Rolling your first car before you’ve got it registered, before you’ve even got your license is generally a pretty good way to get your old man off-side. Jamie Camilleri had made plans to look at a Mk11 Zodiac with his dad only to find it had been already sold. On the rebound they shelled out 800 bucks on a 1960 Prefect instead which they hauled home from the back-blocks of Springvale, not a Zodiac or the Zephyr that he’d craved , but a car all the same. Jamie’s dad wasn’t really into cars but the young fella, infected by his cousin and his next door neighbours, was. He wanted, he’d decided, that panel beating was the way that he could make a living in the world of cars but being asthmatic his dad thought that was a bad idea, a mechanic’s apprenticeship beckoned.
Jamie took the Prefect to his dad’s five acre plot at Tooradin and before too long had a rudimentary bolt by bolt restoration under way. Springvale engine guru Charlie Saliba re-built the little OHV motor that it came with and Jamie confesses that, in hindsight it was probably a little bit over enthusiastic for a kid learning to drive. He finished the car before he got his license and any car head knows what that can lead to.
It wasn’t purely coincidental that his first test drive in the Prefect was unsupervised, his folks were out and in the ongoing teenage battle between boredom and risk he decided the time had come. He had it on two wheels on the first lap around the block, and then by the second last corner, no wheels, just the roof, it came to rest right way up but neither he nor the car had escaped unscathed. Instinctively he had put his hand up above his head and as the little Defect went over it went out the window and was badly gashed. The next thing he remembers was a man ripping at his shirt, it turned out he was trying to tear some material off to make a bandage for the bleeding arm. His mates from nearby pushed the car home and covered it up while Jamie went to the hospital for some stitches.
Jamie rang his then girlfriend Carrie, he was supposed to go to the Royal Derby Hotel in Fitzroy which was at the time the epicentre of the Melbourne rockabilly scene with her, but that wasn’t going to happen. ” I can’t make it to the pub, I’ve had a car accident” , she took a half an hour out of her busy schedule to visit him before heading to the Derby. She wasn’t going to waste valuable Derby time with Jamie, there’d be plenty of opportunities for that, eighteen years later they’re still married , with two kids , and his arm’s fine, proof of her excellent judgment.
Jamie met Carrie of all places at a car show. Her dad Peter Quaife was a well known rodder and member of the Spades Rod and Custom Club, she wasn’t just dyed in the wool, it soaked all the way into her bones…” she had a jukebox in her room, a ’34 door on the wall , she was like the real item” he says obviously still a fan. Rather than a calming influence it seems Carrie is one big “yes” when it comes to rods and customs.
That was it for Jamie’s dad, no more cars were coming out of his pocket, at least for the next two weeks anyway Soon after that resolution faded they bought an XP Falcon and Jamie was on his way. He’d lusted after a Customline but in the meantime the Falcon would do, they weren’t dreams Jamie had, they were plans. Between then, and now, there are stories that include more Falcons of the two door kind but more importantly they also include a couple of Customlines, Jamie was building up a ’54 when fate came a knocking.
Rumours were circulating at the club and Mick Cheg had a grubby photo that was being passed around in class at the Spades meeting of a ‘49 Merc that Select Autos were bringing in from the States. It was a massive project to take on but Jamie and Carrie decided they had to have it, trouble was it was a virtual basket case. It was a factory coupe with a stock roof that Jamie envisioned as a custom blast straight from the Barris photo files. “I don’t have anything against them but a lot of the Mercs you see now are real low, they weren’t that low back in the ‘50’s, I’m going for period correct look on it”.
As mentioned, one of the guys who lured Jamie out from under his dad ‘s car care-free wing was his cousin , owner of Kool Kustoms, Mars Bonnici. Mario had been rocking a ‘51 Merc around this time and being a good cousin he took responsibility for giving them the bug and stepped up taking the helm on the metal-massage that the Merc needed with Dom Russo weighing in as well. In a sign that everything has a reason and all is right in the universe the ‘51 that Mars used to drive has Pete Quaife’s name on the rego papers now. But Carrie and Jamie’s baby would have a long gestation. A sled is a bewildering project that has broken the back and heart of many motivated builders and Jamie is wary of committing himself to a time frame, so rather than rush it he and his co-conspirator Carrie began thinking, drumming their hot-rod fingers, tapping their hot rod toes.
During a lull, or more appropriately between rounds in the build of the Merc’ another “opportunity” came up. Vic O’Neill ,Spade, salt lake racer and Straight Eights singer mentioned he had a set of chassis rails and a floppy 5 window body that got the Camilleri’s tummies rumbling, “we’d always wanted a hot-rod”, hot rod indeed.
Beau Ledger’s Tudor was a car that Jamie had admired for some time, a true spirit car it was built with old parts in his back yard, a ’40 model rear end and front brakes with a side valve and he drove it . When pressed Jamie can’t describe specifically what it is about the car, it just spoke to him in a language he understood. It doesn’t seem like a big deal now because there is a tidal wave of these return to roots cars but something about Beau’s car had a strong message and Jamie’s antenna was tuned to that channel. He’d already been receiving signals though and they were from closer to home. Carrie’s dad Pete had built a 5 window coupe that was another un-self-conscious offering from a Spades stalwart. As Jamie says “..the Spades, my father in law Peter Quaife, that’s what they’re all about, buildin’ ‘em in your back yard. He threw me the keys one day, once you’ve been behind the wheel of something like that, you’re gone”
The Front end
Jamie says “of course when you start the plans are fairly simple but bit by bit the plan changed and instead of buying mild steel parts you end up buying stainless steel” It’s a hairpin front-end, the parts came from Denis Nosworthy at So-cal. He sent down the hairpins, perch bolts and steering arms. Gary Wright in Wandin supplied the bat-wings, drag-links, shockers and shocker mounts. The drums and stub axles are original ’40 model items which have been refurbished, the 40 model brakes are all new. The grill shell is a steel Vintique repro item, Jamie says although he had a ‘glass one, the exposed edge on a car without a bonnet is a critical point that the ‘glass shell just doesn’t cut. Inside that is an Aussie Desert Cooler radiator that came from a swap meet.
“I had the I beam chromed which of course caused a few headaches with embrittlement which then had to be treated, but you do what you do to get the result that you want, it’s a four inch drop that axle, I like it, a little rake from the rear.”
The Driveline
“Peter Way built the 292 Y block which is a slight over-bore and the cam came from Wades….I think they called it a Saturday Night Cruise Special, I considered a stroker bottom end but after a little research I found it would have added a year to the build by the time I got all the parts I needed from the States. Six 94’s sitting on top of a John’s Rod and Custom manifold, they supply them blank and then you drill them to suit whatever carbies and water outlets you need , the linkages are sequential with the inner two running the whole time.”
The fuel lines are beautifully laid out and the Holley 94’s are ducks in a row….Jamie’ eye’s wandered to the scintilla crouched behind them, “that’s got modern guts but it hasn’t been trouble free , actually it’s been mostly trouble”. The hoodoo isn’t common though, the family brought a batch in from the U.S and it seems this was the only one that’s played up.
The motor has had the housework done receiving a porting and port matching treatment and some oversize valves, but it’s not a race car, so, it doesn’t need a race motor .The headers were laid out at home and the Richard at Rowville exhaust zipped them up and completed the HPC coated 2 inch system that uses a couple of hot-dogs on its way to where it sings it’s song.
Behind that Y-block is a single rail box, everyone said “you need a top-loader” but taking his cues from Beau’s car Jamie used the single rail from a Cortina due to it’s short extension housing and forward shift point and saved himself the expense of the ‘loader. It cost him a slab of Melbourne Bitter, it’s another nod to the practicality that pervades this car rather than a fundamentalist mentality.
Jamie used an 11inch clutch, a Y-block bell-housing and an adaptor plate to fit the single-rail up. The clutch actuation is mechanical.
“I had enough on the pedal lever for a few holes to give me a little leverage adjustment, without the seat it seemed heavy but now it’s just right”
Behind the single-rail is an open tail-shaft that fitted straight up to the box and down to the standard nine inch uni at the diff end. The diff is a story in itself.
Ernie Ford from Sheparton has been making quick change set-ups for a while now. Jamie put his name down on a list of people who were “interested” at the Ballarat swap meet. It took Ernie another two years to develop the idea to a point where he began selling them. The diff arrived as a “pile of parts”. Despite being a trained mechanic, and the kind of guy who likes a challenge Jamie decided after reading the involved and delicate set-up process involving hot-fitment of the bearings that he’d be best leaving it to Ernie. Ernie , Jamie believes was relieved to have it back as his reputation relied on the success of his new product.
Jamie had brand new 28 spline axles made to do away with the key-ways and in the process gained early 60’s F100 brakes. The experience Jamie says was costly but agrees that it was worth it and when it comes to custom third member stuff there is no cheap route.
Paint and Upholstery
Between them Mat from Badland Bodyworks and Mark Grant from Dynamic Trimming dressed the 32. Carrie and Jamie agree on pretty much everything but the ever present gulf between the sexes on selecting colors is just as wide at the Camilleri’s as it is anywhere else . They agreed on House of Kolor but she wanted Candy Red and he wanted a metallic copper. In the end it was Pagan Gold. The test of a true friendship if there ever was one is body prep, any number of mates will turn up to drink beer and help you stare at your build and make helpful suggestions but when it comes to the mind numbing job of rubbing a car body you’re usually struggling to find someone to talk to. Father in law Pete dug deep and helped Jamie get it to color stage . Then it went to Badland where Matt got busy with the Pagan Gold, 11 litres of it . Mat fell a litre short just before Christmas and no-one could help him out…..it’s one of those stories that begins with Jamie saying “I’d organized to take a couple of weeks off work”…..Carrie laughs, “it was KILLING him, those last few bits..”
The upholstery is white pearl, and it’s a symphony of it’s own. The happy couple worship at the church of Mark Grant….”it was his can do attitude, his commitment to getting it done on time and his attention to detail” It’s beautiful without being fussy, stylish and perfectly in character. The seat was knocked up at home in the style of an original ’32 sliding on Cortina rails , the job, down to the pedal boots, is perfect.
Home
A day in the Camilleri’s shed talking about cars is not a difficult thing to do. He makes sense and speaks from the heart with a disarming honesty and lack of pretension that at times makes you want to give him a little round of applause. She is hot-rod royalty with an easy confidence that leaves you thinking however much you know about this stuff and what is good and right that she is all over it. Together they have plotted their own piece of hot-rod turf, long may they reign.
Footnote
In the garage alongside the ’32 and the Merc’ is an Improved A ’31 model 5 window body for which parts are being collected and a sweet stock’55 Cadillac …..in the carport is a tank Fairlane and a ZC.
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