Sometimes in the search for an old car or a unique vehicle, it's not until something presents itself that you end up making your mind up.
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This is what happened for Central West Car Club member Dave Schulze.
Dave had been looking for about five years he reckons, for an early Holden to play around with.
He was searching for something late 50's/early 60's like an FC or EK because that's what he'd grown up with.
Nothing much was around and then in the course of his travels for work he came across an HQ Statesman on a farm at Warren.
Just one week later he heard about this blue Statesman for sale in Parkes.
Call it fate if you like, but he ended up buying them both and now he's recently put the blue Statesman back on the road.
It's a 1972 HQ Statesman De Ville," Dave said.
"The HQ was the first of the Statesman's and the De Ville was the top of the line model in the day."
Dave's Statesman has its original Zodiac Blue Metallic paint with Flax vinyl interior and vinyl roof.
It's a big 350 cubic inch (5.7 litre) V8 with a Turbo 400 automatic transmission and ten bolt Salisbury diff.
There's features like power windows, remote mirrors, power steering and air conditioning all of which were luxury items for the day but standard equipment on the De Ville.
The wheels are 14x6 inch Holden GTS rims and there's a GTS dash and steering wheel.
The process of getting the big luxury sedan back on the road hasn't been without it's dramas.
"The electrics caught fire," Dave said, "so the wiring loom had to be replaced/ rebuilt.
"Luckily I had the second car on hand to raid bits off so that certainly saved me."
For now, Dave is happy to enjoy driving his Statesman for the next few years and to sort out any mechanical issues along the way.
"One day I hope to pull it down to restore it but I'd like to enjoy some runs with the car club first since recently joining," he said.
Join us
The Central West Car Club was formed in 1954 following a meeting of people from all walks of life who shared a common interest in racing high powered vehicles.
For those that are interested the CWCC meets regularly at the Parkes Leagues Club at 7:30pm on the first Wednesday of each month.
Guests are most welcome to come along and introduce themselves and more information can be found at www.centralwestcarclub.com or on their Facebook page.
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