Vauxhall stars on the silver screen

This classic Vauxhall will appear in the movie "Australia".

The big and glamorous classic will make a cameo appearance in Baz Luhrmann's latest film. Australia. When an industry friend heard that the filmmakers needed an old special car, an old Vauxhall came to mind.

Before he knew it, Sheldon was in a chauffeur's suit on the set of the movie.

“All the stars were there. Hugh Jackman opened the door, got in and got behind the wheel to look,” he says. “Nicole Kidman, Bryan Brown, director Baz Luhrmann; they were all there."

Sheldon struck up a conversation with another guy on set, who was later told it was Keith Urban.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I couldn’t thank my friend enough for bringing me into this business,” he says.

The special character of the car is not limited to cameras. The stunning sedan is one of only two registered on the roads of Australia.

Sheldon says that while there are 22 known survivors of the model, many of them are wrecks and are no longer in working order. It was this "working condition" label that held Sheldon's model back when he first bought it two years ago.

The previous owner bought the car for parts for another model he had, but didn't dare to destroy it, so he restored it instead. The only remaining task was to get a 26.3 hp Vauxhall six-cylinder engine. (19.3 kW).

“It was in perfect condition in terms of bodywork, paint and chrome, but mechanically it was out of whack,” Sheldon says.

“It was in a very dilapidated state and needed a complete mechanical overhaul,” he says.

Sheldon wasn't looking for his perfect car, rather she found it. At a club dinner, he mentioned that he was considering buying another Vauxhall, and was soon introduced to a car enthusiast who wanted to sell one.

“I didn't really look for it. I thought about it, but it was like that, and I went to see it and fell in love with it,” he recalls.

After paying the asking price of $12,000, Sheldon hired friends to bring life back to the car.

“My good friend, he did all the work, he and his father,” he says. “Their forte is the Austin 7s. They did a fantastic job... the car drives like a new car. It's been about two years. They just started doing it about two months ago."

Sheldon says that with 74 years of history, car parts are hard to come by. Friends who were engaged in engine repair eventually began to make some parts themselves.

Sheldon and his wife happily strap their XNUMX- and XNUMX-year-old daughters into child seats and hit the road when the car is in working order.

“It's a lot of fun, but it can be quite hard; heavy on the steering wheel, heavy on the brakes, and you sit high up in it, like in a four-wheel drive car,” he says.

"The vision is good, but it's not like driving a modern car, that's for sure, because everything is heavy and quite slow."

The Sheldon family will put it to the test when they head to the Snowy Mountains for the Vauxhall National Rally in January.

“I always wanted an Al Capone gangster car. I just love his style,” Sheldon says.

However, the enthusiasm is heard not only from the driver's seat.

“Little kids, they really like it. They go crazy. We put child seats in the back and they sit there and kick their feet and enjoy it,” he says.

About 3500 of these Vauxhalls have been sold worldwide, and Sheldon says they are far more Australian than many think. “This particular car is unique in Australia because it is actually a Holden body,” he explains. “A lot of cars in the 1930s and 1940s were made by Holden; they were making cars as far back as World War I.

"This car was made in South Australia."

Sheldon says that at the time in Australia, most cars were owned by large landowners who wanted to use them for rough roads in the outback, as heavy cars tended to soak up all the potholes.

"For an English car, it was very American, much more so than English cars of the era."

The name Vauxhall is not new to Sheldon.

His father bought a new Vauxhall Victor station wagon in 1971.

The car followed them when his family emigrated to Australia from England when Sheldon was 10 years old.

“It came by mistake. (The tow trucks) sent a car instead of furniture,” he says. "This is the first car I remember we had and it followed us to Australia."

As soon as Sheldon passed his driving test and got his license, his father handed over the keys to him. And Sheldon says that many people associated with the car club also show interest in the brand, which has been passed down from their fathers or grandfathers to them.

Photo

1934 Vauxhall BX big six

New condition price: about pound stg. 3000

Cost now: unknown

Verdict: A big and glamorous car from the 1930s may not be easy to drive today, but seven decades later it is still magnificent and impresses even the film world.