FORD FALCON XY

FOR OWNER BILL CVETKOVSKI, THIS XY HAS BEEN PART OF HIS ENTIRE ADULT LIFE

- OWNER WITH GUY ALLEN

Talk to Bill Cvetkovski's lively family, and they'll happily tell you that his XY GT Ford was his first love and possibly his favourite child.

He listens in, grinning, but doesn't deny it.

"I turned 18 in January 1977 and went on holiday in Europe," he explains. "When I came back a lot of my mates had fast cars and I decided I wanted either a GT or a Mustang." He went for the GT on the basis it made more sense if he wanted to take his parents somewhere.

"In the Macedonian community you had a lot of kids with fast cars," Bill says, "GTs and Monaros were popular. Out of about 40 kids I knew who had these cars, I was the only one that kept it."

That probably took dedication, given he subsequently got married, bought a home and had four kids with partner Gorica.

Finding the car took a little patience. He went round the dealerships but felt their pricing tended to be a little high. Then he spotted an ad in a newspaper classified. The car, in its eye-popping Vermillion Fire livery, belong to a Melbourne based teacher.

She had bought it from the first owner in Canberra and then decided to move it on, priced at $4800. Bill offered $4400 cash and was given the keys.