00:00 Sleek, mean and green.
00:07 What's the fastest I've gone in this car?
00:16 Am I allowed to say that on camera?
00:19 I'm a law abiding citizen and I do the speed limit.
00:23 I'll leave it at that.
00:25 My name's Tommy Jankos.
00:26 This is my Ford 1973 XA Falcon Superbird Hardtop.
00:31 You wouldn't know to look at it, but this rare classic has a unique history
00:36 and has brought many a grown man to tears.
00:39 The Ford car is a dying piece of history in the Australian landscape
00:45 with the cars not being built anymore.
00:47 You wouldn't think that the car's over 40 years old.
00:49 It's 46 years old this year.
00:51 The way they designed things back then and the way they had things styled
00:55 were way ahead of their time.
00:56 Just the sleek look and being as low as it is and everything else.
00:59 This Ford is an iconic car, especially in terms of the landscape
01:03 in regards to the history of the coupe.
01:04 Very rare. There's not many Hardtops left.
01:07 I love the way when the windows are down that it's all nice and open here
01:14 and you can see everything from outside and people can see inside the car.
01:18 It's just fantastic.
01:19 This car was bought brand new by my father.
01:21 I remember growing up in it as a kid, sitting in the back seat
01:25 until the time when I think it was 1988 and Dad rolled the car into a ditch in an accident.
01:32 Pretty much wrote the car off.
01:35 It was my favourite car and I always knew that that was going to be my car one day.
01:38 After the crash, the car was left to rot on the family farm for over 20 years.
01:44 I started getting a bit worried thinking if it stays there for much longer
01:47 there's probably not going to be much to the car left.
01:50 I drive it once as a kid and I remember we had a really long driveway at home
01:53 and I sat on my mum's lap and I was holding this very steering wheel.
01:57 As far as the whole restoration was concerned, I wanted to keep everything original.
02:10 We started stripping the car down, took the engine out.
02:14 The roof was complete right off, so I had to buy another shell
02:18 and replace the original roof that was on the car.
02:20 Retouched doors, put new guards on.
02:23 We pretty much copied the same pattern plan in regards to the way the interior was.
02:27 It took five and a half years.
02:29 It's pretty much a dream come true to think that I could drive this car now
02:33 when growing up I thought I'd never drive it again after what happened.
02:36 And dreams like this don't come cheap.
02:38 When I started the restoration, I didn't really have a figure in my head about how much it would cost.
02:43 It was pretty much do or die. I didn't really care.
02:47 Probably cost a bit more than what I expected.
02:49 With the end result and everything, it cost me over $100,000 Australian.
02:53 Job complete. It was time for Tommy to surprise his parents.
03:00 I've made a lot of grown men cry when they've heard of the story
03:08 and my dad and mum seeing the car after it was rebuilt.
03:13 [Music]
03:16 It makes me feel happy that I've made them happy.
03:28 So it's a good story all around.
03:31 [Music]
03:35 [Music]
03:38 I always look forward to getting in this car and driving it
03:45 and it always makes me think back to when I was a kid
03:48 and sitting in the back seat just like my son does now.
03:52 I wanted to enjoy being able to drive the car.
03:54 It's something that I always wanted to do as a child
03:57 and I want to be able to pass that down to my son as well when he gets a bit older.
04:00 It will give me a lot of happiness and joy as well watching him drive the car
04:04 and keeping it in the family.
04:06 (gentle music)
04:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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