How bloody sweet a day it was. This is the story of how dad and i got our very own piece of Australian muscle car history. A 1969 Ford Falcon XT GT in Candy Apple Red.

It all started on Wednesday the 24th when i got a call from Garrett, "hey Sundeep i think I’ve got a GT for ya mate". i pulled out some paper and a pen and started scribbling down some details. I had no idea at that stage that this would be the GT that will be eventually mine. The plans to get a 351 XY GS Fairmont had been shot down (due to constant naggin and subliminal messages from a few of the FGTOCNSW fellahs) and then the hunt for a XR-XT GT was on. Plans were then made to go check out a XT GT down in the nations capital not to far from where our XW GS Fairmont was originally sold from. After a bit of a game of 20 questions with the owner over the blower two days later Garrett, me ol man and myself loaded the GS up and rumbled down to the sweet tune of the 302W.

Up went the roller doors and pow! there she was.. our Candy.. within in seconds we were crawling in, around and under the ol girl doing the usual drill checking for this and that. She looked like a go'er but the banks had closed but after a bit of um'ing and ah'ing the ol man couldn’t make a decision with Candy sitting right there within eye shot so we had to go grab a feed and talk about it somewhere where we couldn’t see her or hear her whispering "come on Greg (dad). Come on Sundeep ya know ya want me!". Finally the thumbs up was given and we headed back. Laid down the deposit and said see ya in a week. Word was spread to a couple of mates.

April the 1st. After a pretty evil April fools day stunt from a fellow XT GT owner (who ended up getting paid back WELL thanks to Garrett) my day at uni seemed to be crawling ever so slowly. Couldn’t wait till Friday. I was humming Easybeats - Friday On My Mind most the day. Eventually got home and one of my very good high school mates slept over the night so we could leave at the crack of dawn the following morning. Only got 3 hours sleep that night. Couldn’t sleep, the day I’ve been waiting for all my life was upon me!

Friday the second of April two thousand and four - the day we bought home the GT. After leaving home dam early we left to pick Garrett up. He said he heard the 302W coming and knew it was us. Saved us calling ahead didnt it? All in and off we were on the way down south. The GS didn’t miss a beat on the way down to find her a stable mate. After a bit of piss farting around with the RTA we finally made it to the sellers place. Up went the garage again and pow! again. There she was even more beautiful than i remembered. Popped the bonnet and rolled around under the car for a few last minute checks. The engine was still a tad bit warm, the owner had taken her out for one last run in the morning.

Off to the bank handed over my life savings to dad. Bank cheque made and back we went to pick up our GT (still feels weird saying that! not used to it!). Pen was put to paper and she was officially ours..

After a few quick checks of the fluid levels in the GS we handed the keys over to Garrett. Dad and Garrett in the GT... my mate and myself jumped in the GS (the whole time snapping away with the digital camera). The now-previous owner stood in his driveway watching his ol girl warm up one last time.and he actually said something along the lines of - "hurry up and leave before i start to get all emotional". You could see it in his eyes, but his sadness was overshadowed by my state of “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

And thus the journey home began! Topped up both the tanks, tyre pressure check and off again. Dad hasn’t driven a manual in ages and actually managed to stall it when we pulled over. He must have thought he was still driving the GS. After that lill incident we had to remind him (at his own request) that there was a toploader between the passenger and him that wasn’t going to change gears by itself!

About an hour or so into the journey we started smelling oil in the GT. All the gauges were fine (was watching them like a hawk, or should i say like a Falcon?). Pulled over successfully this time and had a snoop around. Engine fine, box fine, diff dam leak! We soldiered on in search of a servo or mechanic. It wasn’t that bad but enough to be of some concern. We pulled over again a lill while later and a bloke in a van pulled over with us. While we were rolling around under the GT he jumped out of the van and started complimenting the cars. "Do you know of any of these for sale?". "Well actually we just bought this today!" "Replica?" "Nope real deal mate. The real deal" (Goddam it feels awesome saying that!). The looks, the questions and all the thumbs up's ya get give you a real buzz, now i can finally start to comprehend what the rest of you’s feel.

Finally found a mechanic around 3pm in some small town and up the GT went on the hoist. She looked so "helpless" up there. Like it was stranded on a desert island or something. Was a good chance to have a good geez underneath. We were impressed! Diff oil topped up and down she came. Dad threw the keys over to me mate who is used to driving a black Nissan Skyline R34 GT-T which is quite different to a 35 year ol real steel classic, and as he left the mechanics the tyre rotation speed exceeded that of the GT. Ahhh yes good ol wheel spin. Mate said afterwards he didn’t want to stall coming out of the driveway. Whether or not that was case only he knows.

Our stomachs were starting to rumble so the hunt for a mechanic had changed into a hunt for a feed. We ventured into a lill town and parked out front of an antique store. Took a few more snaps. This old fellah walked past and commented on the cars and told us about some ol Falcon he had way back. A bit more chit chat then we were off again. Off towards the eastern suburbs we headed. Taking the scenic route we ended up at a point where you could see northwards towards some of Sydneys beaches. A few more snaps, then off again. Dropped Garrett off home around 5pm. Then there was three.

I turned on the radio for the first time and first station that popped up was playing Eagles - Hotel California which happens to be one of Dave Shaw’s favourite songs. What a good chance to ring Dave up. "Hey Dave! How ya going!. Have a listen to this." "What was that?" "Hotel California". "Ahhh thought so!" "Oi guess what im in now?" The reply was “ummm. Holden Calais replica?”

Time was nearing 6 and we were in heavy traffic and just like that the GT stopped. By total fluke chance my mates mechanic was down the next off street literally 20 metres down the road. We just rolled into the street had to get out and push it up a slight hill for a bit. Good lill workout. Ran in and got some jumper leads nose to nose bonnets up, crank and away we went. 30 minutes later in heavy traffic at some lights she just died again. This time no one was stopping to let us push the GT around the corner. Finally a bloke in a Red BA held up the traffic and let us in. (ahh wonder why!). We pushed and we pushed but couldn’t push start it. Bit of a uphill again, argh! again we were lucky and there was a bloke with some jumper cables for us. Cranked the GT over again, a few minor tweaks of the carby, up'd the idle a bit and we were off.

Dave was awaiting the arrival of the GT.

7pm now we decided to go home first and change the battery. Parked the GS and mate jumped in his R34 Skyline and we were off. We topped up the tank again and the Skyline went ahead (which is a rare occurrence). 7:30pm finally made it to Dave’s workshop.

Pulled in and within seconds the bonnet was up and the assessment had begun. We couldn’t park in either one of Dave’s garages both were chockablock with Fords so outside in the dark only armed with a torch Dave went through the car. Naturally sh!t stirring us left right and centre throughout.

Dave’s conclusion: "yeah she’s good. Wrong colour though. Should be blue with sunroof."

We throw Dave the keys dad in the passenger seat, me behind him, and me mate next to me. Pull out of the driveway and off we go on a lap of Dave's industrial area race circuit.

This was basically the first time i stopped and thought about what was happening. Dave was driving our GT. Me ol man in front of me. Best mate in the back and i was in heaven. Pure bliss, all of us laughing and carrying on. The feel of vinyl under you arm out the window, thumping 302 up front, cool night breeze in a Falcon GT. Just one of them moments you wish would last forever.

Dave’s conclusion after the drive "yeah she’s good. Wrong colour though. Should be blue with sunroof"

Me mate left soon after and Dave, Dad and myself stood (sat) around talking away for quite a while afterwards. Laughing away and carrying on. Time just rockets past at Dave’s workshop. After a couple of handshakes and pats on the back we were on the way home in our Falcon GT.

Up the driveway we came. Parked her outside and jumped out and just stood there and starred. I put my arm around me ol man and we both knew what each other was thinking.

A life long dream had been achieved.

And as Dave would say
THATS IT...