Asher Keddie talks about her favourite cars

AFTER a hectic week of filming, actor Asher Keddie likes to switch off the radio and enjoy some peace and quite behind the wheel.

GOLD Logie winner Asher Keddie has always had a thing for classic cars. At first it was her dad’s racing green MG — “a pretty cool car, although it did break down a little” — then the 1970s “beautiful off-white” Mercedes-Benz that followed.

“If it was still around now it would probably be worth a mint,” she says.

But when it came time to buy her own car, limited by an in-and-out-of-work actor’s pay packet, she opted for more conventional transport in the form of a red Subaru Impreza sport wagon, then a Honda Civic hatchback.

Photo of Asher Keddie with her Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Picture: Supplied

The star of acclaimed Aussie series Offspring says she’s always enjoyed her time behind the wheel no matter what she’s driving, clocking up some serious kilometres between Melbourne and her family’s Victorian country retreat near Mount Macedon.

“I love driving and the enjoyment of an open road,” she says.

“It’s so nice to drive those long distances. If I’m going home from work, I’ll often drive in silence with the sound of the car and nothing else. I’ll turn off the music and it’s my down time.

“Then by the time I get home I feel like I’ve debriefed.”

Keddie’s first car was a Subaru Impreza. Picture: Supplied.

Country drives are a chance to unwind but the rat race can be a different thing entirely. “I think I’m pretty good driving in traffic. It doesn’t really bother me unless I’m late,” she says.

“Even then, there’s nothing you can do so I’m not one of those people who is forever changing lanes or trying to find a short cut. It’s too stressful. I usually just sit it out.”

Unfortunately, not everyone shares her laid-back attitude behind the wheel. “I don’t like tailgating. I get cross about that,” she says.

And if she’s overtaking on the highway, she hates having someone sitting on her rear bumper while she does it.

“It’s like they’re trying to make you speed. It doesn’t work with me. I don’t get rattled by it,” she says.

This 1977 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0 sold for $74,000 at Shannons Melbourne auction. Motor car. Vehicle.

Keddie recently took possession of the new Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV in a sponsorship deal with Alfa dealership Zagame Automotive.

Her husband, Archibald Prize-winning artist Vincent Fantauzzo, is also a Zagame
Alfa ambassador, driving the slightly sportier Giulia sedan.

Fantauzzo, a renowned portrait artist who counts F1 great Sir Jackie Stewart among his muses, likes the Italian bloodlines and performance of the Giulia but Keddie enjoys the extra space and the gadgets in her Stelvio. “There’s no doubting Vincent is into the performance … I very much like my touchscreen,” she says.

Keddie’s Stelvio comes in classic Italian red. Picture: Supplied.

As for a dream car, she’s pretty content with the Alfa for now. “I feel like the Stelvio is a really good fit for me. It has the space I need but it’s sporty and, being Italian, it has so much character. I love that it’s red as well,” she says.

But if money were no object, she’d go back to one of the classics and buy a vintage Porsche 911.

Richard Blackburn