LIFE IN MOTION

THE MODIFIED-CAR LIFE IS AS MUCH ABOUT CREATING MEMORIES AND FRIENDSHIPS AS IT IS ABOUT BUILDING CARS

- TIM BARTROP

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!