By Noel St John Wood
A lot of car restorations, for one reason or another, can take many years to finish or some simply come to an abrupt halt.
In this instance, the owner of the car under restoration sadly died and never got to see it completed.
His name was Max Edwards.
Max had owned the car since 1964, having passionately wanted it after seeing it parked, driveable but derelict, in Earlwood, Sydney. He would regularly stop for fish and chips on his way to visit his mother and while waiting for them to be cooked he spotted this car in the driveway next door. He eventually bought it for 150 pounds, and as difficult to drive as it was he did take his family out in it occasionally.
Max and the Oldsmobile moved to QLD in 2003 and the restoration job that Max had dreamed of finally started- it was a long and slow project by many tradespeople in Nambour.
Max was suffering from a serious illness and although he could never have driven the Oldsmobile when completed, his ambition was to have it restored to its original elegance.
Sadly, Max passed away in 2014, and the uncompleted Oldsmobile had to be sold by the family who lived at Lake MacDonald near Cooroy.
After seeing the ad for the car in the local paper and already having another Oldsmobile under restoration, the new owner (Noel St John-Wood) took the opportunity to acquire the car and take on the responsibility of completing the project.
Throughout the completion, Noel was very respectful of continuing the restoration as Max would have intended, and felt confident about completing the job in a reasonable amount of time.
After two years of further work, including engine reconditioning, interior trimming, mechanical work and putting the finishing touches sympathetic to its intended level of restoration, the 90-year-old Oldsmobile is now registered and driving around the Noosa area.
At the time Noel purchased the car from the family he made a commitment to Max’s daughters, Lisa and Dena, to take them for a drive when the restoration was complete and this happened recently. They were very impressed with the restoration and had a lot of fun driving in the Oldsmobile once again just as they had done half a century earlier.
Noel is a member of the Noosa Beach Classic Car Club and regularly takes the car out for a drive in the Noosa area, so if you see this car out give him a wave.
