In 1973, Tommy's Dad - who was just a young man at the time - travelled with his father to the city of Melbourne on a mission to buy him his first car The car that peeked out was a brand new, lime green Ford Falcon XA Superbird Hardtop The Superbird became the family car. They daily drove it. As kids, Tommy's mom used to take them everywhere in it, such as shopping, school sports, relative's houses - everywhere. Until one night, when Paul lost control of the car, rolling it into a ditch, not far from where they lived. Paul did not have any car insurance to cover the accident damage. And with the car being in such a bad, beaten-up state of disrepair, Paul decided not to fix it. So the decision was made to take it back home Where it sat on their farm for approximately 20 years Tommy loved that car. He recalls one of his fondest memories was sitting on his mom's lap behind the steering wheel, steering it down their long driveway on the farm. Tommy said: "You can imagine me coming to the shed everyday for 20 years Firstly as a child, then as an adult working on the farm. I'd see the car every day. It was never covered up with a top or anything, so it was visible to anyone who'd visit the shed." The driving passion to fix the car was always in Tommy. But he had to wait until he was able to do it As it would not be quick or cheap to fix The car sat exposed to the elements for 20 years on the farm Until one day in 2013. Tommy realized, that if he didn't start the project soon, there would be nothing left of the car to restore. Now, unlike some car restoration stories, where the owners spend all their time for years working on the car, bit by bit, Tommy did not have the skills needed for a restoration like this. His main job in the process was that of a project manager, organizing work to be done, having the car shipped from one location to another, and spending years sourcing all the rare parts needed for the car using Facebook and car enthusiast forums. Tommy ended up joining many groups to enlist people's help to find the parts needed, as Ford XA Coupé parts are very rare and scarce at the best of times. Tommy left the car in the hands of two professionals. One worked on pulling the cover apart and fully reconditioning the engine and running gear Because of his vast experience with working on 1970's Fords
Cost of restoration was about $70,000 USD for those wondering (numbers quoted in video was australian).
Using an entire donor shell would have been far cheaper but probably not available in Australia.
Where the onions at.
Love how completely speechless his father was.
Nothing better than making your parents proud.
TIL:. Ford liked getting beat at NASCAR so much they decided to name one of their own cars after the Plymouth secret weapon.
this car is astounding irl, the blokes pretty nice too.
You can just see the memories come rushing back to him <3.
thats how I read the title and clicked :( haha
Australian cars are so cool
If you need a reason to not sell a car because it has sentimental value. The reason not to, is in this video.