My LE Monaro's Story

My LE was purchased from Wagga Wagga Motors Pty. Ltd. in Wagga Wagga on the 15th of october 1976. It was purchased by a man by the name of Mr. F. M. Hamblin, his full name is not known. Apparently he had owned the car for twelve months under the custom plates of "STROP" before he sadly passed away. His widow then parked the car in the garage, covered it with a tarp and never drove it again.

In 1989 in Canberra A.C.T a car dealer by the name of Fyshwick Used Cars took delivery of Mr. Hamblin's LE after his widow decided to sell it. A family friend at the time worked at the same car dealership and made a phone call to my dad, Trevor, and told him about a car he thought he might be interested in. My dad, not looking to buy a car at the time, reluctantly went to the dealership to have a look. He fell in love with the car straight away and asked how much he was asking for it. By the end of the day my dad was the proud new owner of an LE Monaro and $15,000 poorer, or an LE richer!

The car then became the family car, and the very next year in 1990 I was born and taken home from the hospital in it, and just like my dad I was hooked. Growing up I always remember the car being around and was used just as any family car was. It was taken on long trips from Sussex Inlet, on the south coast of NSW, to Melbourne to visit relatives on a number of occasions, it was used to go down to the local shops to get the morning news paper and to drive to work in. As the family car it was treated as such with regular cleaning and maintenance, however, most of the interior damage that now exists, exists because of me, the small child at the time.

When we were in the need for another car to run around town in which was cheaper to own and run we bought a little Charade thing that was handed to my mum. Consequently the LE, thankfully, wasn't sold instead becoming dad's "to work and back" car. Unfortunately with the demotion of rank came the downgrade of care. Insted of being treated with delicate care it was treated how you would treat a work car. It was only washed when it was parked or driven in the rain, junk was piled in the back seat and boot and was rarely given a good cleanout. However, it must be said that eventhough it wasn't treated with care it was treated with respect. It's oil and water were changed regularly and it was serviced regularly.

The car hadn't failed once until one day on the the way home from work in 2002, when it dropped a lifter and tore up the engine. The car made it home successfully but didn't move for over two years because it took that long to save up the money necessary to restore the engine. Finally the engine was restored in Melbourne on the 27th of July 2004 at 230,074 Km. After getting a renewed LE back dad found his love and passion for the car once more, he still drove it to work and back every day but he certainly treated her a little better.

Ever since I was a little kid dad promised me I would one day own the LE. That's why it broke my heart to find out at the start of 2008 he was thinking of selling it because it was just too expensive. I argued and pleaded with my parents not to ged rid of it and that I would take it even buy it off them if I had to. However, to my joy and and very much surprise in front of all my family and friends I was handed the keys to the LE on the night of my 18th birthday.

And that is where this chapter of my LE's story ends, however the story's not finished yet...