By KATH GANNAWAY
PETER Axford’s first car was an XB Falcon coupe.
He bought it at 18 and it was the first tentative step towards fulfilling a dream he’d had since he was a 10-year-old Mad Max fan.
He wanted the Interceptor.
Reality got in the way and as a young Yarra Valley tradie establishing a landscaping business, his would-be Interceptor was sacrificed for a workhorse – the tradie’s ute.
It wasn’t until 13 years ago, with the business on the go, that he resurrected the dream and bought his ’74 XB.
It wasn’t beautiful, but it was black.
The Interceptor is integral to the cult following Mad Max has garnered over the past 40 years.
Film-makers Byron Kennedy and George Miller began pre-production on Mad Max in 1976 and were looking for a high-powered, evil-looking Australian car to play the role of the black police Interceptor.
The transformation from street car to the Interceptor that took on a sinister presence of its own in Mad Max (1979) and the sequel, Mad Max 2 (1981), is part of Australia’s film history.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome followed in 1985 and 30 years down the track Mad Max Fury Road was released last year.
Peter bought the car over the internet.
“It was pretty run-down, a bad-looking thing really, but I’d loved Mad Max since I was a kid and my whole life plan was to get one of these cars,” he said.
“It was just something I had to do.”
He took it back to the base and had it resprayed before fitting the full Mad Max body kit.
The 671 blower on the bonnet, the flares, nose cones and, the Scott injector hat were shaped from the original moulds.
The fascination continues inside with an original overhead CB radio on the console.
A 460 Big Block engine provides the grunt that Mad Max fans expect when the bonnet goes up.
But, for Peter is not just about living the dream, it’s about sharing the dream.
The car is a star attraction at local car shows, rallies and charity events and is one of around 30 movie cars, including the Starsky and Hutch, Dukes of Hazzard and Herbie, that cruise together to raise money for charity.
Their next big outing will be in the Moomba Parade on Monday, 14 March, as part of the movie trio – Mad Max, the ’60s Batmobile and the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future.
Peter says one of his most memorable gigs has been as the lead car at a funeral of a Mad Max fan.
He died just three months after they met at the hospital where he was being treated.
“The family rang me and asked if I could drive in the procession,” Peter says.
“I was leading the procession with the coffin carriage behind me with all the family.
“It felt so good to be able to do that, because that’s what he wanted.”
The car is also the mascot for Yarra Valley FM 99.1 where Peter, his partner, Cas, and a third member of the crew, The Tone Ranger, present a radio show every Thursday night from 7pm to 9pm.
While Peter’s approach is to just park the car and let people appreciate as fellow fans, he is also happy to share his passion for the Mad Max phenomenon.
He can talk the movies and can make a convincing case as to why Mad Max 1 and 2 are his favourites, has had dinner with George Miller and has a glovebox full of autographs of the actors and stuntmen.
Fury Road is not a favourite (“too Hollywood”), but it has reignited the Mad Max passion for a whole new generation of fans, and, from Peter’s experience, that’s the stuff dreams are made of.
