CARS PAST

At 16 I bought my first car, a HD Holden sedan.

161 Red motor, 3 on the tree. Paid $200. In typical late 1970s fashion, it did not take long before a speco 3 speed floor shift went in as well as a set of X2 headers and boy racer was off! The mags are off a then friends HR prem, just because we thought it would be great to see what mags did for it.

This was closely followed by an XT Falcon sedan. Paid $1000. Unfortunatly I didn't take pics of a few cars and this was one. But mine was silver and a 221 6 cyl column auto. The photo is for reference of the model.

I did not keep it very long, after a trip way camping i decided that a better car would be a station wagon. I saw one driving around a nearby town and chased it down. I offered them a clean swap and thats what we did, although I think they got the better car out of the deal. I swapped for a brown XT Falcon 500 wagon that turned out to be red after i cut and polished it.Another car I took no pictures of, so the white one is for reference...

Not long after that, I moved to Western Australia and the Wagon was sold off and a one way bus ticket purchased. After saving a little money, a trip to Perth was made and the next car in my life was bought, a 1970XW GS. Factory 6 cyl 4 speed, white. Paid $1100. Another no photo car, so the picture is for reference again...although mine did look just like this but without the rear venetian blind.

 

By now I was about 19 I think. I loved that GS, I would polish it every weekend, even cleaning under the bonnet with a toothbrush! This was the first car I drove like a lunatic in. Nothing to be proud of looking back, but it sure did handle nice. Alas, I had the wanderlust and decided to move on out of the west, heading to Alice Springs. I really don't know why I didn't keep it and drive, but I sold it and flew instead. It would be about 18 months and a move on to Brisbane before another car came along.

This one was a real nice XA Fairmont, 302 T bar Auto for $2000 I recall.

I still drove like a twat, and managed to wipe the rear end off the car on a power pole. That accident DID teach me a valuable lesson. The insurance fixed it up but I never felt the same about it after that so I sold it as well.

By now i was in my early 20s and chased down another GS on the south side of Brisbane. A Mustard colored XY 250 2V, 4 speed. It drove real weird like, and when i got home i discoverd that was because the whole radiator support panel was rusted away and the front end was going all over the place. Say hello dodgy Qld roadworthy!

It is hard to imagine, but this was only a 10 year old car at the time. They were already 'old cars', not like the cars of today where a body is used to go 15 years or more in style (not to mention longevity).
These cars not being considered all that special back then, I had no qualms about pulling it apart. The body was considered stuffed and I bought another XY Falson 500 to put the running gear into. Oh how times have changed! Now, one would fix the whole rusty X member situation and save a matching numbers car. The white XY in the background was bought to swap the good stuff into.

Along the way, I put on a couple of good doorsfrom the GS body and put on some new old stock mudguards and had the body shot in purple primer so as to not attract attention from the Qld Police till I took it apart and painted it properly.

While I still had the two XYs in the yard, I also happened across a car to good to pass up...A ZC fairlane, 351V8, FMX and 9'' diff from the original owner, for $1200!

This car took me back to South Australia for a holiday that turned into moving back due to the sudden death of my stepfather. This meant the XYs back in Brisbane got sold off as bodies and parts, I guess never to be made into number matching cars again. Sometimes I smack myself in the head...I didn't need to sell them!

The Fairlane was soon sold off and at 22 i bought one dented up XY sedan. Dented was right as almost every panel had knocks, this turned into the first real bodywork i did, with paint being done by a local guy. Finished off with a gold mock GT stripe (without the 'GT' and superoo decal) as I didnt want to pretend it was a GT, Just the stripe look nice.

Soon enough the Falcon was sold off after doing a trip to Queensland and back on honeymoon duty because...I saw another car I wanted. Isn't that always the way? Oh well, easy come and easy go. I saw this XB GS Coupe a local car yard and bought it for $2000 I think. 302V8 4 speed and as tight as. It hugged the road like a go cart.

This was another example of how poor Ford rust proofed car back in the 70s. It was a mere 10 years old and yet the doors had rust and the panel under the back window was not the flashest either. Eventually i stripped the car down and had it painted white after having the rust fixed as well.

While on another trip to Queensland, the bug bit again and i saw another must have car. That meant in true me style, the Coupe had to be sold and quick. Sold for $4000 and I bought my first American car for $4000 as well. A 1968 Pontiac Bonneville 4 door pillarless.

The Bonneville has a longer and wider wheel base than the Aussie Parisienne, the extra length being in the dogleg. It also ran a 400 ci Pontiac motor (not a chev) and had been an import converted by Chappel Engineering. Along came money worries associated with buying a house and the pontiac was sold off to a guy from Adelaide, who hopped of the bus at night, glanced at it, said it was straighter than he thought it would be and drove it back. I drove home in a cruel joke i bought to replace it...

It was a lot of fun, and nice to not have a 'precious' car for a while. Just as well because the brakes were pretty bad and I would have to nudge the tyres on the curb or hit things to come to a final stop!
The headlights were no brighter than a torch, that made night driving interesting to say the least.

Next car came from a wrecking yard in Mount Gambier, rusty as all get out but a good runner.

 

Followed by another wrecking yard purchase, one XA Fairmont coupe with a bad wipe out rear quarter. Removed the quarter and the rear tub that side by unpicking all the spot welds and replacing those sections with panels taken from a quarter cut off a crashed coupe.

  End result was a very nice car that i wish i still had

By now i think i was changing cars faster than underwear...And along came a ZG Fairlane, anniversary edition with leather seats. The body was a little rough in places but it sure was nice to drive...until a truck backed into the side and crushed a door. Not being able to afford to fix it I sold it to a local who did fix it.

 After these big cars came a shift in my life that made me go for small cars (only for a bit)...and I bought a MK2 cortina. Nothing special, was just trying to save money and failing bad, as it wasnt the best car. One day something went wrong in the gearbox and i had to drive home 5km in reverse..

Turned out to not be my type of car and soon went. Was replaced by a dark green P5 LTD...

Which after costing an arm and a leg to fix rear wheel bearing issues it too was sold and replaced by another attempt to be sensible...

Not a bad car at all. But....I wanted a bigger car still and found the next one next to my mums house. One very rusty XB Falcon sedan, 6 cyl 4speed. For $250 I figured it was worth fixing and turned it into a car I kept for a long time (in my mind)

By now life had changed again and a kid was on the way. The falcon was getting tired and we swapped it for a Ford Telstar Ghia

Well that was the wife sorted, as I know had a regular job I needed to get to work a little car was in order. That turned out to be a Ford Escort of the dilapidated variety.

 There was another coupe that came along at this time, an XB, nice car but turned out to be a good bog up job

I don't recall having it for very long

By now there was hankering for some meaning to all this going to work every day routine and a bought a 1963 1/2 Galaxie Fastback to restore. My first venture into the world of proper restoration. Everything needed doing, the engine was a good runner and was left alone, underside very easy and body stayed on the chassis.

Alas, not only did the wife not like the $ it cost, I couldn't maintain the repayments on the part I financed of the project and ot was very regretfully and sadly sold off. Replaced by another little car as practicality dictated. A 1972 Mazda wagon. Actually a lot of fun, cornered like a go cart. Its time ended when it was stolen from in front of my now bachelor apartment and found 3 days later with the rear tyres fried to the wire and the engine blown. As well as that they drove into a culvert and buckled the body front frame.

Along came then, a HR prem sedan for $700 that did duty for while

It did duty until its worn steering and dodgy brakes meant selling it off . With no cash to fix it and Kids to cart around every second weekend i went for a car yard financed VH Commodore SLX

This did for a year or two and then it abruptly died. These were financialy hard times and with no money to get it going it went to the wreckers and was replaced with a $200 bomb in the shape of a 323 Mazda. (Nowhere near as neat as this british one used as reference...)

But it went well for a time, and like all these hand me down cars, never seem to last long before they start breaking down and get passed onto some other poor sod.

During this time I had managed to buy a very down 1964 Cadillac that spent 5 years getting a restoration (Owned the car but borrowed to restore) . Anyway, the mazda went and was replaced by a Ford version of it, a Laser hatch and work continued on the Cadillac.

By now the Cadillac was on the road, and was getting its fair share of use.

This was truly a wonderful car to drive and it was a sad day when I sold it. Again, money troubles. Child support has a way of taking every spare cent away... It was sold to another Cadillac lover and is one of the few cars of my life that I still know who has it. With a little cash out of the sale left over and a vow to never borrow money to finance old cars I had a hankering for something unusual. I found it in the shape of a hearse,

Mind you, It did NOT look like this when i bought it. It was very very down and lucky To have not got parted out. Anyway, a few short years and It looked like this.

During this time, the little Laser died, by blowing a hole in the block and went to the wreckers. The hearse was a bundle of fun but didnt survive a move to the country. The driveline was just plum worn out and every trip resulted in a breakdown. It either needed a full resto or putting up on blocks. The hearses fate was sealed when the decision was made to concrete the large workshop floor...sold and the money went into concrete.

Now i needed a vehicle and fast, the answer was a tray top ute.

The "rattler''. Everything rattled! BUt it was the vehicle that was needed, the new wife had a liitle run about modern car and the 3 acres with animals etc said a tray top was a smart move. It was and I used it far more than I imagined. Until like all old cars, it packed it in. No money to fix it, I sold it for the price of the 5 new tyres to a local who did spend the $ and it still rattles along today.

It is ironic that with no money to fix it and banks unwilling to make a personal loan to do so, that I sold it and purchased the first ever brand spanking new vehicle in my life with the aid of a Dealership
Say hello to a 2012 Ford Ranger. Really the best car I could have bought. Basic yet reliable and at least when toys are off the road or breaking down it is essential in the country to have a reliable car.

I must not overlook a couple of other interesting items from the last few years, one a very rugged project 1950 ford that I accepted as payment for steeling out a fibre glass roadster...semi chopped and suicide door and rusty...

And not forgetting a longer term project that really shouldn't be too far off finishing save for time.

A model A based hotrod using a chev cowl

And finally up to the moment, the 1961 Tank Fairlane ...a time thief from the hotrod.