CLASSIC CARS ROLL UP
Studebakers in focus at event
TOBI LOFTUS Tobi.Loftus@thechronicle.com.au
DALE Booth had his eyes on one specific Studebaker car since he was a boy.
The Dude Stude raced for several years and captured Mr Booth’s imagination when he was a young adult.
“The owners didn’t want to race it any more so it sat by the mechanics for years,” Mr Booth, from Ipswich, said.
“I grew up next to it and wanted to race it.”
The car was then sold and kept as a collectors item until four years ago when Mr Booth tracked it down.
“I told the owner if he was going to sell it to come to me first,” he said.
“I always wanted to have a Studebaker, a drag car and restore it from its chassis.”
Partnering with a friend, Mr Booth spent four years restoring the car, which was unveiled to the public for the first time since the 1970s at the Studebaker Car Club of Queensland national show at Picnic Point on Saturday.
“The last time it ran (a race) was in the 1970s,” Mr Booth said.
“Now its first run in 40 years will be at the nostalgia drag meet at Willowbank later this year.”
Mr Booth was one of dozens of people who showcased their iconic American-made cars at the weekend.
Avid collector Len Kennedy decided to not only display his prized Studebaker, but a number of other cars including a 1915 model T Ford.
“I got my first vehicle in 1965, that was a model A Ford which is now in a museum,” he said. “I was born to love cars, so cars have been life right from when I was a kid. I spent my working life and pastime working on cars.”