Street Machine Australia — June 2017

NEWS FRONT

JUNE 2017: ALL THE NEWS THAT MATTERS

STORY CRAIG PARKER PHOTOS SM ARCHIVES

I

T IS ALWAYS exciting when a survivor from

the 1980s golden age of street machining

pops up in good nick, so we were pumped to

see Owen Webb’s XW Falcon ute, Bruiser,

for sale online. Owen is the chief judge for both

Street Machine Summernats and Meguiar’s

MotorEx, but he got his start with the XW in

the late 1970s. It is an instantly recognisable

car to those of us of a certain age, thanks to

the blacked-out bar and distinctive rear spoiler.

“I’d owned a few EJ Holdens and stuff

beforehand, but it was the first car that really

got me hooked on the whole car scene,”

Owen says. “It was traded in on a new ute

at the Bowral Ford Dealership where I was

doing my panel beating and spray painting

apprenticeship – Nugget Gold, with a 250 2V

six. A local earthmoving contractor had owned

it, so it was pretty knocked around. Being 18

and an apprentice, I gave it the cheapest spray

job possible and 12-slotters, which took me

about a month.

“I drove it around like that for about four years

before taking if off the road for rebuild number

two. This time around, I gave it a good paintjob

and added the 351 Cleveland and nine-inch.

It was also one of the very first to have Center

Line Auto Drags and BF Goodrich TAs; I

thought that was pretty cool, the bee’s knees!”

Other mods included vinyl/velour trim (both

in the cabin and the tray!), flared rear guards in

steel, XB exterior mirrors, XW GT chin spoiler,

a Ford Blue Oval etched into the rear window,

and the ubiquitous letterbox scoop.

“I took it to a lot of shows – Roselands,

Yennora, Orange, Wollongong, Albury Street

Rod show,” Owen remembers. “I used to

come up to Sydney and hang out with guys

like Graham Stubbs and Steve Turner, High

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

OWEN WEBB’S BRUISER

OWEN WEBB’S FIRST STREETER IS UP FOR SALE!