Articles by Mark Hinchliffe

Mini designer Alec Issigonis and performance tweaker John Cooper had a brain explosion in 1964 and developed a model with twin motors. Cooper crashed it, spent eight months in hospital and the idea was officially shelved. It hasn't stopped many backyard mechanics from having a go ever since, including Brisbane dentist Bill Westerman."Five years ago I was drinking beer with my friend Fred Sayers and we both decided to build one," he says in his garage littered with Mini engines in various states of rebuild. "Right from the word go — when the hangover cleared — we got stuck right into it."His 1964 Mini Cooper S with a "worn-out" 1293cc engine in the front and another in the back is called "Nuts". "Because you have to be nuts to drive it and it's better with two," says Westerman with a cheeky grin."I don't know what I paid for this one. It came from a shell. I had a shed load of Minis at the time. It's a sickness, you know."The graduate dentist began learning his mechanical skills from his first car which was a composite Series II Land Rover he made from two he bought at auction. His love of Minis started with his second purchase in 1969 when he bought a new Cooper S for $2500 and headed off to work in outback Waikerie, South Australia."I realised fairly quickly that what you really need in the outback is a V8, so I bought an XY Falcon ute," he says. "It went through a set of tyres every 6000 miles (9656km), a set of shocks every three months and universal joints at least once a year over those corrugated roads."His next car was a modified VB Commodore V8 wagon donated to the young dentist by Holden. He had it about five years before returning to Brisbane, more study at the University of Queensland and the start of his amateur career racing Minis from 1986 to today."The aim was to race all the circuits in Australia and I've just about done that except for Perth and Darwin," he says. "I've had a lot of fun. Racing has been very good to me. I've always been in the middle of the pack because I didn't spend enough money on the race car to win."His efforts to get more power out of a Mini and get further to the front of the pack led him down the ignominious Issigonis path of a twin-engined model. "We were worried after the first drive as it was an extremely difficult beast to keep on the road," he says. "There has to be co-ordination between the two motors. The gearing is the same and all the internals in the engine are the same, but we set the front so it was revving slightly harder so there is a bit of a pull factor."The revelation that kept the beast on the road came from an article in a 1960s Sportscar World magazine about the Formula One Ferguson all-wheel-drive race car. "We got a lot of hints from that; you need an overdrive diff on the front and back," he says. "We put one in the front and it made a bit of a difference and then we put one in the back and all of a sudden it goes. The diff takes up the front-to-back bias. It used to crab before that."The other major problem was the suspension. "Minis usually understeer, but this one was really taily at the start, not because of the weight in the rear but the front suspension we put in the rear. The problem was the back castor ... it had too much toe-in and we had to remove it. Instead of a steering box and steering geometry we made it into a straight-ahead suspension. Now I can drive it over all the ripple strips and still maintain control of the car. We have handling reasonable so now we are after more horsepower."Two more powerful engines in various stages of rebuild are sitting on the floor of his garage waiting to be thrown into the "Nuts" car. "I have the theoretical knowledge of mechanics to build an engine but Fred has the practical knowledge to make it work," he says. "It's been an interesting engineering exercise."Unfortunately, the car won't be ready in time for the second annual Cootha Classic hillclimb which Westerman organises for the Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland. "Maybe next year," he says.The Cootha Classic will be held on May 29-30 featuring more than 250 cars and about 50 motorcycles from the 1920s to today in timed sprints around a 1450m track up and down Sir Samuel Griffith Drive with seven corners and chicanes.Racing starts at 8.30am. Entry is $20 a day, $15 for concession, $30 for a two-day pass and $5 for parking in the J.C. Slaughter Falls carpark.Visit: www.visitbrisbane.com.au.

And somehow it all makes good sense.  The 45-year-old came to Australia in 1982 when he was 17 to play in our pubs chasing the success of Aussie pub bands Australian Crawl, Men at Work and Mental as Anything."I came out here and joined a rockabilly band in Sydney," he says. "I've earned my living playing music full time ever since."Wilshire also trained as a mechanic, so when the opportunity to "earn some good money" came up maintaining the massive dragline excavators in the North Queensland mine fields, he jumped at it. "I only work three days a week up here and then fly back to Brisbane where I can continue to play my music. "When I get more money up here, I'll be able to whack a great big huge donk in the Valiant."This jumble of jobs and passions seems to fit like a jigsaw puzzle for Wilshire. His day begins at 3am when he starts a 12-hour shift keeping the big excavators running '24/7'. And he's been working on some of the biggest of them all."Dragline 37 at Peak Downs is the largest in the southern hemisphere," he says. "It weighs a couple of million pounds (about 900 tonne) and the bucket alone holds over 1500 cubic metres which is the equivalent of a house. It runs on a 66,000 volt electric motor and plugs into a giant wire about 8 inches (20cm) across."His love of big machinery extends to his passion for Chryslers.  "I bought the Valiant off a guy who worked for Compass airlines and when they went bust he had to sell," he says. "He had done some of the work on it; air shocks, turquoise paint and 1970s Jelly Bean mag wheels. "The car picked me. I had to have it."The car is a 1967 Chrysler Valiant VC Regal powered by a 225 (3.6-litre) six-cylinder Hemi with a single-barrel Carter RBS downdraft carburettor."If I could get my hands on a Special I would. The Regal is the one below," he says. "I got it for just $1500 in 2006. It was a bargain. It only had 6000 miles (9656km) on the clock.   I've redone the trim on the doors, rebuilt the carby, put new valve seats in as it was blowing some smoke, and a bigger exhaust. "I put 225mm tyres on the back and 190s on the front. When I pump up the air shocks the back looks high like a '60s Mopar muscle car.  One day I'll put a 360 (5.9-litre) Hemi in it. It's got the engine bay big enough for it."Wilshire likes old Chryslers because they have "more style than any Ford or Holden". "My dad was a Ford man and my brother was GM man, but not me. "You can always tell a Chrysler product. Even their PT Cruiser and 300C. They have that retro style that I like. "My dream car is an AP1 or AP2 1957-59 Chrysler Royal. I'm looking for one right now. They have the biggest fins in Australia. "Fins should make a comeback."The fins, the retro car ... It all seems to fit with Wilshire's music and his sense of style. "The way I look - tattoos, clothes - it's all retro," he says. "I've been into it since grade 3 when I saw Sha Na Na. They played at Woodstock and I looked at them and I just clicked with that era."Wilshire followed rockabilly band the Stray Cats in the '80s and became good friends with guitarist Brian Setzer, recently playing support in Brisbane on the Stray Cats reunion tour. "He's one of the main reasons I wanted to play guitar. I even have a big Stray Cats tat on my left shoulder."Wilshire will launches his new solo  "rockabilly, roots and blues, and western swing" album, Cuz Of You, with his band the Tailspinners at the 18th annual Brisbane Blues Festival on March 13 at the Jubilee Hotel in Fortitude Valley.Wilshire's music should even score him cheap rego. "I might put this on concessional rego and just use it for club meets. I play a lot of car club gigs, so I can use it a fair bit legally," he says.Visit: www.brisbanebluesfestival.com.

This week a planned deal by General Motors to sell the army-style brand to a Chinese company collapsed, however GM is still considering expressions of interest from several other potential buyers.  Hummer Club Australia founder Tom Richards, 36, said he was confident the iconic brand would either be bought or, at worst, shelved for a few years before being reborn when economic conditions became more suitable."I fell in love with them when I first saw them," said Richards who owns a H3 Luxury with "loads of four-wheel-drive accessories".  It's a serious off-roader that will hold its own off road with anything.  I love the looks. It's different and I don't like to follow the pack."Hummer's size has made it a target for greenie activists, but Richards defends the vehicle and finds no conflict in being the owner of Reverse Organic Recycling and a Hummer owner.  "There is a big misconception of the vehicle's environmental footprint," he said."The H3 is more economical than the petrol Prado.  I haven't had any abuse, but you do get rude gestures from some people; like I really care.  The positives outweigh the negatives. Little kids just love them."Richards founded Hummer Club Australia early last year and has about 240 internet members worldwide.  GM Holden said that if the Hummer was axed, they would continue to honour warranties and provide service support and spare parts to current Hummer owners.Richards said there was also a ‘huge range of aftermarket accessories still available’.  "If it does get axed, it may increase the vehicle's value because enthusiasts will still want them."HistoryHummer began in the early 1980s when AM General developed the M998 Series High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, pronounced Humvee).  The US Army awarded a contract to build the massive 4WD vehicle which featured in the first Gulf War in 1991.It became an unlikely star of the TV coverage of the first Gulf War and Schwarzenegger asked AM General to build him a civilian version with a Corvette V8 engine.  This attracted so much attention, they began making civilian versions as serious off-road vehicles.GM took over in 2002 and renamed the vehicle the Hummer H1, then followed up with a new, smaller model called the H2 which has been imported into Australia in small numbers by right-hand-drive conversion companies such as Performax International in Gympie since 2005.That was the year GM produced the H3 midsized SUV which arrived here in right-hand drive two years later, the delay due to several Australian Design Standards issues.GM Holden created a premium brand unit to sell Hummer and Saab, with 273 H3s sold in 2007, rising to 1078 in 2008 and only 429 last year.  GM this year sold Saab to Dutch sportscar company Spyker.

According to tests carried out by NRMA Insurance, each glance at the phone while texting takes an average of 1.4 seconds, with the vehicle covering 22m when travelling at 60km/h. Tests were carried out on a closed road with 10 drivers aged 20 to 54 texting "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". The driver's faces were filmed with the test revealing participants glancing at their phone an average of 38 times. All states have penalties for illegal talking or texting on a mobile while driving, but that didn't stop more than 200,000 drivers last year - and those are just the ones who were caught in four states. In New South Wales, almost 40,000 drivers were caught illegally talking or texting on mobile phones in the past year. The NSW fine for illegal mobile phone use is $253 and three demerit points. Almost 40,000 drivers were caught in Victoria, where the penalty is $234 and three demerit points. About 30,000 Queensland drivers were caught, each one risking a fine of $300 and three demerit points. About the same number of South Australian drivers were also caught, with their penalties being up $218 and or three demerit points. In Western Australia the fine is $250 with three demerit points and in Tasmania it has recently been increased from $110 to $300 and from two to three points. NRMA Insurance spokesperson Robert McDonald said it was risky doing anything else while driving, such as eating or drinking or smoking. "We clearly have an appetite for mobile phones and the convenience of immediate communication," he said. "But we need to resist the urge of sending or reading a text message while at the wheel. It's not only dangerous for the driver, but also for everyone else in their car or on the road around them." Young drivers are more likely to illegally use mobile phones while driving. A national online study has found more than half (52 per cent) of drivers aged 30 to 39 admitted using their mobiles while driving, compared with one in three (37 per cent) for those under 30. The figure dropped to one in four (24 per cent) for over 40s. Men (36 per cent) were more likely than women (29 per cent) to chat while driving. So the question is: are these penalties enough to prevent people texting and talking on their phones illegally while driving? Should they be harsher, or should they be dropped and make it all legal…  

It was love at first sight when he laid his eyes on the 1929 Dodge DA Sports Roadster under the Camp Hill House of 1920s Australian rugby league rep John Hunt.  For years Day pleaded to buy the car, but Hunt rejected his offer of $200 because he thought it was too much. Hunt also wanted to keep it for his children and refused to part with it, even though it had been parked on blocks since 1964.  But the courtship continued.  "I kept in touch with them for years," Day said. "I used to take bags of stamps to (wife) Marjorie because I knew she collected them. "While I was there I would wipe the Dodge down with an oily rage to keep it from rusting, turn the engine over and pour oil into it."  When Hunt died, Marjorie found their three children were not interested in restoring the car, so she sold it to Day. "Twenty-one years after I first saw it, I finally managed to buy it," he said. "But I had to pay $10,750 in 1989.  I brought it home and had it running that same day." Day's loving ground-up restoration reaped rewards with the car becoming grand champion at the Cleveland Auto Spectacular and class winner at Motorfest in 2007.  "These days I'm more interested in driving it and enjoying it than competing at shows," he said. Day took a hobby course in panel beating and spray painting in 1974 and put his new-found skills to good use restoring a 1929 Dodge Victory Six sedan which he bought for $75 and sold in 1990 for $30,000 after spending about $4000 on restoration and countless hours of his time.He also had a 1915 Model T Ford and 1929 Buick Roadster which he sold to buy the Dodge Roadster. "It's actually the Sports Roadster which had the all-steel American body, rumble seat, six wire wheels, side door for golf clubs and chrome trim around the dickie seat," he says.  Day did all the restoration work except for the leather trim and canvas roof. "It runs very nicely. Smooth for an old car," he says.  "It will cruise at 50mph (80km/h), although it only gets about 18mpg (13L/100km).  The Roadster features a 208 cubic inch (3.4-litre), 63 horsepower (47kW) straight-six engine with three-speed stick shift. Its starting sequence is like prepping an aircraft: Pull out the manifold heat control knob to warm the carby in the cold weather, retard the spark, apply a little hand throttle on the steering wheel, pull out the choke if necessary, turn the ignition key on and pull the starter button.  Once it kicks into life you advance the spark again. Easy. The car has several nifty features such as the "Westclox" clock in the rearview mirror with a pull-cord to wind it up and an "Aermore" exhaust whistle that features butterfly valves in the exhaust to create a "steam train" effect.  "It's loud as," Day says. "It's just a hoon device, kind of like those musical horns you can get.  "It wasn't a standard feature on the car and it won't work at the moment because it's gummed up." Day drives the vehicle about twice a month, less in the summer heat.  "There's no airconditioning of course, but there are air vents by your feet and the windscreen folds down flat," he said. "After all that work I've put in, I don't anticipate ever selling it.  "I wouldn't know what it is worth, anyhow."  However, the vehicle is insured for $50,000.

Following in the footsteps of the new V8-powered, independent suspension in the Toyota LandCruiser, Nissan has revealed its seventh-generation Patrol in the Mid-East.Drivetrain and equipmentThe new Patrol is powered by a V8 – which will be the first in a Patrol for the Australian market -- a 5.6-litre direct-injection engine has 400 horsepower and 550Nm of torque while the new Patrol also features fully independent suspension rather than a live rear axle.The Mid-East launch in Abu Dhabi presented a more luxurious and softer looking Patrol with more leather, polished aluminium and wood grain trim, a cool box in the centre console, multi-screen DVD entertainment system, seven-speed automatic transmission, more interior space especially in the second and third rows, a claimed quieter ride and a curtain of cold air over the windows to prevent heat from penetrating the cabin.The new Patrol also has newly developed All Mode four-wheel drive which allows the driver to electronically switch between sand, on-road, snow and rock modes.  It has Hill Start Assist to prevent the vehicle rolling back and Hill Descent Control that uses the brakes to maintain a constant downhill speed of 7km/h in 4H mode and 4km/h in 4L mode.Patrol also features a Hydraulic Body Motion Control System to keeps it flatter with less body roll when cornering.  Nissan has revised its tyre pressure monitor system with a tyre inflation indicator that beeps the horn softly when the suitable pressure has been reached.   Patrol also gets a new hydraulic brake booster and four-piston opposed front calliper with larger 358mm front discs.Patrol for AustraliaNissan Australia senior corporate communications manager Jeffrey Fisher points out that the Mid-East unveiling at the weekend was not a world launch and different configurations could be available here."They launched it with a V8 petrol engine because they are only interested in big petrol engines in the Mid-East, he says.  "However, we will take it (the V8), because we see a role for it. It’s more frugal than previous versions.”  He says Australia will likely continue with the option of a four-cylinder diesel engine.Nissan has declared its intention to move toward small electric cars such as the Leaf, rather than hybrids. Fisher says Nissan has not mentioned anything about a hybrid version of the Patrol.  "But never say never. The way the world is moving we should keep an open mind,” he says.Fisher says the move to independent suspension would not reduce the hardcore off-road ability of the vehicle, however it is difficult to see its rock crawling abilities matching the current GU series.  "Popular theory says that things with a live axle are better for rock hopping, but where were heading with this (independent suspension) is that we think it is a good blend with the ladder suspension, he says."The expectation is that it is every bit as good and will match the current Patrol in off-road ability, however we don’t have the ramp-over angles and details yet, so we can’t tell.  Nissan claims only about 15 per cent of Patrol owners worldwide take their vehicle off road."Anecdotal evidence is that it is higher in Australia, but probably not much," says Fisher.  The new Patrol is not expected to arrive in Australia this year.  "Its still some ways off. Not this year,” says Fisher."We are into a launch countdown but it won't be this year. We are still awaiting right-hand-drive production dates and spec advice.   "GU is the current model designation, but we’re not sure what the next model designation will be. They are calling it P61G, but that may change.”Large SUV sales last year were down by almost a third, but Fisher says there is still room for large and capable off-road vehicles in Australia."Patrol is iconic and we would argue that it is one of the vehicles that has created a reputation for Nissan here, he says.Patrol was the first vehicle to successfully cross the gruelling Simpson Desert in Australia in 1962."When a lot of Australians think of a Nissan, they think of Patrol.  "It is a backbone in Australia for large 4WD wagons. Definitely something we want to continue."Sales have retracted a bit. In its heyday in the early 90s we were looking at 800 a month and we are about half of that now.  But (Land)Cruiser 200 is back on the scene and doing well reviving their fortunes and we think that when new Patrol comes along we will help grow the whole sector.

"I don't like it. We always call them a Rolls. Only people who don't own them or would-be social climbers call them Rollers."  Mrs Dunstan is the family custodian of a 1926 Rolls-Royce Twenty (20 horsepower) that belonged to her late father, Dr Eric Kilvert.  The qualified mechanical engineer is also chief mechanic, restorer and driver of the beloved family machine. The Kilvert family migrated to Australia from England in 1956 and two years later bought a 1936 Rolls-Royce 25/30hp sedan so the family of eight could go on Sunday picnics.  "We had a lot of problems with that car," Mrs Dunstan says.  "It had a cracked head and we couldn't get a new one for it. We sold it in the late '70s after it had been sitting under the house for some time." In 1963, Dr Kilvert sent his wife, Pat, to England for three months to visit her family with the "express instruction" to buy him the Rolls he had seen advertised in the British Autocar Magazine. It cost 675 pounds.  The Twenty is powered by a six-cylinder in-line 3127cc engine with a four-speed gearbox and spiral bevel final drive. It also features semi-elliptic spring suspension and servo-assisted four-wheel brakes. "Dad used to drive it everyday in his country practice around the Beenleigh region," she says.  "Because of its height clearance he could drive it on farms and it wouldn't get bogged.  "It is at this point that my love affair with the Twenty began, however I first had to learn to drive a crash gearbox even though I did not yet have a driver's licence." Mrs Dunstan shares the car with her four sisters and one brother, but she is the main custodian.  "The others love the car but they're not really interested and don't have the knowledge to keep it running," she says. Mrs Dunstan claims it is a faithful car, although there have been a lot of mechanical issues over the years and it did get a flat tyre on her wedding day and only made it halfway to church on her son's wedding day.  "One day the passenger door fell off as dad went around a corner _ the cause was wood rot," she says.  "But it's been a faithful car. "We take it out on runs regularly, but not as much in the last couple of years because we've been doing up the engine.  It had a knock and I wasn't happy about it. We had to do the bearings, put in new pistons and did the camshaft and tappets. It was a major engine overhaul.  When I can I do the work on the Rolls with some help, but I didn't do the engine rebuild. That was too big a job." Her first car was a 1956 Austin Lancer she bought for 50.  "It went like the clappers. It was a tiny little car but it was economical," she says.She has always been into cars and followed her passion to uni studying mechanical engineering. "My dad always wanted to be an engineer, but his father said `you will be a doctor and look after me in my old age'.  "I've always been hands on with the Rolls.  I love driving it. I love listening to the gear changes.  Since we've done it up it's a real pleasure to drive. The gear change is so smooth now." Mrs Dunstan says the top speed is "about 50mph (80km/h) downhill" and it gets about 19 miles per gallon (14.8 litres per 100km) in fuel economy.  "You can't drive it fast; you just have to drive at the speed of the vehicle so you are forced to be relaxed when you drive it," she says. "I don't like driving in the traffic because you allow enough space for your braking power, but you get some people who cut in front of you at the last minute."  The Twenty has competed in many Federal Rallies, won several class awards and in 1994 won the Queensland Concours d'Elegance. "Over the years I have tried to restore the car's originality by replacing incorrectly fitted items and collecting missing items such as the headlights, jack and handle, oil can and retaining clip, tyre pressure gauge, trouble lamp etc," she says.  "It was the last car my father ever bought. "He didn't want to get anything else. He just liked that car. He wasn't into chopping and changing.  "I don't know what it's worth now. It depends on how badly you want to sell it and how badly someone wants to buy it, but we don't want to sell. It's been in our family for nearly 46 years."

Two mechanics, who requested anonymity, warned prospective diesel car buyers of the often higher servicing costs and the large costs that can arise from neglected servicing.  "A work colleague complained of a $600 30,000km service charge on his car," one mechanic said."This was partially due to the need to replace the in-tank filter. Diesel engines even before common-rail was the norm had far more stringent filtration requirements for fuel and engine oil than petrol engines.  "Common-rail systems can have fuel pressures in excess in of 30,000psi, in the old imperial units, and will not tolerate contamination of fuel."In addition, diesel engines produce far more soot and oil contaminants than petrol engines and have higher bearing loads making it very important to use quality oil, filters and coolant.  "I guess the moral of the story is do not take short cuts with servicing and stick rigidly to recommended service intervals."Another mechanic said that if owners carried out regular servicing and the fuel system water trap was drained out at each service and the fuel filter replaced these problems would not occur.  "It all comes back to regular servicing with a reputable service agent," he said."Yes it is more expensive to service diesel vehicles but when maintained I feel you have a longer service life than with petrol engines.  "I do feel people are not properly educated when it comes to diesel engines.  "The average mum and dad are still confused at the pros and cons of diesel vehicles."RACQ vehicle technologies manager Steve Spalding said their annual running cost surveys showed small diesel cars were more expensive than their petrol counterpart over a five-year period.  "In general, fuel costs are lower but servicing costs are higher," he said."The diesel versions usually have a higher initial purchase price therefore impacting on the overall ownership costs."  He said servicing was more critical to a diesel, particularly to the fuel system such as filters.Spalding also confirmed that diesels require expensive high-quality diesel-specific oils and neglecting to properly service a diesel vehicle could lead to more costly repairs.  "Our advice is to stick to the servicing schedule and only use quality oils and parts to the required specification," he said."As routine servicing generally costs more, consider this prior to purchase so that there are no surprises when it comes to service time."  One of the mechanics also warned of buying second-hand diesel vehicles because buyers would not be able to confirm whether the original owner had kept to manufacturer specifications for servicing.Spalding said poor quality fuel also was a problem for modern common-rail diesels, particularly with water and contamination, while older diesels had some level of tolerance.  Owners wishing to use biodiesel should check with the vehicle manufacturer as their warranty may be affected if a component failure is found to be linked to non-recommended fuel, he warned.Diesel contains oil that lubricates the internal parts of an engine.  If misfuelled with unleaded petrol which does not have any lubrication, it can lead to engine scouring and a bill of up to $10,000. Even if the engine isn't started, the fuel system will have to be flushed and could even need replacing.Misfuelling is estimated to cost more than 800 million a year in Britain.  While no figures are available for Australia, car clubs estimate that thousands of motorists misfuel diesel cars each year.The mistake occurs because most unleaded petrol nozzles are slightly smaller than diesel nozzles and will fit in the filler neck of a diesel vehicle.  Only a few vehicles have safety features on their fuel tank filler neck to prevent using the wrong fuel.However, there are aftermarket devices available now which require the larger diesel nozzle to open a safety valve in the filler neck.  One of the latest is the British Diesel Key which replaces the filler neck and cap. The lockable device also helps prevent fuel theft.It costs $120, can be fitted in minutes and fits most European and some Korean vehicles.  Australian distributor Alex Irvine said several car companies here were interested in fitting them prior to sale.He said if fleet operators needed a special or custom fit, they could re-tool to make them, but there is a minimum order of 1000.  Despite the negative aspects of diesel cars, Spalding said there were many benefits such as good fuel economy, lower CO2 emissions, higher mid-range engine torque suited to a wide range of driving conditions, greater towing capabilities and longer engine life.

"I didn't want to have to rebuild later, so I've done a proper job first time."  His 1969 Ford Cortina GT Mk 2 is painted 1968 zircon green and is a shining example of committed restoration. Firth, 62, has moved to Brisbane from Port Macquarie after selling his child restraint fitting business and now plans to semi-retire and spend more time driving his GT.  "It is the first car I've ever restored and probably will be the last," he says. "It's not a concourse car because of the non-original parts. It's just for fun. I just want to enjoy it."  But that's not entirely true.  A year ago — just one week after he got it on the road following a laborious and expensive seven-year restoration job — Firth took it to a Baby Boomers Week car show at Forster. "I just parked it and left it to look at the other cars and when I came back I found I'd won a couple of trophies for best British car and sponsor's choice," he says.  "Then I won another trophy in Port Macquarie a month later. "It's done its show bit and now we just want to enjoy it."  Firth bought the Cortina in 2001 for $1500."It was a bit of a mess," he says.  "It wasn't registered. I think 64 people had had a go at restoring it and given up in disgust. "There was a lot of rust in it and it needed a fair bit of surgery on it.  "I cut the boot off and grafted on another one from another car, replaced all the door sills and just kept at it and did something to it each weekend."  The GT is powered by a 69 kilowatt 1600cc cross flow engine, but not the original. "I suspect it came out of a Capris like the gearbox.  "I know that because reverse is up beside first while the Cortina had it beside fourth."  Firth says it may only have 69kW, but it more than makes up for it with loads of torque. "My wife has a Honda Civic Sport and I have a VW Caddy van, but the torque of this old Cortina motor is so much better than the high-revving engines of modern cars," he says.  "There are a couple of hills out here and it just accelerates up them in top whereas the others I have to drop down a gear or two." The GT has a dual-throat down-draft Webber carby, GT disc brakes on the front with drums on the rear, Stratos seats, inertia reel seatbelts, adjustable strut tops, Koni shocks and 13-inch Cheviot Turbo 6x13 alloys replacing the original steel wheels. "I`ve spent an undisclosed figure on it because my wife is within earshot," he says.  "We just wanted to make it a bit more comfortable so we can drive it around," he says.  "The only thing I haven't got around to yet is the diff, but I've since got hold of a 3.5 ratio out of a two-litre Escort and that's a job I will get on to. "The standard ratio is 3.9, so I just wanted to go down for quieter highway cruising which is what I built it for. It's not going to be a race car."  Firth has a long history in motorsport having been a member of the Thornleigh Car Club in Sydney since he was 12. "My sister and her husband used to run around in motorkhana and I used to hang out the window and do the flag pick-up," he says.  He has mainly competed in club events and hillclimbs, worked on his son's motor racing ventures and plans to go to Bathurst for the 12-hour race next weekend (FEBRUARY 12-14) to help his friend and race driver Andrew Miedecke. Firth's first car was a 1962 Austin A40 Farina, followed by a Morris 1100, a series of Hillman Imps "during the funny era of cheap motorsport" and a Cortina 440 Mk 2.  "I had about nine Hillman Imps over two or three years. People used to give them to us and we'd play around with them and get the parts we needed and throw the rest out. "We had one working road car and one working race car and the total cost was $250."  He decided to restore a Cortina because he thought it would also be cheap.  "All the mechanical parts are still available but the body parts are actually hard to come by," he says. "It was just something to do after our son decided to sell his race car.  "I thought it wouldn't take long and cost much, but seven years and a truck load of money later ... Nevermind. I'll keep it another 40 years and the kids might recover what it cost to build it, so that's their inheritance."

More than one in three cars is stolen during the morning in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia, according to the data from car insurance company Budget Direct.The exception is Victoria, where 30 per cent of cars are stolen during midweek evenings.  Budget Direct spokesperson Richelle Ward says it is surprising to see how many vehicles were stolen in broad daylight."One might think thieves would prefer to operate through the night, which is simply not the case," Ward says.  The data shows that thieves also like the cold weather with most thefts occurring in the winter months around the nation, except for Queensland where summer is the most popular with thieves.Tasmania's crime peak is in September which accounts for almost one in three car thefts. The same month accounts for 25 per cent of thefts in South Australia, while Western Australia’s peak month is April with 20 per cent of thefts.Throughout the nation the most popular vehicle for thieves is the Holden Commodore which has also been the top seller for the past decade and most vehicles are stolen on a Monday.However, in Western Australia, the Ford Falcon is twice as popular among thieves as the second biggest target, the Toyota Camry.  Budget Direct data also show almost half of all accidents across the nation occur between noon and 6pm on a Friday.  Ward says the accident data indicates a trend for drivers to switch off after a long week's work.