about every secondhand vehicle up for sale in Griffith.
In every window you see signs and placards of equal diversity.
Scribbled in permanent marker, printed out in newspaper-sized font with terms for sale and a desired price.
Griffith’s most locally famous icon isn’t a statue or a person, rather a visual ode to the Italian origins of what’s now one of Australia’s most unique and fascinating cities.
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It’s home to a traditional way of life centred around family, survival and thriving.
An evolved set of customary behaviour with Italian roots, adapted and celebrated by all cultures and backgrounds making up today’s diverse Griffith population.
A multi-generational pride in having stronger motivation to labor harder and longer than their competition to bring the absolute best result for them and their families.
It’s why more families work for themselves in Griffith, and the breadwinners will always roll up their sleeves to do the hard yards to provide.
Those traits of their immigrant ancestors founding Griffith still ring true today, in the wineries, properties, cafes, restaurants and businesses still being run by their families a century on.
If they’re going to do it right, Griffithians will do it themselves.
Passing on used cars to the next generation of Griffith’s hoons, grey nomads and other road users is done with a handshake and between two parties.
Often after a walk down Prod Straight with a BP coffee in hand, and a text or phone call to a seller.
The dealerships in town survive on new vehicle sales, and thrive despite potential commission being exchanged 24-seven just down the same stretch of road.
But much like the rest of the town, the dealerships have learned to roll up the sleeves and adjust, and have been operating for generations without relying on the used car market.
The ‘do it right, do it yourself’ attitude of cutting out the middle man was seen outside what used to be The Producer’s food storage sheds long before it was knocked down and developed.
It’s actually been there as long as the real deal at Mount Panorama.
And to this day remains one of the most unusual sites anyone will find in an Australian regional city.