I thought my clapped-out Jeep Wrangler did well to recently clock over 25 years of loyal service. Especially when my mechanic urged me to "retire" it five years ago.
But a quarter of a century dodging potholes on our region's roads pales into insignificance when compared to Graeme McKie of Narrabundah, who just renewed the rego on his 1959 FC Holden, meaning it has now been continually registered in his family name for 60 years.
Not a bad effort, hey?
"My parents, Fred and Marlene purchased her in November 1964, and from what I can ascertain we are the second owners," reveals Graeme, adding, "it was our only car until 1976 when an XY Ford Falcon sedan was acquired, and it then became mum's rocket."
Graeme remembers the initial run in the Falcon when his dad was cruising in second gear down the Monaro Highway.
"I had to tell Dad he had one more gear to go" laughs Graeme, adding "it was a big change from the old Holden to the big Ford".
So just how has the corsair tan-coloured FC Holden fared during those six decades devotedly serving the McKie family?
"It has been an amazing vehicle with many trips on the old Hume to Sydney, countless times to the coast up and down the Clyde Mountain, and in 1973 all the way to Port Macquarie with all the luggage on the roof rack and a boot full of 20-litre drums of petrol, as there was a strike on at the time."
More recently Graeme "took out a mate out in the FC and we drove every piece of the old Hume I could find between here and Sydney, even if it was only a foot long, it's great fun".
"It's one of those old machines that you feel that you can head on down the highway in, which I do, and just sit back and chill and let it do its thing" says Graeme, who admits "having trouble coming home and putting her in the garage."
According to Graeme, it has only failed him a couple of times. And he remembers every occasion as if it were yesterday.
"First, when I was a very young boy with my younger brother Paul and whilst mum was driving in Manuka I lost a tooth on the gearbox cluster," he explains.
In fact, he can still remember the exact spot.
"Mum put her in first gear to take off from Murray Crescent to go across the intersection with Captain Cook Crescent and bang, bang, bang" he recalls, adding "it frightened the hell out of mum and us young boys." I bet.
Another time it stopped dead "having stripped a timing gear "as the family turned left into Auburn Street in Goulburn on the way to the south coast while towing a 6 x 4 trailer full of camping gear.
"A passing taxi driver, seeing my mum upset at the failure, offered his services and initiated repair alongside the gutter outside of what I recall was a Fossey's store."
Over the years, many car enthusiasts have suggested to Graeme that he "do it up".
His answer every time? "No way, would you repaint the Mona Lisa? She is mechanically sound and still drives beautifully," he asserts, adding "she sounds a bit like a didgeridoo when you start her up."
Instead of a new coat of paint, to celebrate its 60th anniversary Graeme took his beloved FC back to the very same nature strip at the old family home in Narrabundah, where his dad was photographed with it shortly after buying it in 1964.
"I set the tripod up and dressed like Dad with the white shirt, black pants," proudly states Graeme.
It's not the first time Graeme has rephotographed a vintage car. Regular readers may recall in 2019 he rephotographed his HR Holden in his former Narrabundah driveway, with the FC poking out of the carport.
For that shoot, Graeme donned a similar flannelette shirt to the one he was wearing in the 1979 photo, prompting a mate to ask him if he was still wearing the same underpants.
Graeme wonders if his FC Holden, which currently has about 63,000 miles on the odometer but which "has been around the clock at least twice", is the oldest continually registered vehicle in a family name in Canberra.
One thing is for sure, I don't think my Jeep will make it half that long.
The road less travelled
This column's recent ongoing series on the old Hume Highway continues to spark a bulging mailbag, including from Sally Jones of Kaleen who wonders if anyone else remembers the old service station at Paddys River, located about 43 km north of Goulburn near Hanging Rock Road. "There's nothing left there now, absolutely nothing," she laments.
While there's little obvious tangible evidence of the former pitstop, the area was formerly the village of Murrimba, a well-known haunt for bushrangers. Long before the Hume was formalised, the Great South Road crossed Paddys River and on 3 February, 1865 Ben Hall, John Gilbert and John Dunn held up the entire village, herding the population of five families into Jeffrey's Inn. They were kept captive from 9pm until 2am, while the Hall gang apparently lived it up, even enjoying an impromptu concert.
I managed to dig up an old photo of the Paddys River Store from my files. The photo must pre-date 1954, as that's when Plume fuel (you can just see the sign) was superseded by Mobilgas. Does anyone remember Kays or the Spot Café that was next door?
Black Horse Farm
One of the historic inns the Ben Hall gang robbed was the circa-1835 Black Farm Inn at Sutton Forest. Now a private home, the building, which still boasts 18-inch-thick walls, is within a stone's throw of the busy northbound lanes of the Hume Highway.
Not that you'd know, for it's hidden behind a line of trees. In fact, one of my first jobs in the early 1990s was pumping fuel at the nearby Sutton Forest Service Centre, and it was only recently that I first noticed the facade of the former inn, complete with stables' still complete slit windows to ward off marauding bushrangers.
In the mid-1800s, the remote inn was robbed so many times by bushrangers that the local constabulary would sometimes hide in the bushes waiting for the next robbery. But often the police weren't within cooee, and on one such occasion in July 1841 Edward Gray, the publican, took matters into his own hands after he was attacked by the notorious Jackey Jackey (William Westwood) who had just escaped from jail and the night before committed a robbery at Paddys River. However, with the aid of a patron wielding a hammer, Jacky Jackey was eventually overpowered. He was chained to a cart and hauled by Gray to nearby Berrima Jail, where he was placed in irons.
Black Horse Inn also has a connection to John Lynch (alias Dunleavy), one of colonial Australia's worst serial killers. The dastardly Dunleavy bought two bottles of rum at the Black Horse before heading out on a murderous spree at nearby Berrima. It must have been a strong brew, for he callously murdered a family of four with his axe. Eventually apprehended, Dunleavy was sentenced to death and executed in April 1842 at Berrima Jail.
What's your favourite part of the old Hume? Please let me know.
WHERE IN CANBERRA?
Rating: Medium
Clue: Not far from where a wartime time capsule was once buried.
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email received after 10am, Saturday November 9, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
Last week: Congratulations to Peter Semczuk, of Florey, who was the first reader to correctly identify last week's photo as an avenue of trees running parallel to Amaroo Street in Reid along the old railway line corridor that once extended from Kingston into Civic and Braddon. The railway line was completed to Civic in May 1921 to carry coal to the Kingston Powerhouse and then passengers onto Civic. It was abandoned after a flood washed away a timber trestle bridge across the Molonglo River at the point where the river now enters East Basin of Lake Burley Griffin, in July 1922. It is now a quiet place of reflection near the city centre and as Anne Kiley points out "also attracts the odd kangaroo". Special note to Jessica Stewart, of Belconnen, who noticed the path for the first time after attending a fair at Glebe Park last weekend.
Trout thongs
First it was the local council who rubbed Adaminaby locals up the wrong way with its overly simplistic paint job of their famed Big Trout. After several rounds of community consultation that faux pas was eventually remedied earlier this year, but it appears no one gave the gung-ho designers at footwear company Havaianas the memo.
In their latest summer cash-grab, Havaianas have just released their 'Big Thing thongs' which showcase the Big Koala at Dadswell Bridge, the Big Prawn at Ballina, the Big Galah at Kimba, and you guessed it, the much-maligned cartoonish depiction of Adaminaby's Big Trout. If I end up with a pair (I sincerely hope Santa does not dare deliver), I'll be using mine as a dart board.
- CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601
