My 1928 Stutz

... but that's exactly what confronted self-confessed car-restoration nut David Rundle while out running one night. Rundle's curiosity got the better of him so he pushed the overgrowth of shrubs away to find the badge of a 1928 Stutz.

"I crawled into the azaleas and the spotted the word Stutz on the badge on the wheel. When I found it, it was rusted, rotted and seized. It was rooted actually... it was in the bushes, covered in azaleas," he says.

"It was just a mess. It was an awful mess."

Most people would look at the remains, tut-tut at the waste and loss, and then walk away, Not so David Rundle. Not only did he pay $4500 for it he sold a vintage Buick to help fund the restoration. It took a massive 31 years, including 23 where the big beast languished untouched on his property, for the complete work to be done.

"It was almost beyond me," he says of the massive restoration job.

Now it's in such fine condition it's a key entry at the Concours d'Elegance show at St Patricks Seminary, Manly on October 10.

David and wife Diane have been restoring classic cars for many years. "It's one of those things. I'm addicted to doing up cars," he says.

The list of machinery to have been preserved by them includes a Franklin they found buried under a collapsed garage in Phoenix in the US, a Buick Riviera Coupe they drove across America and used to escape Hurricane Katrina five years ago and their latest project, a little Austin 7 Meteor racing car.

He says they enjoy showing their cars at various events in Australia and the US.

"The cars are invitation to the party. The people we've met and the places we've been through showing our cars, it's just been amazing. I've spent most of my time on my cars."

The Stutz was built in Indianapolis in 1928 and was dutifully tested at the famous speedway near the factory as were all of the Stutz models in its day. Rundle says the car was made as a right-hand-drive and brought to Australia to be shown at the 1928 Melbourne motor show. He says it was bought by an Elizabeth Finley who lived in Turramurra and owned the car up until the 1960s when it was sold to another woman, Juliet Barker who lived at Palm Beach.

It went through a few more hands before ending up covered by tarpaulins and bushes in the front yard of an Eastwood home. Rundle says the owner, Bill Reid, had wanted to restore it but was too old to undertake the task. However he did put the tarps on it and spray it with fish oil, to try and preserve it until someone could do the job.

"The old man probably saved it," says Rundle.

But the purchase was dependent on one key promise to the owner.

"I had to promise to him I would not turn it into a Stutz Speedster, a two seater." Rundle says this has happened to many of the big Stutzs. New owners have fancied the sportier open boat-tail style to the big lumbering shape of the tourer.

With that in mind he stuck to the previous owner's wishes. He found parts all over the place and had some re-made from old castings. An 87-year-old retired engineer in Victoria who had worked on streamliner buses many years ago was able to recreate a carburettor out of an old casting. Now the big eight cylinder overhead cam engine is back to life and full of life.

"Every fortnight I will go touring in it, car club tours and that."

The big machine is a handful but Rundle says it handles well and has "less tippability" than many other machines of its age.

For more information on the Concours d'Elegance show, visit www.101010.com.au.