With a car looking more suited to a 'P' plater cutting laps of the main street, Geoff Boland at the age of 77 has recently joined the Central West Car Club to enjoy the company and the combined knowledge of a group of fellow car enthusiasts, plus the other benefits of belonging to a registered car club.
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I started by asking Geoff how a quiet bloke his age ended up with a loud and hot looking rig.
"The ute came about by chance really," said Geoff.
"I was looking for a project car to restore after leaving the farm and a friend put me onto this one."
That was about eight years ago and Geoff should be deservedly proud of his efforts.
It's a 1974 HQ Holden One Tonner with a twin headlight front, V8 auto finished in bright Hot Sting red duco with old school 14 inch Hotwire mags.
It doesn't stop there though - the 308 V8 has been stroked to 355 with a hot cam and a Turbo 700 gearbox; there's a reinforced 9 inch diff and a heavy duty tailshaft.
"The running gear that came with it was set up for a drag car," Geoff said.
It wasn't all plain sailing though.
When Geoff bought the car it had been in storage as an unfinished project for 8-10 years.
"It was a rolling shell with panels strapped in place and the engine tied down to the tray. There were boxes of bits to go with it but for a complete car I reckon it was only 75% there," said Geoff.
I should have listened when they said - if you can't drive it onto the trailer, don't buy it.
- Geoff Boland
Geoff did a lot of searching around wrecking yards and Rare Spares and found that parts were reasonably easy to access.
While not a mechanic by trade he had worked on mechanical equipment on the farm and was able to do a lot of the work on the ute himself. It's the first car he's restored and after an eight-year long project he's not sure if he'd do another one.
"I should have listened when they said - if you can't drive it onto the trailer, don't buy it," he laughed!
After finally completing the project Geoff admits to driving the one tonner sparingly.
It drinks the fuel pretty well he joked, so at 19 L/ 100km he's certainly not planning on a regular grocery run in the HQ.
"I'm hoping to enjoy a few runs with the car club," Geoff said.
For anybody interested in more about the CWCC: www.centralwestcarclub.com or on Facebook.
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