Restoration project ignites hot rod passion

Even the youngest members of Carl Hendrickson's family have had their interest sparked by Carl bringing a 1932 Ford Victoria into the family.

“I put a baby seat in for the grandson who’s two and ‘wow’ was all he could say,” Carl says. “Now, his favourite saying is, ‘going in the car’.”

Carl and his 21 year old son have also been brought closer by the car.

“There’s nothing nicer than to see him drive something like that and talk to older people. We’re sharing the journey,” he says.

Carl hopes to pass on his love for old cars to younger generations, a passion the Bellmere resident shares with Trevor Fuller from Trevor's Classic Car Repairs and Restorations.

Trevor helped him find his first hot rod and Carl says he "caught the bug from him"

Originally he was looking at a two-door car that was local, however, he decided that in order to get his family involved a four-door would be a better option and allow him to have more passengers.

The pair found the perfect car in Western Australia and had it transported in a shipping container to Queensland.

Trevor then made sure it was right to drive and got to work on it.

“After he did his bit, I did my bit and went for a drive,” Carl says, laughing.

“It was exhilarating, the sound of a V8 engine, no windows and the wind in your hair. You get a lot of people looking at it.”

Trevor said that although the car doesn't look different on the outside to when they picked it up, mechanically he has done a lot of work on it.

He didn't mind at all that he had to spend weeks on it. “I work on these cars often, not 24/7 but I’d like to,” he says. “Just the style of it all … the challenge. I like nothing more than fixing things.”

Trevor finds that returning a vehicle to how it was when it was first made, or better yet making cars even better than the original, is a real thrill.

Carl is a huge fan of what Trevor was able to do with the car and is now always on the lookout for rain. Not only do the lack of windows and soft top make it non-rain friendly, it doesn't handle well on wet roads either.

“It’s much like a billy cart with too much horse power,” Carl explains.

Now that Carl has the bug, he has said his next purchase might be a two-door hot rod, and Trevor jokingly says he might just have one in stock.

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