Boys and their toys

“It’s just a good looking car,” says Wayne Swadling about why he loves his two-door Ford hardtops. “I just love the shape of them, the style of them… my father always had Fords, he had Ford Fairlanes, so I've always been into Fords.”

And, of course, there was the infamous 1-2 finish by the Ford team in 1977 that cemented the Falcon in Australian motor racing history.

“The ‘77 win was probably the most photographed event that ever occurred! There were two of these XC Falcons coming in one, two lined up five or six foot behind the other… Allan Moffat and Colin Bond! That was the biggest win for Ford at Bathurst!

It has been a lifelong obsession for both Wayne and his twin brother John. Their very first car was an XB Ford and John still regrets the day they sold it.

“We had that car for probably 25 years and then we sold it and always regretted it! So we've owned about 12 two-door Ford hardtops over the years, but we've now got four at the moment between the two of us.”

Last month, Wayne and John travelled up to the Sunshine Cost joining around 80 other Ford enthusiasts at the Hardtop Hustle, which is set to become an annual event for Ford lovers.

“We had a ball doing that, there were six of us from Orange, six Coupes. It was just a really good time, a good bunch of friends and we didn't have any mechanical issues! There were ten Cobras there! Only four hundred Cobras ever made and they had ten up there! We took ours up, but to get ten in one spot…”

Wayne, who is also Vice President of the Gnoo Blas Classic Car Club, said there is a growing interest in all sorts of classic cars in Orange.

“Classic cars have taken off in Orange and our car clubs nearly got 400 members now! We've been going for 25 years, but five years ago we had 70 members and now we've got 400 so it is huge. The Gnoo Blas Car show is getting bigger and bigger. We had over 600 cars there this year and next year is going to be bigger again!”

Wayne will have his Fords on display this Saturday, 10am-1pm at West Orange Motor for the Big Boys Toy charity event. There will be other cars, bikes, trucks and boats to see, along with a sausage sizzle and car wash (using a recycled water system) with all funds raised going to Give Me 5 for Kids.