In 1973, Tommy's Dad
- who was just a young man at the time -
travelled with his father to the city of Melbourne
on a mission to buy him his first car
The car that peeked out was a brand new, lime green
Ford Falcon XA Superbird Hardtop
The Superbird became the family car. They daily drove it.
As kids, Tommy's mom
used to take them everywhere in it, such as shopping, school
sports, relative's houses - everywhere.
Until one night, when Paul lost control of the car,
rolling it into a ditch, not far from where they lived.
Paul did not have any car insurance to cover the accident damage.
And with the car being in such a bad, beaten-up state
of disrepair, Paul decided not to fix it.
So the decision was made to take it back home
Where it sat on their farm for approximately 20 years
Tommy loved that car.
He recalls one of his fondest memories was sitting on his mom's lap
behind the steering wheel, steering it down
their long driveway on the farm.
Tommy said: "You can imagine me coming to the shed everyday for 20 years
Firstly as a child, then as an adult
working on the farm. I'd see the car every day.
It was never covered up with a top or anything, so it was visible to anyone who'd visit the shed."
The driving passion to fix the car was always in Tommy.
But he had to wait until he was able to do it
As it would not be quick or cheap to fix
The car sat exposed to the elements for 20 years on the farm
Until one day in 2013.
Tommy realized, that if he didn't start the project soon, there would be
nothing left of the car to restore.
Now, unlike some car restoration stories, where the owners spend
all their time for years working on the car,
bit by bit, Tommy did not have the skills needed
for a restoration like this.
His main job in the process was that of a project manager,
organizing work to be done,
having the car shipped from one location to another,
and spending years sourcing all the rare parts needed for the car
using Facebook and car enthusiast forums.
Tommy ended up joining many groups to enlist people's help
to find the parts needed,
as Ford XA Coupé parts are very rare and scarce at the best of times.
Tommy left the car in the hands of two professionals.
One worked on pulling the cover apart
and fully reconditioning the engine and running gear
Because of his vast experience with working on 1970's Fords