BILL Scherek spent hours searching for the Wolseley limousine used to transport a US wartime general.
Bill Scherek has salvaged many a Wolseley in his time, but none quite as special as the 1939 eight-seater limousine used by General Douglas MacArthur.
Reportedly used to ferry the US general across the Australian east coast during World War II, the once-feted Wolseley was facing an inglorious ending in a Ballarat back yard.
That was until the young Bill stepped in.
Although still a teenager at the time, Bill got wind of the car and, as a newly minted Wolseley enthusiast, was determined to make it his.
He narrowed his search to Gregory St in Ballarat and, starting at one end of the street (number 1013), began knocking on doors.
Unfortunately for him, he chose the wrong end and just as he was about to throw in the towel - after hours of knocking - he noticed one last house with a bulging back garage.
It was here he discovered the two-tone limousine which, by that stage, had sunk into the ground. The owner verified the car's history and its wartime link to the general. Only problem was: he didn't want to sell it.
"It took me many months to convince him to part with it," said Bill, who lives on a 40ha property at Morrisons, near Ballarat.
"He didn't want to give it to a museum as he was concerned it would become a collectors' bauble or dusted down and put on a museum shelf somewhere.
"He wanted to make sure that if he sold it it would be used, and once I was able to convince him of that he came around.
"I was a student then so he let me pay it off at $15 a week, which was nice of him."
Purchasing the limo was one thing, extracting it from the garage was another challenge.
"It had sunk into the ground and was impossible to pull out," Bill said.
"I really should have brought a tractor in.
"I ended up re-building the motor in-situ so I could get it out of the shed, and re-doing the brakes.
"All up it took about six months."
But, according to Bill, the blood, sweat and tears were worth it.
"I have fixed it up and it has only done 19,000 miles (30,557 km), but in that time I have never had to apply a spanner to it," he said.
"We use it now on family weddings. We reckon it has been to between 50-70 weddings. It's the real flagship of the fleet."
And what a fleet it is.
While the limo may be the celebrity vehicle of Bill's collection, it is far from the only impressive car in his paddock.
Bill has amassed a collection of up to 70 Wolseleys - some of them his, some of them his friends'.
The property also features a "graveyard" for cars that are used solely for spare parts, with the more run-down bombs acting as donors for Bill's restoration projects.
Bill's property is home to a handful of other cars - a Volvo, Fiats, Mercedes - but this is clearly a Wolseley-centric sort of place.
"The Wolseleys are extremely charming cars, with exceptional, high-quality body work," Bill said, when asked to explain the attraction.
"Some of them have been outside for 30 years, and while there is a bit of rust on them, they're still usable.
"They display exceptional metal work and their interiors are also very nice."
Wolseleys also offer the enthusiast the full gamut of styles - from sophisticated to ultra slick, Bill added.
"They have the full spread: some of them are dignified, others are downright rakish and quite sporty and look like they are ready to do a million miles."
Bill bought his property after abandoning an early attempt with friends to set up his makeshift Wolseley car yard near Melton some years back.
"The council had problems with us being there and we had enormous problems with theft," he notes.
"So we bought this property so we would have lots of space, for the cars, sheds and spare parts." Spare parts which appear to be forever mounting in the ever-expanding graveyard.
"If you go for a drive in a Wolseley people will stop and tell you they have a dead one in their backyard and they will often give it to you," Bill said.
Bill rarely turns a car down, motivated by the thought that no matter how down-at-heel it might appear, it could always enjoy a second life as a panel, engine or dashboard.
"I am motivated by my hatred for waste," he said.
"That's what really drives me. So if something can be saved, and we can double the life of the car, then we can also reduce our carbon footprint."
Bill is also happy to share his love of Wolseleys with others.
"I never sell them. That's not why I do this," he said.
"I am completely happy to give the ones I don't want to people who want them."
