An '80s sedan controlled by smartwatch sounds closer to Marty McFly's ride in Back to the Future, but Tristan Wright, 36, is expected to turn heads with his at Summernats this year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Wright admitted the 1982 Ford XD Falcon wasn't the most talked about car or one you saw all the time, but he'd be showing this one at Summernats' 30th anniversary on January 5.
"Everything that I have to love about cars all came from my dad," Mr Wright said.
His father, John Wright, owned a Holden dealership in Canberra but despite his father's love for Holden, teenage Mr Wright was was drawn to the then-underdog, the Ford.
He admits even today if he had a blank cheque he'd still buy an XD Falcon.
He bought this one last year from a mate, an original 1982 model partially done up and with only 120,000 kilometres on the odometer.
Mr Wright gave it a new transmission, replaced the original motor with a high-performance engine and installed a new sound system.
"I'm going to give the car the very best chance of being shown," he said.
"[But] I know for sure there is 110 per cent going to be way better cars than mine at the Summernats."
What was really special was the bluetooth functions Mr Wright had installed, he could unlock the car, start the ignition and monitor where it was, all from his smartwatch.
If it left a certain area all alarms on all of his devices, phone, watch, etc, would go off.
The revamped Falcon was about Mr Wright trying to do a show car.
He said he loved taking it out with his three-year-old son, Jack, to get a hot chocolate.
"People say to me, 'Is it a show car?', 'Is it a race car?', and I tell people it's my coffee car," he said.
He's done with his contribution to the notorious Summernats antics, including one year he installed a motorcycle engine in a golf buggy and trashed it on the burnout track.
"There's two main categories of people who go to Summernats, the real car lovers who wanted to have their cars judged and appreciated," Mr Wright said.
"And then theres the guys who have very nice, daily driven cars and just abuse them."
The total cost was best not disclosed in case Mr Wright's wife read this, but he estimated it in the same league as a cheap apartment.
It's not a house but Mr Wright hoped to leave the Falcon to Jack, yet for now he'll be making memories with a car rich in personal nostalgia.
