History
The car was first purchased by William Adams & Co. Ltd, Derwent Park Tasmania, from Metro Motors Pty Ltd, 58 Bathurst Street, Hobart on 10th November 1965.
I saw it while on holidays in Tasmania in 1994 and asked a friend to follow up with the owner to see if it was for sale. She later discovered it was owned by her uncle, Mr Robert Cash, Warrane, a suburb of Hobart. After some negotiations he agreed to sell it to me for $2500.00 and I had it shipped to Adelaide.
It was painted white, both rear guards were rusted away at the bottoms, there was some small amounts of rust in the doors, though the left front door didn't fit properly due to a previous accident. The vinyl roof cover showed severe weather damage, the drivers seat needed significant repairs and the top of the rear seat also showed significant weather damage.
I stripped the car, repaired the rust and was able to obtain a new door skin for the left front door which I fitted. I changed the colour to the 1965 Valiant red, which was the same colour as a 1965 Valiant Regal I had purchased new. While I painted inside the car, under the bonnet and boot, a good friend of mine, Earle Webber, a spray painter by trade, painted the external in two pack. I put three coats of paint on the turret before a new vinyl roof covering was added.
The motor had completed 298,000 miles and suffered from the known problem of being down on compression on number one piston and a little smoky. We rebuilt the motor (engine number 0233 - there were only approximately 340 AP6 V8s built). The transmission was serviced and we were informed it was virtually perfect - not uncommon for that model torqueflite transmission.
The vehicle was on the road in time to participate in the inaugural Bay to Birdwood Classic Rally in September 1997.
I have since particpated in all but one of the Bay to Birdwood Classic Rallies. Though I rarely drive the vehicle, having only completed just over 2000 miles since its restoration, I do enjoy driving it when I do.
Modifications
To qualify for conditional registration in 1997, I removed the disc brakes at the front (they originally had powered finned drums) and refitted drum brakes. I did however, fit retractable seat belts front and rear, which was allowed under the regulations. There are no other modifications.
