Ian and Kay Page from the Central West Car Club own this beautiful and stylish Vauxhall which Ian has been dreaming of owning since he was 15 years old.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"I'd just finished high school and one of the workers at the substation here in Trundle had one," Ian said.
"It was black and full of chrome and I vowed there and then that I'd one day own one."
Move forward to 2001 and Ian had been keeping an eye out for a Vauxhall for sale.
"I was at the club one day for a casual beer and I had the Daily Telegraph classifieds open in front of me but no reading glasses," Ian laughed.
"I said to the girl behind the bar, does that say Vauxhall and she said yes and wrote down the number for me."
The Vauxhall was for sale in Bowral and after a few phone calls, Ian and his son took a trailer and picked it up.
"It's a 1958 Vauxhall Cresta PA," said Ian.
"And the chap I bought it from was only the second owner.
"He'd had it sitting on blocks in his shed for 23 years with thoughts of restoration but he'd never got to it so it was time to sell."
Ian and Kay's car had been sold new by J.F. Rutledge and Co. in Bowral and all the original books and papers came with it.
It had been covered in a thick layer of dust but a bucket and sponge soon had it gleaming with all its bright-work and it only had 40,000 miles on it.
They trailered the car back to Ian's sons workshop in Bathurst and decided it was probably good enough to hit the road so after changing the fluids and a general check over, Ian got some paperwork to drive it home to Trundle.
"I was proud as punch with it," Ian said.
"And we spent about three years slowly giving it a general overhaul before having it on the road in 2004 and it hasn't missed a beat since".
Ian and Kay's Vauxhall runs a 2.3 litre straight six cylinder engine with a three speed column shift manual transmission.
It's a six seater with old fashioned leather interior which in its day made it a bit of a luxury car owned by lawyers and doctors and according to Kay there's not many of this model in Australia, with only about six registered with the Vauxhall owners club.
"I'm still too scared to drive it," Kay laughed.
"So I leave the driving to Ian."
The club meets on the first Wednesday of each month at the Parkes Leagues Club at 7.30pm for anybody who is interested.
You can find out more at www.centralwestcarclub.com or www.facebook.com/centralwest.carclub.
MORE CAR CLUB ARTICLES:
