Bachelor star Tim Robards: “My firebreathing V8 suits me.”

After a succession of hand-me-downs from the family, Robards found his first dream car on a trip to Hawaii — a roof-down Wrangler for admiring the view. It’s been Jeeps ever since.

Bachelor star Tim Robards remembers vividly the day he got his licence. “I took my mates, who couldn’t drive yet. We all piled into the car and jetted up to Hawks Nest (an hour from home town Newcastle, NSW) for a little boys’ weekend away,” he says.

For him, the licence — and his first car, a Ford Meteor bought from his grandmother — was his first real step towards adulthood.

First car: Ford Meteor.

“It’s all about graduating from being a kid, relying on your mum and dad driving you around everywhere, to having that piece of freedom,” he says.

“It’s like you’re welcomed into adulthood. And responsibility at the same time.

“It’s the first thing you’ve really got to take care of, save for and pay bills for. You’ve now got this car that requires regular maintenance and petrol and all that, so it requires discipline.”

And a good night’s sleep, as he discovered one morning on the way to an appointment with a personal training client.

“I’d have to travel at 4.30 in the morning and I once had one of those moments where you blink a little longer than you’d like to. And ever since, I’ve been like, ‘I’m never doing that again.’”

First crush: Jeep Wrangler.

After a succession of hand-me-downs from the family, Robards found his first dream car on a trip to Hawaii.

“I thought I’d get a car and do the loop around the island. I was just going to get a tiny little thing then I saw the Jeep Wrangler and I was like, ‘This is the car,’ especially in Hawaii being able to pull the roof off and see the view.
I couldn’t afford one for a while then once I finished uni I bought my first Wrangler, a big black one.”

Another Wrangler followed until he struck a sponsorship deal with Jeep and upgraded into a firebreathing V8, the Grand Cherokee SRT — which, he reckons, suits his personality.

Firebreathing V8: Grand Cherokee SRT.

“It’s kind of like when you get a puppy. People say that you get a dog that resembles you in a way. I think you pick cars that you want to be like.

“It’s a nice mix — it’s a bit of a beast but it’s cool, calm and collected when it wants to be. That must be how I picture myself.”

He’s by no means a four-wheel drive enthusiast but he likes to find the odd bush trail.

“I never intentionally went out on a proper, big 4WD driving day but when we’d go out to a farm or something like that I’d always try to go off-road and find a track, just to dirty it up a little bit,” he says.

Dream car: Ferrari 250.

His favourite drive, though, is a well-worn stretch of bitumen, the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

“That is a magical drive, along the beach the whole way. There’s one part of it that’s like a rollercoaster ride, right on the edge of a cliff. It’s pretty special,” he says.

And the dream car for that dream road trip?

“Maybe a Ferrari. A nice dark blue 250. They probably run at about $10 million these days.”