SOMETIMES, it takes time away from the people and things you love to realise their importance. I’m sure many of you can relate to that feeling during this period of self-isolation, and it got me thinking about the fact that most of the significant relationships and experiences in my own life have had one common denominator: modified cars.
I remember how it all started. I was the second-youngest child in a family of five boys and one girl in Brighton, South Australia. My older brothers were into cars, so a big part of my childhood was spent messing around with them in the back shed. My eldest brother modified an FJ to quite a good standard, and the second eldest was a mechanic, so he always had me handing him tools and doing minor jobs.
We were pretty much a Holden family. All my brothers started with FJs, but coming later in the family order meant that my first car was a later model: an EH. My brothers encouraged me to find a Standard sedan, as they already came without side trims, which saved having to remove them and weld up the holes. So I instantly looked cool in my shaved EH, and it soon had six-inch-wide wheels, a floor shift, and some engine mods. My younger brother and I went to the very first Street Rod Nationals in Narrandera in that car, and that’s where my love of hot rodding began – it was awesome there!
This story is from the July 2020 edition of Street Machine Magazine.
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This story is from the July 2020 edition of Street Machine Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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