Kustom Kulture Australia

Bridge to bridge ski race

December 9, 2012 by kustomkultureaustralia

What are the odds the one day of the year you go for a scenic cruise with the plan of going to Wisemans Ferry for lunch, and that’s the one day of the year the ferry is closed?! That happened to us the other week, we took the scenic route up to the west of Wisemans Ferry, go to catch the ferry over and she’s closed for the Bridge to Bridge ski race. The consolation prize was we to watch a few boats go past at full noise, and man did they sound sweet!

The Bridge to Bridge is a 112km course along the Hawkesbury River and goes from Dangar Island to Windsor. Each boat tows a pair of skiers and the big boys can reach speeds of 220kmh. The boats are seriously tough, basically imagine a twin turbo V8 which wouldn’t be out of place in a drag car, running for almost an hour. The only thing tougher is the skiers themselves, their physical and mental strength is super impressive. This year’s overall winner was the team of Hellrazor, who finished in just under 39 minutes – which makes the average speed about 170kmh (or 107mph)!

Here’s a few pics I got on the phone, and I’ve found some videos from previous years.

Posted in Events | Leave a Comment »

Kombi spotto

December 9, 2012 by kustomkultureaustralia

One of the great things about Summer is that it coaxes a lot of owners to take their classic cars out for a spin. This means there’s some good eye candy on the roads and in the carparks which is pretty cool. In line with the Summer vibe, here’s some gorgeous kombis we’ve spied over the last couple of weeks. I’ve got a sof spot for kombis, though I’ve never owned one. The only one I’ve driven broke down – I kinda took that as an omen!

This gorgeous split was spied in Windsor of all places! For those non-Sydney-ites, that’s a good hour to hour and a half drive from the beach. Closer inspection suggests she’s owned by the Smik Surf shop, which you can just make out in the background as having a splitty as their logo.

This bay window was spotted up Palm Beach way. The whitewalls really pop against the orange paint.

And another bay window, this one from Newport. It looked fantastic with its low ride height and detailed BRM mags.

Posted in Hot Rods, Customs and Classics | Leave a Comment »

Magnus Walker – Urban Outlaw

November 30, 2012 by kustomkultureaustralia

Check out this great video called Urban Outlaw. It’s a 30 minute film about renegade Porsche customiser Magnus Walker who hails in LA in the States. Sure it might not be a rod or a custom, but any petrolhead worth their weight in avgas will relate to this guy’s passion to build something unique with his own hands. And check out the neat details like the louvers, drilled handles and so on. It’s also beautifully shot as well. Video below, and if it tickles your fancy check out his blog.

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/44410797″>URBAN OUTLAW – THE MOVIE</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/mosmedia”>Tamir Moscovici</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

Posted in Cool Links, Hot Rods, Customs and Classics, People | Leave a Comment »

Op shopping anthem

November 23, 2012 by kustomkultureaustralia

This a great song for all the op shoppers out there. Sure the yanks call ‘em thrift shops, but the vibe (and smell) is the same.

Posted in Tunes | Leave a Comment »

Oz-E-Rodders garage crawl

November 4, 2012 by kustomkultureaustralia

Garage crawls are a great way to spend a day – driving old cars, checking out cars still being built, having a few cold ones and spending time with mates. A few of us Sydney based guys in the oz-e-rodders decided it was high time to have another, so we did!

I put up my hand up to be the kick off point. Everyone turned up virtually at the same time which was kinda cool. Check out this guy with his son checking out the cars on the street. They even came down to the carport and said g’day after looking at the cars, I thought it was new guy I hadn’t met till they said ‘by’ and kept walking down the street.

We’ve got a single car garage which usually holds our EK, so it was pretty light on in terms of stuff to look at. So we compensated with some nibblies including a home-made flourless chocolate cake for morning tea (props to my fiance, though I helped with some mixing so I could clean out the bowl).

After a while shooting the breeze and catching up, we piled into the cars and got on our way.

Wish I had a driveway this freaking cool.

The cars parked together look like they could have been at an Aussie rod run in the 70s.

Second stop for the day was Jeff’s. His mate (who’s name completely escapes me) owned this very neat and very low EK which looked fantastic.

Jeff is a young guy who is building a late 30s Chev pickup. This is his first hot rod build and has only taken him a couple of years so far, and has been built on a shoestring budget. With a little help he’s tackled suspension set up, paint, trim etc and it’s shaping up to be a great little cruiser. Can’t wait to see this on the road mate, and thanks for having us.

What is it about garage crawls where you inevitably end up standing in a big circle having a chin wag?

With a quick stop en-route for some essentials (namely more beer), it was back on the road to what seemed the middle of nowhere to Scott’s place.

After chucking the beers in the fridge (and grabbing one to cool our hands), we wandered down to check out Scott’s sheds. ‘Buddy’ the neighbour’s dog came along for the run.

Scott had a nice selection of sheds which had us all drooling, the massive amount of projects and bits we’d all have collected if we had the room! His next project is this International pickup which despite its looks was reasonably solid. Check out the mint condition gauge cluster in it!

International coupe ute was stashed for a future project.

Torana and the Commer van are customer projects getting some work done on them.

Afterwards Scott and his better half Lib put on a great feed for lunch which was well appreciated. After a nice arvo kicking back we all made our reluctant good byes. We decided to swing past Windsor on the way home and grabbed an ice cream and had it in the park – mint and cookie – super good! Overall we did about 150km or so, and we didn’t have to travel to the first stop. We reckon Gav and Anne in the ’46 Chev did about 300km or so by the time they drove from their place. What’s the fun in having them if you can’t drive em?!

Posted in Events, Hot Rods, Customs and Classics | 1 Comment »

Special from Maroubra Speedway

October 20, 2012 by kustomkultureaustralia

Check out this amazing little special which used to race at Maroubra Speedway. Mid last year I posted about Maroubra Speedway and about one of the legendary drivers there Phil Garlick. The Speedway operated in the ’20s and ’30s and claimed a total of 7 lives during its short years.

I found this car on display at the All British Day earlier in the year, and resting proudly on the cowl was the original ‘Lucky Devil’s Cup’ from Maroubra Speedway! Unfortunately there was no information with the car about its history, but with its drilled out chassis and stripped back look it was a pretty impressive machine. Even more so when you consider they were hitting speeds of 160kmh!

Edit: I came across this pic from 1926 of Phil Garlick accepting the ‘Lucky Devil Cup’ in his Alvis. Given the cup was with the car I pictured, I think there’s a reasonable chance this is his car. Unfortuneately Phil was killed in an accident at the Speedway in the year following this image.

Posted in Hot Rods, Customs and Classics | Leave a Comment »

HARS historical aircraft museum

October 5, 2012 by kustomkultureaustralia

A few weeks ago we visited the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society museum (HARS). Housed at Albion Park right on the airport, it features an impressive collection of civilian and military planes. If you’ve ever heard of the Wings Over Illawarra airshow, these are the folks who make it all happen.

What I love about this place is that they actively aim to keep all of their planes flying regularly – it ain’t no static museum. Sure there’s a couple in their collection which will never see the air again due to extensive damage or other issues, but keeping birds in the air is what it’s all about. They also specifically try to collect planes which are significant to Australian aviation history which is pretty cool too.

Our guide for the day was Paul, who like all of the HARS members is actually a volunteer. Which is what makes their professional approach even more impressive. Paul was a great guide, an absolute font of knowledge and his enthusiasm was clearly evident. We didn’t even realise we’d stayed around 30 minutes past closing time till after we’d walked out the front door! Entry was a super cheap $15 which included our tour, we’d definitely recommend it if you’re into old planes. They can also cater for groups like car clubs if you pre-arrange it.

Neat ramp truck features familiar red and white livery but no actual signage. It seems some companies are pretty protective of their brands, even on vintage aircraft and other equipment. What’s interesting to note is the 60s Falcon running gear and steering wheel.

I’ve loved DC3s for as long as I can remember, so it was pretty awesome to be able to go into one for the first time. Unlike some major airliners, the RAAF love their livery being proudly displayed on vintage planes and actively support the work that HARS do. A bit of trivia I picked up – on these planes 1st class was actually at the rear of the plane – the furthest seats away from the engine noise and vibration.

This type of plane saw duty with the Flying Doctor Service in the 50s and 60s.

Bomber.

Spare engine?

It’s hard to see with all the scaffolding in the way, but this is actually an amphibious bomber which is blacked out for night time missions. It looked seriously tough. They even do demos where they land it on Lake Illawarra!