Centenary of Canberra Rally:
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- When: Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20.
- Details: Departs HMAS Albatross at Nowra at 9am on Saturday with stops at Tarago and Bungendore before arriving in Canberra that evening. The event concludes on Sunday with a motorcade from EPIC to Old Parliament House from 9am to 10.30am. 'Spin' related activities will include a concours d' elegance, live entertainment and refreshments.
- Entries: Still open, visit the nationaltrustact web page.
- More than 300 cars have already entered.
While Woden's Nick Nowak doesn't quite qualify as a daring young man in a jaunty jalopy, he turns 70 in a few months time, the retired land economist is living the dream that inspired the classic Tony Curtis film about the Monte Carlo rally.
Mr Nowak's 1912 Overland is the oldest car entered in the Centenary of Canberra Rally to be held next month as part of the city's 100th birthday bash.
His classic, rescued off a garbage dump in northern NSW about two decades ago, underwent a slow rebirth that took about four years to complete.
The Model 59, one of the most popular ever produced by the company which ranked second only to Ford in sales before WWI, was a quality product and proof of just how quickly the motor vehicle had evolved since the first car, a tri-wheeler, took to the road in the late 1880s.
Similarities with modern cars are obvious with a four cylinder engine, a three speed gearbox, a driveshaft and floor mounted throttle, clutch and brake controls.
Mr Nowak, who also owns a late build Ford Model T, a 1920s Indian motorcycle and is currently restoring a 1920s Armstrong Siddeley, was bitten by the classic car bug in the early 1970s when an international rally featuring vintage and veteran cars came through Canberra.
"I was 26-years-old and would probably have been driving an old Holden at the time," he said.
"I sat on the idea for two or three weeks and then rang The Canberra Times and asked if they could give me the name of somebody who knew about old cars. They did and the rest is history."
His first acquisition was a 1924 Dodge which had originally come from Coonabarabran.
"It was an open car, a tourer, and had a four cylinder side valve engine."
The Overland came into his life, as somebody else's unfinished project, about 12 years ago.
"It had been dragged off a tip at Gunnedah and the owner, after sourcing a fair few pieces including the engine, gearbox and differential, decided he wanted to do up a Bentley."
While the key components came with the car there was still a lot that had to be tracked down. While Mr Nowak bought some parts from overseas his proudest pick up, the kerosene powered bull's eye lantern that is the tail light actually turned up in Canberra.
"The owner was actually restoring a Talbot," he said.
"I found him a Talbot tail lamp and he gave me the Overland one."
Almost all of the restoration work, including major body panels and the paint job, has been carried out by Mr Nowak. There are two reasons for this. One is that he enjoys testing his skills and the other is that he doesn't have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on his hobby.
"You hear of some people who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a restoration," he said.
Mr Nowak is the secretary of the Veteran and Vintage Car Club of the ACT. It is Canberra's oldest car club and caters for the capital's oldest cars.
"We have 63 or 64 members and about 130 cars," he said.
"The oldest is a 1904 Oldsmobile. What we need are more young people to take this on as a hobby. Most of our members are in their 60s and 70s and we need people to maintain the interest in these cars for the future. They are our history."
Nick Nowak's Model 59 Overland:
- Built: 1912, Toledo, Ohio, USA.
- Price new: $US900
- Wheelbase: 2.7 metres
- Engine: Four cylinder in line (separate blocks)
- Capacity: 3.6 litres (220 cubic inches)
- Power: 22.4kw (30hp)
- Gears: Three forward, one reverse.
- Top speed: 70km/h (42mph)
- Seats: Two.