The story behind a classic car and its proud owner

THOSE travelling through or based at Meredith and surrounds might be used to seeing an eye-catching call back to the era of classic Hollywood rock and roll.

For the past 10 years, Meredith’s Geoff Hardy has proudly shown off his red 1954 Ford Crestline Sunliner convertible at every chance he can get.

“I quite often take it for a run to pick up the paper on a weekend or elsewhere into another town for a coffee,” he said. “If it’s raining though, it never comes out of the shed.”

“Probably everyone in Meredith knows I’ve got this car. It often turns heads and I get people asking me what sort of car it is because they’ve never seen it before.”

“If I could put a tin out for donations for everybody that’s had a photo with that car I’d be a millionaire.”

His love for the vehicle stemmed from his time going to the movies in his younger years.

“My first car was a 1954 Customline,” he said. “You’d go to the drive-in and see movies with Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson and these rockstars jumping in and out of these convertibles.”

With the retractable roof models never having reached Australian shores, Mr Hardy held onto his dream until a decade ago when he received a surprise gift from his son.

“I always vowed I’d get the convertible before I died,” he said. “My son’s in the car business and on my 70th birthday he asked me to come to Port Melbourne to give him a hand unloading some cars.

“Lo and behold, when they opened the doors, out came the red Sunliner, and my son said ‘Dad, it’s yours.’ I was terribly emotional to receive it and I still get emotional thinking about it.”

Since receiving the vehicle, Mr Hardy has shown it off at rockabilly events and car shows like the Geelong Steam Rally, Clunes Historic Vehicle Show, the All Ford Day, and recently at the Ballan Vintage Rally and Tractor Pull.

As president of the Meredith Car and Bike Club, he previously featured the convertible closer to home as part of a rally he organised with proceeds going towards prostate cancer.

Mr Hardy said the car will be handed down to his son once he passes, followed by his granddaughter.