This striking restored 1927 Chevrolet truck drew a lot of admiring glances at the National Vintage Machinery Rally, held at Fairbridge in Western Australia last September, with its jet black paintwork, varnished wood and brilliantly polished bright work. When finished, the era of the truck was captured perfectly by piling a collection of beer and whiskey barrels high in the tray.

Most of the people who stopped to look at the truck didn’t realise that it represented the combined efforts of two successive owners. The truck adheres to the old adage ‘it takes two to tango’, as neither of the owners could have achieved the final result on their own. As I was talking to the current owner, Wayne Bird, who lives in the goldmining town of Coolgardie in WA, the previous owner came along for a chat, so I was very fortunate to be able to piece together the full story.

It all began about 10 years ago, when Ian Adams of Perth, found the wrecked truck rusting away in a paddock. Ian is a member of the Veteran Car Club of WA and loves major restoration projects. So, over a period of four years, he transformed the wreck into a fully functional, plain black truck. He grinned as he explained that, “It was built with bits and pieces from seven different trucks”.

Ian enjoyed carrying out the restoration and believed that the truck was us