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Transcript

Molly Taylor · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:20
  I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust, and this is Rusty's Garage, a series that brings drivers, riders, designers and collectors together to share the passion-fuelled stories of the machines they've owned or admired, raced, even crashed and restored throughout their lives going flat out.
• 0:46
  In this episode, I'm inside a workshop in Sydney with the 2016 Australian Rally Champion Molly Taylor, who's from a family of proper car lovers and competitors.
• 0:56
  We're surrounded by old Citrons, there's BMWs, Subarus, bare Ford Escort body shells and one very special Audi.
• 1:06
  Before climbing to where she is today and driving for Subaru, Molly began her rallying career with the infamous Holden Gemini.
• 1:15
  The Gemini had I think about 64 horsepower so it certainly didn't have very much but look I mean the theory I guess primarily the beginning is rear wheel drive, learn car control, then the Mirage, the front wheel drive with a bit more power and that was really to help with the progression to four wheel drive and the theory is...
• 1:34
  you know, you learn to drive something like that, drive the door handles off that, and if you're not getting the maximum out of that car, then there's no point stepping up yet.
• 1:40
  So it was always trying to take an underpowered car and learn how to drive the door handles off it, and once you were doing that, then, you know, move on to a bit more power.
• 1:48
  Your dad and mum are immersed in the sport in this country, and, you know, your mum's a multiple Australian champion co-driver.
• 1:55
  Your dad's run a famous Falcon back in the day as well.
• 2:00
  I mean...
• 2:01
  You weren't always destined to head down this path, though, because you liked horsepower of a different kind as you were growing up, didn't you?
• 2:06
  I was mad about horses and wanted to go to the Olympics.
• 2:08
  I don't know where that love of horses came from.
• 2:10
  I think there was definitely, you know, an adrenaline rush side that was in the genes that I just diverted through horses until I found horsepower.
• 2:19
  But, yeah, I mean, I grew up, loved the sport, used to watch Mum and Dad compete all the time, and it was very much, you know, our culture growing up, I suppose.
• 2:26
  But Dad never pushed us to...
• 2:29
  get behind the wheel.
• 2:30
  He wanted that to come from us.
• 2:32
  He would have loved it if we'd wanted to do it earlier on, but it had to come from us.
• 2:36
  And so I guess that penny only dropped a bit later on for me.
• 2:39
  And once I did get behind the wheel and experience for myself, then you can see why it's so easy to get addicted to.
• 2:45
  you know I sort of said dad why didn't you know why didn't you make me try this earlier but I think that's also part of it as well because it wasn't it was never pushed on me so it's something that I wanted and I think you know in any kind of sport that is this tough if you don't have that motivation from yourself you know if it's from outside forces that only lasts for so long.
• 3:04
  The penny you talk about dropping more or less happened from a friend, I think you were at boarding school in country New South Wales, and you were invited to a carna cross, or motor carna I think, weren't you, in an old Honda Civic, is that right?
• 3:15
  Correct.
• 3:16
  An old Honda Civic.
• 3:17
  I was up at boarding school in Armidale and Paul Kennedy, who was the president of the local car club and, you know, a great rally family.
• 3:23
  And he signed me out of boarding school for the weekend and said, I've got a car.
• 3:25
  Come and do a Motocana and just see what it's all about.
• 3:29
  And I absolutely loved it and owe a lot to him for giving me that opportunity.
• 3:33
  And then he let me do it a few more times.
• 3:34
  And, yeah, you know, it's one of those things.
• 3:37
  Once you start, you just you get the bug and you want to improve and yeah, just snowballs from there.
• 3:42
  It's great short course competition, so they effectively set up, you know, witch's hats and you have to compete through a designated course in shortest possible time.
• 3:51
  The Honda was an early or mid-70s spec car, not a lot of power.
• 3:55
  Tell us a bit more about that.
• 3:56
  Yeah, yeah, it was 70-something.
• 3:57
  I don't remember which year, but, yeah, not a lot of power.
• 4:00
  And, you know, it's all first and second gear stuff, doing handbrake turns around cones and that sort of stuff.
• 4:04
  But, I mean, that's perfect for car control and you want to learn how to slide the car, how to catch it,
• 4:10
  and that's really the best basis for any kind of motorsport so for me it was a great place to start the Gemini a four-door and did you do the maintenance on it yourself what what version what details can you still I'm going to incriminate myself so I attempted to do the maintenance on it myself and it was you know dad and I in the garage and him trying to show me how it worked and to the point one day I thought I haven't checked the water in a while I better check that and
• 4:32
  And I opened the radiator cap and there was no water in it.
• 4:34
  I thought, oh, oops, this is bad.
• 4:36
  So I was trying to sort of do a sneaky, put some water in so no one would know.
• 4:40
  And so I got a bucket and I started pouring water in and it was taking heaps of water.
• 4:44
  And so I was thinking, oh, no, it must be empty.
• 4:48
  And this is lucky I found this now.
• 4:49
  And so I don't know how many litres I put in the car, but clearly a lot more than the radiator can actually hold.
• 4:56
  And then I started up, engine started, great, got a few hundred metres down the road and everything just...
• 5:03
  cut out of me.
• 5:04
  Thought that's weird.
• 5:06
  Opened the bonnet and the dipstick was pushed out.
• 5:08
  There was this milky oil water all through the engine bay.
• 5:13
  And so then at that point I thought I had to ring dad and ask him what was the problem.
• 5:19
  And he said, I think you've just filled the engine up with water as well.
• 5:23
  So I learnt quickly what a head gasket looks like when she goes and not to make that mistake again.
• 5:29
  I can picture your dad saying that in his ultra calm voice too.
• 5:34
  First shot at the Australian Rally Championship came in the Mirage, is that right?
• 5:39
  Front wheel drive, two door.
• 5:41
  How did that all come about?
• 5:42
  How did you piece the deal together and what made you decide to give it a crack?
• 5:48
  um yeah i mean initially i guess it was just to try and do one or two of the national championship events um just to kind of get the experience that you know the pace notes and competing at that level and it was always the the goal to to keep progressing so i started off as a couple of events and our first event went really really well i think we finished sixth outright which was beyond anything we thought so um yeah from there obviously we'd
• 6:11
  pushed really hard to try and get get a full season in and we actually probably did more the first year and then the second year we didn't get all the events in just trying to find dollars here and there but you know I think it's once you step up to that that level and competing on that level it's just another world and it's very hard to come back from that and you want more and more
• 6:29
  Pace notes are a unique art.
• 6:32
  I have spent time with your mum, I've tried to learn it hopelessly I might say too.
• 6:36
  It's like a whole other language where the co-driver has to paint a picture that's almost like film appearing in your mind before you get to it so you can commit to that corner so you can go fast enough before it appears in front of you.
• 6:51
  How hard was that to master and did mum help?
• 6:54
  I'm still mastering it.
• 6:55
  I ask Bill, my co-driver, how many notes I change during a rally.
• 6:59
  It drives him mad.
• 7:01
  But, yeah, it's really more art than science.
• 7:05
  You're obviously trying to describe the angle of the corner, but it's relevant to what you've just come out of, how much speed you'll be carrying in, if it's a late apex, if you can use a bit of extra.
• 7:14
  And, you know, you're trying to almost, in a very, very quick, short, concise way, explain what...
• 7:19
  what a circuit driver would know from memory for where the braking point and turning point is for a corner.
• 7:23
  They've done 100 times.
• 7:24
  And how do you describe that in a couple of words so the co-driver can get it out and you can get to the next corner?
• 7:29
  So it's something that's a real art and it's always developing.
• 7:32
  And, you know, Mum and Neil were obviously very, very helpful at the beginning.
• 7:36
  And my notes were originally based off of the style that Neil uses.
• 7:41
  And since then, our notes couldn't be more dissimilar.
• 7:43
  It's quite funny and we often joke about each other's notes.
• 7:46
  And we have a completely opposite way of approaching notes now.
• 7:49
  You're talking about Neil Bates, who's of course, your mum's co-driven for him for as long as I can remember.
• 7:54
  They've been a really successful combination in the Australian Rally Championship.
• 7:58
  He's been a great mentor for you from the driving side, hasn't he?
• 8:00
  Completely.
• 8:01
  I think not a week will go by, even today, when I don't ring Neil during the week and run something by him or ask him a question.
• 8:08
  And I've been very lucky to have someone like that.
• 8:11
  Obviously, learning off mum and dad as well.
• 8:13
  But, you know, I think from Neil's perspective, he's been there and done it, won four championships, worked professionally as a driver for...
• 8:21
  you know, the past 20 odd years.
• 8:23
  So there's not much he hasn't been through.
• 8:25
  And, you know, he's, I guess, like a second father in that way.
• 8:28
  And every time I normally change something on the car or suspension or have an idea about something, I want some advice.
• 8:36
  He's definitely on the favourites list in the call lock.
• 8:38
  You decide to roll the dice at a relatively early stage of your career and go to England and try to, you know, break into Europe more or less.
• 8:48
  How difficult was that whole experience?
• 8:49
  And yet now looking back on it, how valuable to where you are today?
• 8:53
  Yeah, it's something I'm really happy that I did and it sort of, I guess, was at a point where I'd done a few years in the Australian Championship and in the Mirage and to move up from a front-wheel drive car to a four-wheel drive car, I needed a lot bigger budget, but that was really the next step in Australia.
• 9:09
  Whereas overseas, they had a lot more of these one-make series.
• 9:12
  So the first series that I went and did was a Suzuki Sport Cup, which was these near-stock-standard Suzuki Swifts.
• 9:18
  But, you know, you had 10 young guys that were all racing them and they were all level playing field.
• 9:23
  And so for me, I thought as a young driver, that's the next step for me to learn and push myself against more competition and do it over in Europe, which is the home of rallying.
• 9:31
  So...
• 9:32
  I think I probably underestimated it a little bit when I went over.
• 9:35
  I was a bit naive and thought this great adventure and what's not to lose and now or never and all those clichés and then you sort of land there with your bag and go, oh, wow, this is real.
• 9:45
  I have to find some money and somewhere to live and, you know, I have to do all that stuff.
• 9:49
  So it was definitely a big wake-up call and a big learning experience and you grow up very fast and get used to your own company a lot.
• 9:57
  But, yeah, the amount I've learned and the amount that I've been able to take back from that has just been awesome.
• 10:02
  I sense that what you're talking about is actually what you learned outside the cockpit too, about trying to find the backing and immersing yourself in the sport so you get the right connections and things like that.
• 10:12
  That's really eye-opening, that stuff, isn't it?
• 10:14
  Yeah, definitely.
• 10:15
  I mean, it can get, I suppose, a bit overwhelming because, you know, you've got to get in and drive the car fast, but you've also got to put the team together.
• 10:20
  You've got to get a bunch of people who, you know, are willing to, in some cases, do it for nothing just because they want to be involved and, you know, put all that together and the logistics and find the sponsors and how are they going to get value out of the program?
• 10:32
  You know, it's more of a business in many senses, so putting all of that together just so you can go out and drive and making that happen and then being fast when you go and do that as well...
• 10:42
  You know, there's so many things that have to come together, so you really do have to think about it a bit different way.
• 10:47
  It's not just about the driving.
• 10:48
  It's about putting every piece of the puzzle together.
• 10:51
  You worked for Malcolm Wilson, I think, for a period there, didn't you?
• 10:54
  I mean, he's a guy that's got so much history in the World Rally Championship and his outfit, M-Sports, still campaign cars to this day.
• 11:04
  You got to drive on the quiet a pretty decent car, and I think either Neil or your mum might have been there for that experience, isn't it?
• 11:10
  Yeah, I was pretty lucky.
• 11:11
  So a couple of times they do a shakedown with all the cars before they get loaded to the event or a customer buys a car and they have an airfield near the base there.
• 11:20
  And so I think a couple of times they were short a driver and needed someone to do the shakedown.
• 11:23
  So I got to have a drive of the older WRC car when I was just in the development stage and the Super 2000 cars and...
• 11:30
  What are we talking there, Ford Focus?
• 11:32
  No, uh...
• 11:32
  It was Fiesta, but one of the early Fiestas.
• 11:35
  And, uh, yeah, it was, that was a pretty...
• 11:36
  I mean, it was on an airfield, um, so it's, you know, not a proper rally stage, but still I was, um... Yeah, I remember it was, you know, just when they were starting to build the WRC car and it was on a tarmac airfield with gravel suspension.
• 11:48
  They didn't have the, you know, fully-specced engine in it.
• 11:50
  And, you know, so it wasn't, by their standards, it wasn't anywhere near, you know, how good the real thing was going to be.
• 11:56
  Um, they just wanted to get some miles on it, um...
• 11:59
  And they asked me what I thought and I was obviously, this is amazing.
• 12:01
  And they're all surprised going, well, no, it's not.
• 12:03
  It's nowhere near as good as it can be.
• 12:05
  And I just thought it was the best thing in the world.
• 12:07
  It's surreal because the backdrop to that is you're living in a makeshift room in a barn trying to make ends meet.
• 12:15
  Tell us about that.
• 12:15
  Yeah, when I first went over, some of the guys that I was working with, with the Suzuki team, they had a friend who had a farm and a barn, sort of a corner of the barn had been converted into some living quarters.
• 12:28
  And so I lived there for a long time, which was a bit agricultural, but cheap and an experience, I guess.
• 12:37
  Covered in dust, I hear it, during the harvest period.
• 12:39
  Well, yeah, when they were putting all the grain in next door and the seals on the bottom of the floor were very good.
• 12:44
  That was probably the worst time.
• 12:46
  Fantastic.
• 12:47
  I love stories like that because it's all part of the, you know, without sounding cliched, it is part of the journey.
• 12:53
  You got to Europe and you got to drive a pretty cool Citroen before you ultimately came back to Australia.
• 12:57
  Tell us more about that car and that time in your career.
• 13:00
  Yeah, it was working through M Sport and the contacts that I met there and then there was this opportunity to do a selection with the Pirelli scholarship that was happening at the time to have six funded rounds of the Junior World Championship and that was in a Fiesta too, so I was fortunate enough to go to that shootout and have a place on that and then off the back of that work with an Italian company and drive the Citroën DS3, which again was a front-wheel drive 1.6 turbo, but with the paddle shift out of the old C-suit,
• 13:29
  C4 WRC car and yeah and we competed in the junior WRC again and the European Championship there and yes I mean incredible experiences and I mean I guess a lot of learning as well I'm trying to put those deals together and negotiate that stuff and I think I learned a lot you know you look back now and think I should have done this instead of that but the the lessons that you learn from
• 13:52
  all the good things and all the mistakes that you make as well.
• 13:56
  I think you become a very strong person, which ultimately helps when you're faced with anything.
• 14:01
  You are by nature just a competitor, but the great thing about motorsport is that it's a level playing field for men and women, but there's a greater presence, which is a good thing, of women in our game now.
• 14:15
  In that period you
• 14:17
  got your first, I guess, involvement of that whole women in motorsport side of things, inspired by Michelle Mouton, who's been at the very pinnacle of the World Rally Championship in the 80s for Audi and things like that.
• 14:29
  You got to work with her, and I would imagine that's a pretty special moment.
• 14:33
  She's an incredible person, isn't she?
• 14:34
  I remember the first time I met her actually, she was one of the judges on the Pirelli shootout competition and we had lunchtime and it was the first time for all the nervous competitors to go and have lunch and all the judges were there and we walked into the lunch and she was standing there and she walked up to me to say hello and sort of put her hand out to shake her hand and I was a bit starstruck for a second and I said nothing for the first moment so she introduced herself to me, it's Michelle and then I felt completely embarrassed because then I was trying to backtrack and say I...
• 15:04
  know who you are very nice to meet you starstruck that is very unlike you uh completely completely and then i also through that got to work a lot with fabrizia ponds and she came out to a couple of rallies and um the two of them are just incredible and i think the the best thing about working with people like that is they know what's required and they don't really care about the gender issue so you know they're very much they get on with the job
• 15:26
  you have to be good at the end of the day.
• 15:28
  It's just as hard as a guy or a girl.
• 15:30
  So having people like that to learn from and have as inspiration and have as a phone call away was very surreal for me.
• 15:42
  This is Greg Rust and you're listening to Rusty's Garage.
• 15:45
  More with Molly Taylor in a moment.
• 15:48
  The name Chip Foose stands unique alongside the racing drivers and stunt bike riders we've chatted to in this series.
• 15:55
  He's someone I was truly excited and even a bit nervous to be talking to.
• 16:00
  Chip's an automotive designer who's done some incredible things over the years, from movie work to transforming everyday rides for reality TV, plus his own designs, automotive construction and much, much more.
• 16:13
  There are two cars that are the best examples of an evolution of design.
• 16:18
  The Corvette, you can see how it has evolved through the years, and also the Porsche 911.
• 16:23
  But still true to their original shapes and some of them, they're unmistakable, aren't they?
• 16:27
  Right, and it's fantastic because you can see how they've evolved.
• 16:32
  They didn't completely abandon and come out with something totally new, like other models have.
• 16:37
  And I said, we have the ability right now to go back and look at some great cars that existed that were abandoned.
• 16:45
  Let's grab from the past and evolve that into something that's modern.
• 16:50
  And that's also the same project that opened the doors to do the new Mustang, the Camaro, the Volkswagen Beetle.
• 16:58
  Listen to the full episode with Chip Foose here on Rusty's Garage.
• 17:09
  Burnout.
• 17:10
  The practice of keeping a car stationary while spinning wheels causing the tires to heat up in smoke.
• 17:15
  Best performed on licensed drag strips, not on the road.
• 17:19
  But doesn't always happen.
• 17:23
  You come back to Australia to tackle the Australian Championship, which you ultimately would win in 2016 with Subaru.
• 17:31
  Your mum and Neil Bates have been Toyota forever, so you're on the dark side, effectively.
• 17:38
  But Raleigh's a great community.
• 17:39
  It's not really quite like that, is it?
• 17:41
  It was always a family joke.
• 17:43
  You know, I've seen the light and I've jumped ship.
• 17:46
  But in reality, you know, back in the day when it was Neil in the Toyota and Possum Bourne in the Subaru, when they had events that were near home, Possum would come and stay at our house.
• 17:55
  And, you know, I remember Possum and Peggy staying at our house and, you know, having breakfast with them.
• 17:59
  And, you know, it was very friendly.
• 18:01
  And I mean, you even see that now with Harry Bates, Neil's son, who drives a Toyota and
• 18:05
  we've grown up pretty much like brother and sister but now we're arch rivals but we still chat every day and you know act as if we're siblings and you still want to beat them and you probably want to beat them a bit more because you're that close but because you're doing that you know you've got too many intervals you're doing it with yourself and the co-driver in the road you're not bashing doors I can't get to the end of the stage and
• 18:25
  blame harry for cutting me off um so i think that kind of uh i guess separation makes uh rallying very social outside and you all have this appreciation and respect because you've all done the same road and then you it's more about comparing the moments and who had the biggest slide and all that sort of stuff
• 18:41
  Let's compare, or not compare, actually.
• 18:43
  Let's talk firstly about Possum, because in this part of the world, he was a huge character.
• 18:49
  I mean, great rivalry, as you say, with Neil Bates and your mum, but he was an icon for Subaru in this part of the world, wasn't he?
• 18:57
  Oh, completely.
• 18:58
  I remember my first meeting when I went into Subaru and, you know, there was this glimmer of hope that maybe they'll come back involved.
• 19:06
  And I remember walking into the meeting room and it was just full of posters of possum and possum's suit and, you know, the amount of...
• 19:14
  passion I think you know Subaru fans have and Subaru is a company for rally and and possum and and that whole kind of charisma I guess he brought to it you know really it's not it's obviously a lot about the car but it's also about the the journey and the the people and and that dedication and that kind of drive to win um which makes it so spectacular to watch when you see you know how much he put on the line how hard he tried every time he went out there and what a show he put on and what a person he was for people to get behind and follow um he did a lot for the sport
• 19:44
  So you are now a factory Subaru representative.
• 19:47
  Really cool.
• 19:48
  What in the range can be current, can be old?
• 19:52
  Firstly, we want to know what you drive on a daily basis and what the dream Subaru is.
• 19:57
  What would you like to have in the garage?
• 19:58
  I would love to have a 22B in the garage.
• 20:00
  That's my ultimate.
• 20:02
  It's just such a beautiful car, that shape.
• 20:04
  I actually bought a similar era of the GC8 style mid-90s Subaru rally car.
• 20:13
  Iconic.
• 20:14
  Just the shape is just so classic.
• 20:16
  So the 22B is right up there.
• 20:18
  I'll settle for a nice two-door of that era just probably because I might need to win the lotto to get a 22B.
• 20:25
  But every day I drive one of the newer model WRX STIs.
• 20:29
  So as a road car, that's the perfect car for me.
• 20:33
  What did it mean to you to win the title for them?
• 20:36
  And what about the reaction internally?
• 20:38
  Because they'd spent a decade away from rallying in this country and to come back and play again and to win the title so soon, really, was pretty impressive, wasn't it?
• 20:47
  Well, none of us expected it and that was never...
• 20:48
  I mean, obviously, the target's to win, but we thought if we could be in top five, that would be a great achievement.
• 20:54
  It's the first year back, unknown.
• 20:56
  Subaru were taking a chance on me.
• 20:59
  I'd never driven an all-wheel drive car in a rally up until that point.
• 21:02
  It was all front-wheel drive cars, so it was a new experience for me.
• 21:06
  We were running the Group N, which is a more production-spec car, so our car wasn't as modified as the competition, so there was that as well.
• 21:15
  The whole Subaru family and all the fans were so excited to get back in rallying because everyone missed it so much, but we didn't know what to expect.
• 21:22
  So for that to happen was just the icing on the cake.
• 21:26
  It was really good.
• 21:26
  Describe the ride.
• 21:28
  How different is it to the road WRX they might buy from the local dealership?
• 21:32
  What things have been modified and so on?
• 21:34
  It's actually, we retain a lot of the DNA of the Roka, which is one of the great things about the WRX because the chassis and everything like that is so good and the all-wheel drive powertrain and all that kind of stuff.
• 21:46
  So we obviously put different suspension on it and underbody protection to cope with gravel surface, some gravel brakes, which are actually a little bit smaller and we run a little bit of smaller rim on the gravel.
• 21:59
  Plus we have...
• 22:00
  obviously all the internal safety roll cage safety harnesses proper seats we run a restrictor on the turbo as well we run the two liter engine not the 2.5 and we run our engine management system with anti-lag which basically keeps the turbo spooled up all the time and and sounds pretty cool as well
• 22:18
  In the shed is some unbelievable things.
• 22:21
  This is like dream stuff.
• 22:23
  Firstly, let's talk about your dad's car.
• 22:26
  70-spec V8 Falcon rally car.
• 22:29
  I mean, it's just a tyre killer, but it sounds unreal in the forest, doesn't it?
• 22:32
  Yeah, I mean, years and years and years ago, Dad used to rally that.
• 22:35
  It's XYGT Falcon.
• 22:36
  Yeah.
• 22:37
  And it was just spectacular, and the spectators used to wait.
• 22:40
  It wasn't the fastest car by any stretch, but it was the most sideways, and threw the most dirt everywhere, the biggest rooster tails, and just sounded phenomenal.
• 22:48
  And he's actually sold it twice and bought it back, and this is the third time he's bought it back.
• 22:53
  So I think he's getting a bit nostalgic, maybe.
• 22:56
  And I actually...
• 22:57
  for his birthday got a someone to uh paint uh off of a picture of the car and framed it for him and and he said that was the most expensive birthday present he ever got because he saw it and got nostalgic and and bought the bloody car back so um so yeah hopefully he'll get out in that and uh you know he just has such a passion for cars in general and yeah we're surrounded by all different projects that if one of them ever gets finished i'll be surprised but there's a lot of dreams in here
• 23:23
  In that period, the 70s and 80s, Australia was dominated by Ford, in rallying terms I'm talking, Ford Escorts, Datsun 1600s, heaps of them.
• 23:32
  They're iconic, some Selecas and things like that, but rear-wheel drive, four-cylinder cars.
• 23:38
  And then abroad in the early 80s, things changed with the advent of what they called the Group B era.
• 23:43
  I mean, these things were off the scale in so many ways, all-wheel drive, turbocharged.
• 23:50
  And really at the forefront of a lot of that was the Audi Quattro, and you have a soft spot for the Audi Quattro, don't you?
• 23:56
  Yeah, I think, I mean, the Group B era and how iconic it is and the look of it and also the sound of it is such a big thing as well.
• 24:05
  The five cylinders is just, you know, the sound's so different to anything else.
• 24:09
  So, yeah, recently mum and I had the opportunity to go halves in a quattro road car and, yeah, it needs a little bit of work, but it's, yeah, that's going to be pride of place in my garage house for many years to come.
• 24:25
  Who does the work?
• 24:27
  What's the to-do list?
• 24:28
  Has it got to be re-sprayed?
• 24:30
  You've got to put a new fuel tank in it, I think.
• 24:31
  Is that right?
• 24:31
  Yeah, we have to put a new tank in it.
• 24:34
  The paintwork needs a little bit of work and a few little bits here and there, but not too much.
• 24:37
  So I think that's my project I've decided.
• 24:39
  There's not many of them in the country.
• 24:41
  When you look back, there's a couple of people I've followed on Instagram that know of them or have one or whatever, but not a great many came to Australia back then.
• 24:51
  You've got something pretty special.
• 24:52
  Yeah, it was actually the first one that was ever brought into the country.
• 24:55
  It was brought in by Audi for the motor show, and Kerry Packer saw it and basically said, I want it and don't take it home.
• 25:01
  And since then it's had two owners, and Kevin Bartlett, he looked after the car.
• 25:09
  for for Kerry um and then and then had it and and we being rally friends found out about it through him and and bought it off him so we were very very lucky to to come across the gem and um yeah I think you know it's funny you say on Instagram and I'm the same I now have all these Instagram friends and you know created this community of people just on their you know passion for these older cars and people who own the cars and it's um yeah it's incredible to meet other people like that that just yeah have this love for what they stood for.
• 25:35
  Seriously cool that KP owned that because people probably don't realise he actually liked cars firstly and that Kevin Bartlett wanted it, I mean, you know, icon of Australian racing, that he wanted it to go to effectively a good home, didn't he?
• 25:49
  Yeah, yeah, he wanted it to go to someone who wasn't just going to sell it overseas for, you know, a big profit and someone who would love it for the reasons that Kevin loved it and still loves it.
• 25:58
  And to be able to have a story like that and to buy it off someone iconic, as you say, as Kevin Bartlett.
• 26:03
  And we actually bumped into each other up at Bathurst and were chatting again about the car and he was asking how it was and it's good.
• 26:09
  Now, you're in a bit of trouble with your sister because she's the one sort of trying to keep things on that you flat together or you, you know, she's trying to keep things on the straight and narrow, but you've gone off and bought a BMW M3 as well.
• 26:25
  Tell me about that and how this came to be.
• 26:27
  Yeah, look, I mean, my sister was living overseas for a long time and I was obviously living overseas and she came back home and I came back home and so we thought, well, you haven't spent all this time together, let's rent together and, you know, have some sister bonding time, which, you know, we still live together and that's fantastic and during this whole process we thought we need to probably be a bit adult and look at savings and, you know, maybe we'll buy a little investment property together and rent it out and so for the past year we've both been saving for this deposit.
• 26:55
  And then it comes across this, you know, 1986 E30 M3 for sale at a really good deal.
• 27:02
  And Dad actually spotted it for me and did the deal.
• 27:07
  He knew that I wanted one but didn't know that I was actually willing to actually buy one.
• 27:11
  By the way, you now own it.
• 27:12
  Yeah, I got a message, by the way, you own this car now.
• 27:16
  And so my house deposit very quickly became a car.
• 27:19
  And since then, I've since been trying to convince Jane that it's a very, you know, it's a very worthwhile asset.
• 27:25
  It's going to go up.
• 27:25
  It's a good investment.
• 27:26
  It's a liquid, you know, so I could sell it tomorrow if I needed to.
• 27:29
  And none of them are working.
• 27:30
  I'm still in the doghouse about that.
• 27:32
  Jane, forgive us, but we're going to get a bit sentimental here.
• 27:35
  So it's over the back...
• 27:37
  I can see it here.
• 27:38
  White in colour, left-hand drive, just magic-looking thing.
• 27:42
  How long have you loved the look of this car, and why has it been such a thing you had to have in the collection?
• 27:49
  Yeah, I mean, just the look of the car is just so iconic and, you know, being the first of the M3s and all the racing heritage that it has.
• 27:59
  You know, I think they're just one of the cars you just, if you walk past, you just stop and stare at it.
• 28:04
  And every time I see another one, it's the same feeling.
• 28:07
  And just, I guess, you know, the subtlety of the guards and the designing of it is just...
• 28:11
  They got a lot of cars right in that era, the Quattro and the M3, and I've got a few more of that era on my bucket list, so trying to tick them off one by one.
• 28:21
  But yeah, when it came up, I think with those sort of cars, they take a long time to find the good one, and you've got to jump on it when you only live once, right?
• 28:33
  Okay, should we start her up?
• 28:57
  Very sweet.
• 28:58
  What about the future?
• 29:00
  You went so close to defending the title in 2017.
• 29:04
  Heartbreaking to miss out.
• 29:06
  Has that hardened the resolve for 2018?
• 29:09
  You know, it's a really tough one because at the end of the day, I look back at the whole year and there was literally, you know, nothing more we could have done.
• 29:17
  So from that sense, at least we can sleep at night knowing that we put everything out there.
• 29:23
  It's still...
• 29:25
  It doesn't make it easier to bear in many respects and it's still, you know, it's heartbreaking because you just, it's not just your job or the sport you do.
• 29:33
  Like, it's literally my life.
• 29:35
  So it's like you put a piece of yourself into it and it's like that being taken away.
• 29:41
  So that's kind of how much it hurts, I guess.
• 29:44
  But yeah, it doesn't...
• 29:46
  it only makes it stronger for the future.
• 29:48
  And, yeah, we wanted so much and probably even more than the first year.
• 29:52
  The first year was a dream come true and not what we expected.
• 29:55
  But, you know, we had the pressure as defending champions coming into this year.
• 29:59
  And, you know, our results were a lot better this year.
• 30:02
  And we really fought for it and really, really earned it as well.
• 30:05
  So I was, you know...
• 30:07
  I was gutted because we just, you know, I really believe we really, really deserve to win.
• 30:12
  So that's hard to take.
• 30:13
  But on the flip side, you know, the amount of work the boys put in to try and keep us going and to try and get us back out there.
• 30:19
  It made us as a team so close and so strong.
• 30:22
  And to be a part of that, you know, at the end of the day, we didn't get the title.
• 30:27
  all those other things that we did throughout the year and how well everyone worked together and how strong we are and how passionate everyone is that's something that championship or no championship I think they're probably the more important things to focus on and they are the more important things at the end of the day than than a trophy so yeah we'll uh we'll keep that in our memories and I can push on for next year new car or you stay with the same car and try and develop it a bit more
• 30:51
  We're hoping just to develop the car.
• 30:53
  It might be a new shell.
• 30:54
  We've got another shell at the workshop.
• 30:56
  We're not sure which way we're going to go yet, but it'll basically be hopefully the basis of the car this year with hopefully a little bit lighter, a little bit quicker.
• 31:05
  What's on the to-do list beyond here?
• 31:07
  So, you know, Railing's one of those great all-round types of motor racing.
• 31:12
  You picture in your mind, roaring through the forest and the trees.
• 31:15
  That's kind of the main thing people think of in Australia.
• 31:18
  But really you've got to be an all-round driver, you know, good on tarmac and in different terrain in some respects.
• 31:24
  Do you want to do a bit more circuit racing?
• 31:26
  What do you want to do there?
• 31:27
  I mean, I do, I love driving.
• 31:29
  So for me, you know, any driving, anything is good.
• 31:34
  And, you know, rallying is definitely, you know, all I know and what I absolutely love.
• 31:38
  And I know when you're ready to give that up.
• 31:42
  But in saying that, you know, I think...
• 31:44
  whatever opportunities are out there that to be in cars and to be pushing and to be at the top of whatever category series you're racing in I went over to America and saw the Subaru team over there and you know something like that would be fantastic to do obviously Europe still love to do something there and what we're doing in Australia we've only been back in for two years and we've already achieved so much so I think it's exciting that there's more we can do there but yeah definitely if there's an opportunity to drive something I will take it.
• 32:13
  And that means that the international dream is not done.
• 32:17
  The focus immediately is Australia still, but you harbour that, don't you?
• 32:22
  You still want to do some stuff overseas.
• 32:24
  Yeah, exactly.
• 32:24
  I think our number one priority is the Australian Championship and trying to win that, obviously.
• 32:30
  But I think now...
• 32:32
  the lessons I learned in Europe and coming back and the, what I've learned here sort of driving, um, I guess with a different type of pressure, you know, driving is your job rather than it's your dream.
• 32:41
  And you're trying to sort of put all these things together to make it happen.
• 32:43
  And, um, you know, now you've, you've got this, you've got the drive and it's, you know, kind of too good to be true and surreal, but then you've got the pressure of, you know, now you have to do your job and people are counting on you to do your job.
• 32:54
  And, um, um,
• 32:55
  That's actually been a really great experience, and I've learned so much from that, too, that I also think that if I could do a couple of rallies in Europe as well, I think now, knowing what I know and being a stronger person than I was then, I think I could also do all right, hopefully.
• 33:08
  It's been fantastic to talk to you.
• 33:11
  I can recall stories from your mum where you'd come home from Europe, you'd have literally no money, you'd get on the phone and...
• 33:18
  the Molly Taylor Supporters Club would come to the party with half of the 80 grand budget that you needed for the next year.
• 33:24
  You are tenacious.
• 33:26
  The word no kind of doesn't exist in your dictionary and we wish you all the very best for the future.
• 33:31
  Thank you very much.
• 33:34
  On the next episode of Rusty's Garage, I talk with the man they call the goat, Jamie Winkup, who tells us about his pride and joy, a car he calls Kate.
• 33:45
  It's won two championships, it's won Bathurst, the 50th anniversary, with my good mate Paul Dumbrell.
• 33:51
  But it's won more races than any other car in the history of the sport.
• 33:58
  Rusty's Garage is written and presented by me, Greg Rust.
• 34:02
  Series producer and editor is Alex Mitchell.
• 34:06
  Audio production by Darcy Thompson.
• 34:15
  Listener.