I bought it in 1989. My father’s best man had bought it for his children to learn to drive. They had all learned in it and bought another car – all Fords! Escorts, Lasers and stuff like that.
We were over there for a barbecue and I noticed it. The owner said he bought it to relive his childhood but was now happy to see it go. “If someone gives me $1000 they can have it,” he said. I was a third-year uni student with no cash, but it sounded like a bargain. I got another as a wreck as part of the deal.
It was one of those things that, as a young kid of about 10, when I first saw the car it stood out with its red interior and the gauges in it, and it went fast and made good noises. It seemed like the coolest thing.
The plan was to use it as a daily, but I ended up interstate, in Tasmania, and it got stuck in a shed back in Queensland. I ended up with a four-wheel drive, and got married and had kids, but just managed to hang on to it.
I restored it with the period in mind. The motor has been worked – it’s a 1500 with twin Webers that’s been bored and stroked, with a ported and polished head. It’s out to about 1650. It’s running a Lotus gearbox with a sixties limited-slip rear end. There’s not a part of the car that hasn’t been breathed on.
The colour scheme is inspired by the 15C race car, but the striping is my own variation on the theme. As much as possible I’ve kept it in the era and I’ve kept the original parts in case someone decides they want it back to original. The bottom line is that I start it up and it still makes me smile.
It’s one of those cars where everyone seems to have a story – they broke one or raced one or grandma had one. Everywhere I go, someone has a story.
There was a crew of people heading down from Brisbane. We had a fat time – it was just great.
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