 Ladies, Looking for a Man that Can Commit? Chances are He's Driving a Vintage Car. Koop Kooper Relates his Lifelong Love Affair with Frustrating Wheels Classic cars have been part of my life for a long time. In fact, my first car was a 1960 FB Holden, which is kind of like an Australian version of the '57 Chev but just a bit smaller. It was my first car at age 19 and it was my pride and joy. I still remember the day it was mine. I had been told about the car by a friend and after a test drive with my girlfriend at the time I decided I just had to have it right now. Unfortunately I was heading to Singapore that week for work so I organised for my father to pick it up and bring it home. Man, that moment I came home from the airport and saw her sitting on the corner waiting for me is a moment etched in my memory forever. Her chrome shining in the light, a vehicle from a different time, a car with a story to tell, a car which was ready for adventure in the big city. And adventures we did have. Adventures as a single man, I must add, as that very night my girlfriend came over to have dinner with my family. After dinner, we jumped into the car and took it for a drive to the foreshore where we sat on the lovely Wednesday night looking out onto the bay. Here I was with my girlfriend and my new car. What a perfect day.....well, it was perfect for about two minutes as she decided to dump me that night. Can you believe it? What began as the best day in my life ended as the worst day. Not really. I was sad for about five minutes and then I thought to myself, why am I sad, I didn't really like her that much, she had suddenly started pushing marriage, which at 19 wasn't a particularly attractive idea, plus I now have the coolest car in the world...chicks will dig me!!! There were dramas; that's what classic cars are all about. Like the time the universal joint literally dropped out of the car. It was a friday night and me and my buddies pulled up in the Pizza Hut carpark about to stuff ourselves silly with the all you can eat menu then dance it off to local Rockabilly band The Convertibles. I cruised in, pulled up slowly and pulled on the hand brake and turned off the engine. It was at that point I heard an almighty crash , the sound of metal hitting the ground, which when it comes from the underbelly of you car is a very disconcerting feeling. I got out of the car and found metal and screws everywhere! In my mind I was convinced I had bought a big fat forty five year old lemon. Fortunately, it was all okay. My father came and tied the whole thing up, towed me home, and fixed it for me the next day. What a scare. Sure I had breakdowns in the seven years I owned that car, but after about a year, pretty much anything that could go wrong went wrong and was repaired or replaced, which I think is the key to a classic car....give her some time and you will have a pretty good car. Eventually I sold her as my lust for automotive power was getting to me. I traded her at a classic car dealership for a 1957 Chrysler Royal.  An aussie made car based on the '56 Plymouth, she was big, green, and loved to drink petrol! But she was stunning and powerful. I kept that car for around six years. It was a tumultuous relationship with numerous breakdowns but a lot of fun; plus she was my companion on those long drives across the country as I had only begun my radio career and was busy cutting my teeth in the rural radio markets. We covered a lot of miles in those six years so to be fair she was pretty reliable.I took her to a large country town where I had just landed the night announcer job and was on the cusp of success being just one hour from the metropolitan city of Melbourne, a coveted gig as I could now resume my social life which had been sadly lacking in the backwaters of Australia. So after signing off at 10 pm each night I would jump into the Chrysler and fly down the freeway to the big smoke. One night was particularly bad, I was about half an hour into my trip when I bumped my horn and it wouldn't turn off. There was nowhere safe for me to stop as it was pitch black and there were semi trailers all over the place. So for about ten minutes I flew down the freeway at 65 miles per hour with a very loud American car horn blowing loudly. Man you should have seen the panicked look on peoples faces as I came up behind them. I suspect some thought my breaks had failed! I eventually got towed home that night at a cost of around $600 after my car electrics went a bit crazy and the car kept shortly out. Perhaps the horn was an omen I should not have ignored. Fortunately I was a member of a roadside service organisation and they paid for the tow. Sadly, the Chrysler did end up costing me too much money as the engine developed a major issue and had to be reconditioned which was very pricey - parts were tough to get as she was a pretty rare car with only 4000 built that year. So after getting the major repair done I put her on the market and she was snapped up fairly quickly. Considering how much money I spent on her, I think the guy got a real bargin. I was sad to see her go, even wiped away a tear as she drove away. We had many adventures together, and sure there were bad times but the good times outweighed them. It was the rarity of the car that had been the problem. Sure, I said earlier that you have to spend a bit of time an money initially on the car, but for me this bed-in period had gone on for a bit too long.  So now it was time to search for another car. Armed with my experience of around eleven years of classic car ownership I decided to by a car from the sixties that had big numbers built and that had had a lot of work done on it. I also learnt that you need to spend a good amount of money to get a good car. After months obsessively searching for the perfect car I found her: a 1965 Valiant ap6. She is based on the American '64 Plymouth Valiant. There were around 400,000 manufactured, parts are plentiful and I even found a couple of places that sell Valiant parts exclusively.The car had been resprayed recently, had the gearbox reconditioned along with the engine, she runs a 225 side valve that has plenty of grunt and the entire interior had been redone. I had planned to spend a fair bit on my next car and this was for sale for less them I had planned, I bought her for $8000. She is wonderful and I believe, the most reliable classic car I have ever owned. It's been a year now and not one breakdown which is amazing considering I drive her everyday to work. I wanted to write this article because I truly love classic cars and that's what the relationship is like with a classic car, lots of pain and lots of joy and you know what, absolutely worth it. I drive the car because it is me, it is part of style and personality, it feels right. I drive an hour to get to work every day and while everyone else is angry and rushing, I just put some music on, relax and cruise to work with a big stupid grin on my face.
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