BLACK OPS

WHEN LOUIE DEMETRIOU FIRST SPOTTED A BLACK '68 DODGE CHARGER, HE FELL DEEPLY IN LUST, TWO DECADES LATER, THAT LUST WAS FINALLY SATED BY THIS TUNNEL-RAMMED BIG-BLOCK BRAWLER

-  CRAIG PARKER

FOR Louie Demetriou, cars are in the genes. His dad, Takis, was into hot Fords and ran C&J Motors in Oakleigh, Victoria. His older brothers Jim and Stratis were car-mad, too, as were his cousins and nephews.

“Every school holidays, from about age nine, I’d be at Dad’s workshop,” Louie says. “Dad and my brothers taught me skills, along with what good, hard, honest work can bring you.”

Twenty or so years ago, Louie chanced upon his dream car. “Around 2000, Stratis was after a ’67 fastback Mustang, and I told him I’d find one for him,” he says. “While searching, I spotted an ad for a black ’68 Dodge R/T Charger – 440ci, four-speed – for $40,000. It was beautiful – nothing to spend; just jump in and drive. Apart from my brother’s ’68 Corvette, I’d mostly been surrounded by Fords; my first car was a ZB Fairlane. I’d never taken any notice of Chargers, but this one drove me crazy.”

Louie didn’t press the ‘go’ button on that Charger, as he’d taken a bit of a break from cars to concentrate on restoring vintage motorbikes. But he couldn’t get it out of his mind.

Fast-forward about another decade and a couple of things happened that re-ignited Louie’s passion for Mopars in general and black Chargers in particular. First, Stratis built a 512ci big-block 1973 Barracuda, and then, tragically, their mother was struck down by cancer.

“She was taken from the family way too soon,” says Louie. “It was a bit of a life-is-too-short moment, so I made the move [to find a Charger] around 2015.”