My replica 1930s Ford Hardtop

As if we didn't know we were soft, a stark reminder of just how cosseted we were was delivered at Eucla. The sight of a replica 1930s Ford Hardtop hotrod in the border stop's carpark during our recent cross-country drive in a Mazda6 was an odd discovery.

What we found on further investigation was no windows, no heater and no radio let alone the absence of radar cruise control, a Bose sound system, any airbags, heated seats or climate control. Ray Patchett, 69, from Adelaide's south, was in the middle of ticking a drive off his bucket list when we crossed his path, returning across the Nullarbor in his 1932 replica Ford V8 hardtop.

“No heater, no windows, no radio we're saving up for windows but the wind wings are amazing. You don't need these modern cars with windows and the like, you blokes are soft,” he said. And he suggested only half tongue in cheek that there was no adventure in what the Mazda convoy was doing, as it lacked “nostalgia and adventure”. He told us: “It's a bucket list thing at my age, that's what you do at my age.

“I've driven in many times but not in a 32 Ford, it's been brilliant we've loved it. We're doing 600km or 700km a day (and) we sit on the speed limit.” The fuel-injected V8 and automatic transmission might not be as frugal as the turbodiesel driveline of the Mazda but it makes a nice rumble as it warms up for the next leg to the east. Ray said it was returning a thirst of around 12 litres per 100km twice what the Mazda was drinking but the Ford crew were having more fun.

“We did 12.5 litres per 100km but the top holds us back a bit, like a sail, but it rides beautifully not a bump or a squeak. But then again you wouldn't be able to hear it over the wind noise anyway,” he quipped.