COME IN SPINNA

A wonderfully preserved classic street machine and salt racing star is reunited with its creator

MIKE Bowden’s 1949 Ford Customline pick-up first punched into the scene way back in 1993, featuring in the Janfeb 1994 issue of Street Machine, Of and was later a Street Machine The Year contender. Mike’s Cusso, 7 known as SPINNA, competed at Summernats each time. through to 10, placing in the Top 80 Gairdner’s The pair also blasted down Lake

Mike and salt to a top speed of 138.85mph; XF/MP) SPINNA still hold the XF/BGP (now and XF/PP records. a true Yet the following two decades became weathering tale of survival for the single-spinner, owners the unknown at the hands of several unscathed; yet somehow escaping relatively for Mike unfortunately, that’s not quite the case

– but we’ll get to that a bit later.

pair’s love I’ll take you back to 1989 when the

Mike – affair first began, as a then 17-year-old panel beater who was a first-year apprentice resurrect a – reckoned it’d be a great idea to ute. relatively rooted Aussie-built Customline a body-offchassis With help from his dad JB, Mike did and repaired build, hotted up the flatty the Cusso the whole rotted lower portion of at it, he also from floorpan to sills. While he was the deleted the rear bumperettes, smoothed hinged rollpan and added aftermarket tail-lights, tightened the hood sideways, fitted a half-’cage, bumper. “I the rear fenders and tucked the front

Mike simply just smoothed up a classic design,” to get it says. “As a teenager, staying motivated it was worth finished was the hardest part. But up.” it once I got it painted and all fitted for Hot SPINNA was freshly minted in time for an Adelaide 3 in 1993, where it was spotted synchronicity SM feature, and in a beautiful act of

Cusso rolled the magazine hit the stands as the it was shot into the Summernats Elite Hall. “After look different for Street Machine, I wanted it to

Peter and I for Summernats 7, so my brother as that added the Wild Plum and black graphics, was the in-thing in the 90s,” Mike says. racing and And after several years of showing,

90s – less cruising, Mike sold SPINNA in the late

– to make motor, gearbox and number plates roadster that way for his next project, a ’35 Ford would house the proven powerplant. and was “Then in 2010 I got stomach cancer

I’d drained pretty crook – I lost that much blood from the hospital’s stocks and was seconds in Intensive death,” Mike says. A few months went. Care led him to wonder where SPINNA

“I started to look for it, without success

– there were more false sightings than Elvis,” he laughs. Mike’s health improved before taking another dive, so he decided to track down his beloved pick-up come hell or high water.

What he did know was that the ute was sold again in the mid-2000s and sported new mods, including different rims, deleted side trims, and frenched headlights and aerial. So, while

Mike and his partner Flic continued the hunt, they also acquired the missing parts. “I said to a mate: ‘Now that I own the S-pack rims and the side trims, the car will rock up,’” Mike smiles.

And it did. “Earlier this year I put a call out on the Aussie Spinners Facebook page and was contacted by a guy who had joined the page two days before – he claimed to have the car, though it wasn’t for sale.” After photos confirmed the truth, Mike persisted, trying to strike a deal to buy back what had become part of his DNA. “SPINNA was in Coffs Harbour; the bloke had always planned to modify it but never did. He kept up the rego and sat it in a shed; that’s why no one had seen it,” Mike explains as we stand beside the once lost pick-up. “It looks mostly unchanged, though it’s been repainted in the original colour and graphics – I can’t believe they kept it the same. Though I had a Wild Plum splash at the bottom of the door and that’s now gone. We have so many questions about what happened during those missing decades.”

As it was sold less motor and trans, a 302ci Windsor backed by a C4 now motivates the Cusso, though underneath, the suspension and nine-inch remain as they were.

Inside is all 90s-spec, from the

’89 Nissan Skyline seats trimmed in grey velour with aqua vinyl piping to the VDO gauges and a glovebox mural by Mike’s brother.

For now, Mike’s well and is reacquainting himself with SPINNA, with plans to make up for lost time. “I’ll leave the Windsor and

C4, as that’s part of the car’s history now,” he says, though he’ll add more power if required. “I want to clean all of the red dust out of it – it’s still in there from Lake Gairdner – then I might re-hinge the bonnet sideways. But I just really want to get out and drive the bloody thing!”

IT LOOKS MOSTLY UNCHANGED, THOUGH IT’S BEEN REPAINTED IN THE ORIGINAL COLOUR AND GRAPHICS. I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY KEPT IT THE SAME