“I WAS ON MY WAY HOME WHEN THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED"
October 2007. The old guy he had been trying to get the HR from had actually sold it to a brake repair business in Ringwood. Dave visited them and they said they were thinking of putting a V6 Holden motor in it and were not interested in selling. After 12 months Dave got a call from the shop and was asked if he still wanted the HR as they had lost interest in the project.
We checked the car out at Dave’s and found it to have very little rust in the normal spots. The floor pan inside was like brand new. Other than a dent the full width of the front passenger door and a couple of minor dings, the car was in pretty good condition. It was a three-speed manual, Pyrenees Blue and with a not very common bone interior. The motor had been changed at some stage and it had what we think were 112,000 original miles on the clock.
We got the car it at a very reasonable price ($6000) complete with original plates. It easily passed a roadworthy. The HR was a joy to drive and always put a smile on my face when I hopped in it.
It was my daily driver for the next seven years, doing the 30km run to work and back with very few problems. It had a tow bar fitted so it was used to haul my ’35 Indian Chief to various rallies with the Iron Indian Riders. Quite often it would be used as the backup vehicle on club rallies with my son-in-law driving. It went on rallies to Corryong, Inverloch and the club’s Gypsy Tour from Melbourne to Adelaide and numerous other runs.
Just after buying the car I met a group of HR drivers out on a run to the All Holden Day at Geelong. They invited both my wife, Pat, and me to join their group. The club is known as the HD-HR Cruise Club. It’s a real nice group of people and we have been on most of their monthly runs since joining. After five years with the club I became Vice President and recently my wife has taken over as President. Pat enjoys the runs in the car as well as catching up with people in the club who have now become good friends.
The motor developed a rear main leak and was sent to Pat’s nephew who was the service manager for Ballarat Holden. He put the apprentices on it and they did a first class job fixing the oil seal and other minor things that they found need repair or replacement.
The upholstery was original but after 50 years the stitching was starting to give way and the top of the rear seat was cracking and falling apart. JMB, a local upholsterer, did a magnificent job on replacing it. He did front and back seats, rear parcel shelf, all the door cards and the center strip on the consul and consul arm rest. Price was very reasonable and he spent a lot of time shopping around to get material as close as possible to original.
In 2015 I was on my way home from work when the unthinkable happened. I got caught in a line of traffic and a driver in a VN Commodore ran up my backside. The impact pushed me into the car in front. The car was not drivable as the fan had been pushed into the radiator.
David Kimpton at GAL Smash Repairs did a first class job on the car. After having