Australia's Oldest 60 Series?
We believe that we have found Australia's oldest still living 60 Series Cruiser!
We were contacted via the website by a 60 owner believing that his 60 may be older than the previous 'Oldest 60 Series' that we had featured here. After checking the VIN we reckon he's right! Phil Redpath is the proud owner of a HJ60 Standard with a compliance date of 10/80 and a VIN with two digits. Being a 'poverty pack' model it came with vinyl seats, floor, and door skins, 4 speed gearbox and 2H engine.
Phil bought the Cruiser from a car yard on the Central Coast that he worked at in 1986, and is the second owner. It is mostly original, apart from parts that have been replaced due to wear and tear and age. A rebuild was undertaken in 2000 with an engine recondition, rust repairs and brilliant respray by a mates smash repair business in Lismore. Phil says, 'It's been all over the east coast and inland, has towed vans and is a daily driver. As a mechanic I have done all the work on it and keep it in as close to good condition as possible and was recently rewarded with a best in class (1980 - 1986) class at a Veteran and Vintage car shown in Grafton.'
The 60 now sports carpet, factory fitted A/C (in those days the a/c was fitted at the dealer), and for added comfort an aftermarket Stratos drivers seat. When the engine was reconditioned Phil had it balanced (as any revhead knows it gives smoother running, quicker throttle response and better economy!). It also fitted with extractors, bigger exhaust with a turbo muffler, after market springs (made by a blacksmith) and the original paper element fuel filter has been converted to the spin on model.
2nd Oldest?
Prior to Phil getting in touch with us we had crowned this HJ60 belonging to Dylan Roberts as Australia's oldest still living 60 Series Cruiser. It has now been relegated to #2, but we will leave it here on the site as it's an interesting story, and still part of the 60 Series history!
Dylan Roberts hails from Brisbane and has bought the 60 as his first car on the 2nd of January 2003. The 60 must mean a lot to him if he still remembers the exact date of purchase!
The 60 started life as a standard HJ60 model and has an Australian Compliance date of 10/80. Being the 'poverty pack' model it came with vinyl seats, floor, and door skins, 4 speed gearbox and 2H engine. There were no frills, not even air conditioning.
Nothing is known about the first 16 years of the vehicles life, but by 1996 it was in the possession of Sally Campbell in the region east of Tenterfield, NSW. It was still in her possession in November 2000, however by April 2001 it was registered to Leroy Fry of Lismore. The vehicle came to Queensland in November 2002 before being purchased Dylan, still in mostly original condition. By then it had some late chrome split rims, a TJM alloy bullbar, a towbar, a UHF, and 310,000ks on the clock.
In the time Dylan has owned the 60 it is fair to say it has undergone some mods! The 4 speed gearbox was replaced with a 5 speed at around the 440,000km mark. The original motor managed to get to 500,000km before giving up the ghost and was replaced with a rebuilt 2H. The rebuilt motor unfortunately lasted just 26,000km. It was then that a mate of Dylan's happened to have a spare turbo intercooled 1HZ lying around and over the next year he jammed it into the 60!
The engine and gearbox is just the start of the mods though. Clearly Dylan's 60 gets a workout offroad as he has fitted a Detroit locker and chromoly axle shafts in the rear and a TJM Pro Locker and chromoly cv’s, along with a strengthened housing in the front. She also sports a steel winch bar with 13,000lb winch fitted with synthetic rope, custom built roof racks, side and rear protection bars, rear wheel carrier, 140L long range fuel tank, twin air compressors and air tanks to run the front locker, air horn and air tools. The front 3/4 bench seat has been replaced with a turbo bucket, and the rear seats have been removed and the space filled with a fridge, water tank, tool and parts storage, roll out kitchen, and more!
Dylan adds, 'She now has 539,000k's on the clock, and as a point of interest, still has the original rego etched in the windows - KZD319. Might be interesting to see if anyone else knows about those first 16 years. Everything is mod plated and legal.'