THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 20 On my previous trips we turned right out of Norseman and headed straight for Perth. This time I would be going via Esperence. and Albany. It is a lot longer that way, but I just wanted to do it on this great hot rod road trip. The shots are of the coupe parked on the road beside a small salt pan near Jerramungup in the south west corner of Western Australia. This could be the beginnings of 'the salt' addiction the coupe and I would have for many years ( that will make sense in future posts of this history ). The other 2 shots are at a small caravan park on the outskirts of Esperance. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 21 The coupe never missed a beat on the big trip over. Just me and my hot rod and the open road. I don't think I have ever been more at peace with world than I was on that long drive. Sometimes it's just the simple things in life! Not longer after I arrived at my sister's place in one of Perth's suburbs, Alan rang to say hi, he already knew I had arrived. It would seem hot rodders had seen me on my drive from down south of Perth. Ah the hot rod grapevine was alive and working well. I guess my coupe does stand out a bit. Here's a couple of shots outside the York Motor Museum, on an extremely hot summer Sunday afternoon. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 22 I was staying with my sister Pat, her husband Peter and there young daughter Nikki. Over the summer I did a lot of work in their yard laying out and digging trenches for their lawn reticulation system. I had to earn my keep somehow. Of course it wasn't all work. I was always out and about in the coupe going places and doing things. Here's some shots taken at Hilarys boat harbour, this area and the surrounding suburbs were all quite new then. That is Alan Barton's roadster along with my coupe in the images. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 23 Much of the time I spent in Perth was in the company of good friends, Ute and Alan Barton. Their well travelled roadster is something of an institution in Western Australia. They took me to places and introduced me to people all over Perth and the surrounding areas. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 24 Another friend of mine Ted Leagas ( who my brother inlaw, Pete, had introduced me to years earlier ) said I needed to meet a firend of his. So we jumped in the coupe and headed out of Perth an hour or so and made a surprise call om Phil Medlen. To say Phil was a little bit surprised when h e saw the coupe driving up through his front paddock would be an under-statement. Phil would race his rebuilt '27 T roadster many years later at Lake Gairdner. TO BE CONTINUED Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 25 The show at Bunbury was on the weekend of the 27th and 28th of January '90. From memory it was a big success, I even came away with a trophy for longest distance. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at the show. I think by the Wednesday after the show I was on the road headed back home. I came via the Barossa valley, as I wanted to drop in and see friends in Tununda. Then It was onto Mount Gambier, Port Fairy, Warnambool, Geelong, through Melbourne and a couple of hours later home. It's a bit longer coming home that way, but I had never been that way before. Years later my friend Tony told me Shane Winnen ( he has a panel shop on the highway) had seen me passing through Port Fairy on my way home. Below are shots of the coupe beside Chris and Ron Weary's tudor in Perth. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
Thankyou for the replies. I have been thinking of writing this history for a while and now it's done. Only about another 100 parts to follow. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 26 I haven't mentioned it until now, but for many years I was a member of the Slingshots Rod Club. Anyone that knows the Slingshots will have met the ever enthusiastic Richard Blaby. For quite a few years Richard was an electrical inspector for the SECV ( the State Electricity Commission of Victoria ). The SECV had a newsletter called The SEC News. Richard organised to have a group of us who were all SECV employees to have our hot rods photographed by an SECV photographer for an article in The SEC News. Below is L to R. Myself and my 5W ( from that shot, I can see didn't get any prettier with age), Richard Blaby and his '37 tudor, Dave Perry and his '34 Chev roadster ute, along with Peter Vanssitart, his daughter Rachael and their '30 sport coupe. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 27 No history about my 5 window would be complete without reference to it's travels to Lake Gairdner in South Australia ( the home of salt lake racing here in Australia ). From 1990 to 2001 I drove the coupe to Lake Gairdner nine times ( the meets in '92 and '97 were cancelled ). Yes the coupe has suffered from this, but I have no regrets. I guess it only adds to the mystique of my coupe. A few weeks after getting back from 2 months away in Perth I got a new issue of Custom Rodder magazine, which contained a little ad in the back for the inaugural event to be held at Lake Gairdner. Well my interest was piqued, but my enthusiasm wasn't. I had just got back from driving across the country in the coupe and wasn't really keen on going halfway back to go to the 'salt'. But it got the better of me. Long story short, I ended up going and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. That's obvious by the fact Chris Weir, Wayne Mumford and myself would build a roadster that we would race there for the next 12 years. Images from 1990. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
That shovel in pic #4 is great. Just saw a very similar one at the Reynolds Museaum in Alberta. Those things are huge as evidenced by your cool coupe beside it. I love your car but I can't look at it too long or my plans for a full fendered '32 5W could change!
What a great car adventure/ story! Those pictures are outstanding, also. I can't imagine the effect of seeing your coupe rumble through the countryside would have on a young (or old) lad. I Still remember the 1st one I ever saw! Thanks ,Carp
Thankyou guys. This coupe has really been my life for over half my life. It is a special car in my heart. There will be over 500 images shown with the 5 window in it after I have finished this history. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 28 I can still see the moment I caught my first glance of the salt through the outback scrub and about 15 minutes later I came around a corner and over a rise to see a world of glistening white open up before me and the coupe. More images from 1990. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 29 After stopping at the top of the hill leading down to the lake I got out of the coupe to look in awe at a scene that is so hard to describe. All I can say is if you ever get a chance to visit Lake Gairdner, or Bonneville for that matter, just go for it; you won't be disappointed. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 30 Jumping back in the coupe I slowly drove down the track leading to the lake. I think I was mesmorised. It was an incredible feeling as would be all the experiences over the next couple of days. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 31 This is the last of the images at the salt in'90. It was a memorable 4 day experience. One that would shape my life and the coupe's in a very big way. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 32 Since my going to 'the salt' in '90, Chris Weir, Wayne Mumford and myself; teamed up to build our roadster. The build was full on for a whole year. We had a lot of issues on the lake and our roadster didn't even make a timed pass on it's debut in '91. But as we always said, 'there's always next year'. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 33 Well a while after ' the salt' it was back on the road again heading to Sydney for the Street Rod Nationals in Penrith in the state of new South Wales. A good friend and fellow club member ( Tony Martin ) was riding shotgun with me as he did when a nationals was on. Unfortunately the weather for the whole event was lousy and into the bargain I had a bad case of the flu. But we made the most of it all and had a pretty good time. Robbie Warden was often with us and was always snapping shots. A number of the shots in this group were taken by Robbie. TO BE CONTINUED Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTROY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 34 I thought I would just dig out a bunch of candid shots. This lot are shots from a few of the club's Christmas picnics, I am thinking '91 '91 and '93. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 35 Since I had gotten my coupe on the road I hadn't needed to do anything to it, apart from regular maintenance. However during the year of '91 I did do a few minor changes to it. I painted and scalloped the air cleaner. I moved the tail-lights in closer to the number plate, for an' earlier' look. I also altered the dash, by filling the center and recessing the gauges. As well as repainting it in red and pinstriping it. You see for the previous couple of years I had been teaching myself to stripe. I will try and find a clearer shot of the dash. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 36 I think the '93 Port fairy run was another defining point in the history of my coupe and maybe even in my life when I think about it. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 37 At the '91 nationals I had met Robbie and maintained contact with him .Some time later he rang me and said I should go down to the Port Fairy run, in January ( '92 ). I said I don't know, we'll see. The thing is, way back then I wasn't a very outgoing person. Robbie kept at me saying a lot of 'the hot rod crowd' ( none of whom I knew as yet ) spent most of their time at Rita and Tony Cassar's ( who I also didn't know at that time ). Robbie just said, just turn up mate. anyhow, long story short I ended up going and had an amazing weekend. the irony is, I met many life long friends from that few days spent hanging with ' the hot rod crowd'. TO BE CONTINUED. Geoff aka whodaky
THE HISTORY OF MY 5 WINDOW part 38 As I said in the previous post I had been teaching myself to pinstripe. A few weeks prior to the run I had finished off my dash in the coupe and I guess I just wanted to show it off. Once again long story short, I went to the run and my dash got shown off. I also did some of my first striping for other people on their cars and the rest as they say, is history. Wizzie's Merc was in fact the first car I ever striped for someone else, under the guidance of Rick. TO BE CONTINUED Geoff aka whodaky
The Jalopy Journal
