The adventures of this character-filled car have taken it everywhere – even underwater
The Chevy 26 rattles into life and starts rolling down the road with a “parp parp!” on the horn.
It’s not one for the vintage car purists – it’s a ‘bit of a bitsa’ with different bonnet and guards. Originally it would have been a sedan, and custom modified into a ute.
But this nonagenarian still has plenty of spark, running well with almost all parts original, including engine, gearbox, running gear – even a bellows fuel pump.
People stop and stare when Old 26 goes past. It might have a few miles on the odometer, but doesn’t miss a beat when it starts up for a parade or other special event.
This particular journey was a special one – a kind of homecoming to Dulcie Rush’s backyard.
Dulcie is the daughter of William August Walter, known as Pop to his family, who owned Old 26 before it was donated to Council 30 years ago.
Seeing the Chevy once again in the Silkstone backyard was a trip down memory lane for three generations of the family.
Dulcie said Pop bought the ute second-hand in the 1930s and would have done the modifications himself.
“I reckon this is the only one like this in the world,” she said.
He used to drive out to Gatton and down to Southport. It would have been a bit of a spectacle even then – there were not many cars around, especially not like the Chevy.
“We used to go to the coast every year, we had our camping gear in the back and three of us in the front,” Dulcie said.
Grandaughter Lyn remembers, as a girl in the 1950s or 60s, “Nan, Pop and me in the front and my brother in the back, to visit the place at Wulkuraka” where they had beehives.
“It’s been a part of our life, we’d go out with Pop. He’d go out and collect wood, he refused to give up the wood stove,” she said.
“We used to think it was great. Sitting in the seat, nothing to keep us in, and going out with Pop to his bees.”
A legacy that spans generations
Pop was a tinsmith and provided items to Ipswich stores like Cribb and Foote, Big Whites, and Mackenzie and Jackson. Great-granddaughter Melanie still uses the cake tins handed down through the family.
Melanie has a photo from 1988, taken a few months after Pop died, with her father driving the ute in the backyard with Melanie and her brother in the front.
“It is the only time I can recall driving in the ute. We only drove around the clothesline, not on the road,” she said.
For great-great grandson Ethan, Old 26’s special trip out to Silkstone recently was his first encounter with this incredible piece of family history.
The eight-month-old enjoyed sitting in the tray just like generations of family before him.
Pop at Silkstone
A Christmas parade
At a community event
Melanie as a child
The adventure continues
There is a trick to driving Old 26 – it’s a tight squeeze to fit behind the wheel, the inclination of the seat is difficult, and the accelerator pedal is in the middle with the brake on the right. It’s not something you’d want to get mixed up.
The ute would have many stories from 30 years with Council, with perhaps the most interesting being the time it was underwater.
During the 2011 flood, Old 26’s shed was completely submerged. When the water receded, staff took off the door skins, cleaned out the mud and restored it.
Thankfully everything still worked, and Old 26 is still on the road today and able to be a part of parades and events around Ipswich.
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