By Cam Lucadou-Wells
NOTHING drops the jaw like an immaculate vintage car.
Akoonah Park Men’s Shed members are rallying to a prostate cancer fundraiser, bringing some of their rare, preened vehicles out for show on 30 October.
There’s the bold swagger to Maurice Hall’s 1965 Mustang coupe with red leather cabin and seats, and Nicholas Bolis’s short-deck-tailed 1961 Cadillac de Ville – both befitting the confident Sixties.
That’s not to dismiss the charm of Eric Chaplin’s topless 1935 Chevrolet saloon, one of the few left in the world and with leather seats like a well-worn briefcase.
For their owners, there’s well-deserved pride in these exhibits.
Often there’s also a joke about the back-seat romance that have gone down as part of each car’s folklore.
Mr Hall said his Mustang was a “one-off” that he bought in 2000. His mate stripped it down to a shell and brought it back to immaculate life.
“It drives beautifully. If I had it as a young boy, imagine the girls I would have had,” Mr Hall said.
These days, he uses it as a run-around.
Roger Young has owned his 1965 original HR Holden for close to 50 years.
The vehicle, which has 500,000 kilometres on the clock, was first owned by famous car dealer Reg Hunt and was sold to Mr Young in 1967.
It still gleams in its original paint and chromework, and is taken out on the road every week – including for a recent 600-kilometre Sunday outing.
Mr Young describes it as a “charming” drive.
“I love it because it’s tactile. There’s no power steering, no air conditioning and no sound system.
“The seats are uncomfortable. You know it after you’ve been driving it.”
Mr Chaplin says his 81-year-old Master Tourer Chevrolet was just one of 199 built in the world. He knew of perhaps one other still in Australia, he said.
This grand specimen was featured in the US mini-series The Pacific – about the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
That job prompted Mr Chaplin to get a new fold-down sun-top for the car.
It was assembled by Holden in Australia and originally “in my family”. Mr Chaplin reclaimed it when out on a plumbing job and found out it was for sale.
He said it drives like its vintage, and is slow to pull up on the mechanical brakes.
“It’s a lot of fun, but.”
Mr Bolis bought his bold Cadillac from the original owner in California three years ago.
Though less luxurious than the Cadillac El Dorado, the car would have originally sold for close to the cost of a house.
Its extravagance was emblematic of the post-World War II boom and became a status symbol.
Its awkwardly large turning circle and immense length makes it difficult for suburban outings but it still handles the corners during a Dandenong Ranges cruise.
Len Vidler boasts a 1949 two-tone Pontiac with a five-litre Chevrolet motor and smart chrome bonnet emblem that looks just like the original.
“I don’t drive it flat out but it’s just been driven to Euroa.”
The Classic Car and Bike Show is on 30 October from 8.30am to 1.30pm at Akoonah Park Showgrounds. It costs $5 for show entrants, which is open to all makes and models, while others can enter for a gold coin donation.
All proceeds to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
