XK Falcon Barn Find & Suzuki RE5 Rotary Bike Restoration: Classic Restos - Series 42

Motoring enthusiasts have a fascination with barn finds; the excitement of the discovery of an old classic and the restoration story that follows.

Owner Darren tells the story of his barn find a 1960 XK Falcon, discovered in the backrooms of a parts supplier in NSW. The XK Falcon was considered futuristic with its sleek new shape when launched, leaving other manufacturers languishing with their 1950 designs. The XK was marketed as 'trim, taut and terrific' and set the styling benchmark for future cars. Darren was ecstatic to have secured such an iconic marque but was confronted with a 3-week time-frame to get it ready for the 'Early Falcon Nationals' at Nagambie. It came up a treat. It's a great story and makes you wonder just how many other classics are still out there, waiting to be discovered.

Not quite a barn find, but a restoration project by retired bike enthusiast, Ross. A very rare 1975 Suzuki RE5 500cc Rotary motorcycle. Reportedly only 5,000 were produced worldwide with only 50-100 destined for Australia. With such limited numbers and a lack of parts supply, Ross had to build many of the bike's components to manufacture spec himself - but that's the thing that gives him the most enjoyment. These bikes were considered exotic at the time, and many didn't understand the principles of rotary engines. As Ross puts it, if you can come to grips with a rotary car engine, you can apply it to rotary bike engines. He was lucky to have a helpful sidekick, a handy mate who worked with Mazda during the rotary engine phase of manufacturing.