Retired smash repairer adds T Model Ford hot rod to car collection
Retired smash repairer Murray Alcock has nine cars in his garage at Gerringong on the New South Wales south coast, but over the years he has built 25 hot rods.
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00:00It's a love affair that started 53 years ago, and after building 25 hot rods, retired
00:08smash repairer Murray Alcock says this one he's just finished is probably his last.
00:13The desire is still there, but his wife Robin is watching the bank balance.
00:17I've had the Minister of Finance put the brakes on me so I can't spend any money.
00:23His first hot rod was a 1934 Ford Roadster Utility in 1971, and since then he's worked
00:29almost exclusively with Fords from his home at Gerringong on the NSW South Coast.
00:36He says the satisfaction comes from the challenge of overhauling the internal workings of a
00:41car.
00:42And if you look at the cars I haven't changed their appearance at all, they're basically
00:45stock looking car on the outside, just that they've got more modified running gear in
00:50them and they've still got the appeal of the old car.
00:53For years he ran a smash repair business where he would have easy access to spare parts.
00:59The businesses that I had, mechanical businesses, they'd lend itself very well to doing this
01:03sort of thing.
01:04I used to like my customers coming in because they'd take me time.
01:08In his retirement, Murray Alcock has had some serious health issues.
01:12First he needed heart bypass surgery, then he had a brain aneurysm.
01:17The hot rods became a crucial part of his recovery.
01:20Was through these cars, the fact that I could come and work on them, and I come back here
01:25and I couldn't do the things that I could do before, but it took me a while to pick
01:29all those skills up again and it really helped me get through the problems that I had.
01:35It's better than laying back on a chair or watching TV or anything else, you're brain
01:39stimulated while you're doing stuff like this, you've got to be thinking all the time.
01:43His workshop is a car lover's playground, full of vintage cars and other pieces of automotive
01:49memorabilia.
01:50Each car comes with its own story, not just of what's been done to it, but where it's
01:54travelled or competitions he's driven it in.
01:57Murray says people can't resist the appeal of a vintage car.
02:02The old cars have got more style and soul and the new cars have got nothing today, they're
02:07just nothing and when you put one of these cars beside a new car and see what the people
02:13will go to look at, I would prefer to drive one of these any day than drive a modern car.
02:18Yeah, it just feels more like, look at me, king of the road thing, you know, like why
02:24would you want to drive a white Commodore when you can drive one of these?
02:27The engine's still running on a lifelong passion.