A hot car, a hot girl and a bottle of Barossa Pearl

It’s back, it’s big, it’s Barossa Pearl ... and it’s the perfect accompaniment for motoring sophisticates seeking a night of romance.

1950 Ford Customline.

It’s back. It’s big. It’s Barossa Pearl.

There was a time when it was cool to be a car lover. No one called you an environmental vandal, noise polluter, a threat to cyclists, pedestrians and the planet. A big night out was a hot car, a hot date, meeting up with other motoring sophisticates at hot drive-in spots like Henry’s Foot Long (.3408m) Hot Dogs with, of course, an icy cold bottle of Barossa Pearl.

It was the elixir of love, the ultimate cougar juice, and always set the right tone for an evening of romance.

To start the night you bought two foot longs with a large serving of rich red Fountain brand tomato sauce. Or, if you were more patriotic, two savoury appetiser snacks more commonly known as Chiko Rolls. Then it was off to inspect the cars. No need for meaningless conversation as you and your romantic interest peered under the hoods of everything from E-Types to Morris Minors with MGB engines to Falcon GTs, all the time sipping from enamel mugs filled to the brim with Pearl.

With the relaunch of BP you younger readers and kiddies of older readers have an opportunity to live the dolce vita again. But these days Henry and his foot longs have long gone, Chikos have departed to an American owner and it’s cheaper to buy a Ferrari than any of the original Ford GT range. (As always, we here at The Weekend Australian are trying to make money for you, so bear in mind in 1971 you could buy a Ford Phase III new for $5300, it went up to near a million and now you can buy a museum quality one for around $350,000.)

OK, we have the right drink, hopefully you have the hot date, but what’s the right car and where should you be going to live the 60s and 70s dream nowadays?

I know times are tough. Despite the price of oil, home loans and groceries going down, essentials like Tag Heuer timepieces, champagne (the French equivalent of Barossa Pearl) and Jimmy Choo footwear are going up as the dollar goes down. So let’s try to do this for under $100k. You can still buy a not-tip-top version of the sexiest car on earth, the Jaguar E-Type, for about $80,000. But why not look at the XK150 for the same money. This is a car that says English gentleperson, Peppermint Grove hipster and look at me all in the same breath. I still think the Porsche 928 S is super buying.

But if you’re like me, shy and short on conversation, then here is exactly what you need. A 1950 Ford Customline. What’s so good about this? Man, who wouldn’t want to talk to you in this beautiful black 1950 body sitting on a noughties Toyota/Lexus platform with quadcam EFI V8? It took Tassie boy Gavin Andrews two years to build including installing touch-screen audio DVD with reversing camera, electric tilt/slide away sunroof, electric front and rear seats, power windows, power steer, cruise control and, of course, split-system airconditioning.

While the dollar’s been low, there’s been more US muscle cars flooding on to our shores than illegal immigrants. There’s any amount of late model Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs around, but for the kind of romantic convo you want then nothing beats the turn-of-the-decade Ford ponies. Expect to pay from $30,000 up for a good late 60s Mustang with late models up around $80,000.

Now, given biodynamic and organic joints like The Grounds at Alexandria wouldn’t welcome petrolheads, we’re left with places like Harry’s Cafe de Wheels. Who said progress was a good thing?

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