A lifelong love affair with classic cars Is it possible to get nostalgic about cleaning a carburettor? What was once a regular task in any workshop is now a rare treat for most mechanics. But not for Capricorn Member Garry Tomlinson. He owns Kenwick Automotive Performance in Perth’s eastern suburbs, and he specialises in servicing vehicles he calls “the old-school classics”. “I just like the simple cars,” he said. “It’s like going back to basics. You know you can open the bonnet and see the motor. It’s not wrapped in plastic and hasn’t got 15 million sensors on it.
“I bought it from one of my customers,” he said. “He’d brought his XC ute in and I was doing some work on the carby, and he said he had an XM ute he wanted to sell. “He showed me some photos and said he’d bring it the following Saturday to show Vicki ‘because she’ll like it’.” It turns out, Vicki and Garry both liked it, and he bought it.
Did you just get that whiff of nostalgia? (Or was it petrol?)
“It’s got a 170, three-speed manual gearbox with a column change,” Garry said. “I’m in the process of rewiring her at the moment — we were driving home not long after we bought her and she ran out of headlights!”
Garry and his partner, Vicki, live and breathe classic cars. In fact, Garry has recently bought a 1964 Ford Falcon XM ute, which he’s using as his workshop vehicle.
Garry has recently installed an aftermarket aircon unit which mounts under the dash and has plans to upgrade to disc brakes on the front wheels. But otherwise he said the XM was in good
“I just love the old-school cars. I grew up with them.”
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