It looks like it might well be the best party ute the other side of 1950. A shiny black pick-up decorated with skulls and loaded with a couple of kegs behind the cabin.
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Appearances are deceiving though. While it looks over 80 years old, this hot rod is a relatively new Frankenstein’s monster of assorted vehicle parts and clever deceptions.
It was pulling admiring viewers in from over Ballarat when The Courier arrived to meet the owner.
“My name is Bob Stewart, better known as Butcher Bob in the hot-rodding world. My wife’s name is Maria.
“We’ve got a car that I built myself. It’s a fibreglass body, handbuilt; and it’s made to look like a 1929 A Model Ford pickup. And the caravan you see there is what’s called a teardrop caravan, but it’s a large-sized one I’ve made myself. I’ve made a few smaller ones in my day, but this is one you can walk into and it has a toilet.
“I’ve come from Regency Downs up near Toowoomba. We’ve been all around Australia twice and over to Tasmania twice. This is our third trip now, we’re on a two month trip through Victoria. We came from Victoria originally; we left here in 1971 looking for better weather.
“Why am I called Butcher Bob? I used to be a butcher and my name is Bob. So. Nothing to do with hot rods.
“I’ve built quite a few hot rods. I’ve built half a dozen myself and helped mates build another half a dozen. It’s not my first.
“I built the car after I recovered from prostate cancer, and I built the caravan after I got through bowel cancer.
“Under the bonnet? I’ve got a 351 Ford Cleveland V8, C4 auto. It’s got a HT Holden front end and an XJ6 Jag rear end. Four-wheel disc brakes all round and independent suspension all round too.
“I built it after I retired in 2006; It took me 11 months, seven days a week in the shed. Every car that I build I give it a theme. I built one with frogs all over it, one with snakes, this one with skulls. It’s called ‘Skullduggery’.
“The kegs are just a feature of the vehicle. They are actually beer kegs, with taps on there to make them look authentic. They’re actually the fuel tanks.”
While that might be disappointing for anyone who comes across Bob and Maria in the thirsty outback, it probably makes life a lot easier when the Highway Patrol decide to have a look.
There’s more of Bob and Maria’s ‘Skullduggery’ at www.thecourier.com.au
