On 16 October 1950 Mr Kevin Lawlor of Woollahra sat in the Bondi Hotel admiring his newest acquisition - a brand new, Calvert Blue Holden FX. Australia's first generation of home-grown cars. He'd paid an eye-watering 873 pounds for it, including an extra 43 for a 6-valve radio. His father, who had just bought a house for some 900 quid, told him he was mad. Maybe, but she still looked good sitting out there on the street. Fast forward 33 years and I was ferreting in farmland outside the little country town of Boorowa on a place called Rye Park with a local bloke, Russel Mills. "Any old cars around here?" I asked him. "Yeah," Russel replied, "but you'll never get it." Naturally I was intrigued and we went back into town. By this time Kevin, a bit older, owned the general store and the pub. The old Holden had been sitting in his shed for 11 years. Last registered in 1972 she looked a bit worse for wear. Sitting up on blocks, her shoes sat sadly beside her and the gleam of Calvert Blue and chrome was long gone. Russel told me the young blokes in town had been trying to get hold of her for years, but Kevin had remained stubbornly resistant. Stiff negotiations followed. Kevin originally asked for $1000, I suspect to send me packing. I made some on the spot calculations about what it would cost to get it back into original condition and offered him $300. It became clear that was his chief concern. He didn't want to sell it to some young punk who was going to ruin it with the latest modifications, or by putting a big motor into it. He wanted it restored to its original glory. Being something of a purist myself in vintage car restoration that was my intention in the first place. I promised original condition. Kevin came back with $500. I assented. "Do we have a deal?" I asked. "Ring me in a week," he said, and just walked off. I rang back the following week and he gave me the same spiel, "ring me in a week." This was the status quo for the next three weeks, I'd ring and he'd tell me to ring him back in a week. The breakthrough came on the fourth attempt, "come and get it" he said. I went down to Boorowa on 10 February 1983 and picked her up. Russel Mills and my brother were there with the trailer. She was missing a couple of hub caps that Kevin said he would get to me when he found them, and which I ended up getting hold of 20 years later. But that's another story. I did a victory lap of Boorowa before taking her back to Sydney. I finally registered her again for the first time this year – 43 years after picking her up and 76 after she first rolled off the assembly line. I fulfilled my original promise to Mr Lawlor in that everything is in original condition. No modifications and all original parts. I suspect there are some people around Boorowa who still remember the old car and would enjoy reading the story in your paper. I also intend to bring her back to Boorowa and put her in your annual "Running of the Sheep" parade this October long weekend.
