TAKE A CAR, ANY CAR!
DIPSTICK REG KELLY
This is a true story from 1958. At that time, I worked for my father at the family tractor repair business in Mildura Victoria. Our workshop vehicle was a well-worn grubby FJ Holden Ute. One morning I drove into town to purchase items from the local Auto Parts Suppliers. On returning to the street I put the key into the ignition (nobody bothered to lock their vehicles in those days) started the engine and reversed out of the angle parking space.
I had the uneasy feeling that something was wrong, the clutch didn't shudder, the tappets didn't rattle, the gudgeon pins were silent and the Ute’s interior was spotlessly clean, then to my horror I saw my Ute still parked at the curb!
I quickly swapped vehicles fearful my car theft would be noticed. I reversed back onto the highway in haste reassured by the familiar clutch shudder. (The well-worn ignition key must have acted as a skeleton key able to start the other FJ.) The lack of Holden ignition security did have its advantages.
Dad was an old-fashioned boss straight out of the Depression years, he believed the workshop Ute should be used strictly for business purposes only, this could be inconvenient whenever my 1938 Vauxhall sedan refused to rattle into life. Like all my young friends I was familiar with the trick of wrapping a sixpenny piece (known as a Zac) in tinfoil from a discarded cigarette packet and jamming it between the contacts of the unprotected ignition switch. In this way I was able to "borrow" the FJ and enjoyed many movies at the Drive-In theatre with my girlfriend of the day. Fortunately, Dad never discovered my clandestine use of his workshop vehicle.
I have compassion for young Rakes of today, modern vehicles are ridiculously overprotected!
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