The car was one of dozens on show at Warrnambool Drag Racing Association’s annual show’n’shine at Lake Pertobe on Monday to help fundraise for a permanent facility for the group.

The reproduction Ford, which is worth about $100,000, is only brought out every fortnight for either a car show or just for a leisurely drive. “I’ve had it for 20 years and it’s been registered for three, so it took me 17 years to get it registered and it’s still not finished,” he said.

“You buy a chassis from one place, you buy a body from another place and then you just start piecing it together.

“You can still register it as a ‘32 Ford but it’s all reproduction. You can buy anything for these now.”

He said he’d hate to think how many hours he’d spent building the car. 

“You don’t add that stuff up,” he said. “You just work on it when you can and when you’ve got the money to buy bits.”