Bert's Garage

Boyup Brook Classic Cars is a business which was established to house and display Bert and Angie Hayes’ collection of motor vehicles when they moved to Boyup Brook around five years ago to semi-retire from a farm they ran in the Northam York areas.

The collection is a passion which Bert and Angie both share, a collection which has grown and been refined over forty-five years of collecting.

Bert explains the undertaking, “We purchased the old John Deere dealership building at 60 Railway Parade in Boyup Brook to house our collection.

“The showroom and workshop is where we have opened the display to the public.

We renamed the building ‘Bert’s Garage’ with the adjoining office building now being ‘Angie’s Diner’; these buildings have become ‘Boyup Brook Classic Cars’.”

The business has now been open for eighteen months, Bert goes on to tell us how everything is progressing, “We have gathered a couple of wonderful volunteers, Lance Carlisle and Matt Cole who take visitors through the showroom, Lance also has his motorbike collection on display.

“Surprisingly one of the most liked cars in the collection has been the Morris Minor, the rear wheel drive one from the 50s.

“Along with the volunteers I’ve become a very good listener, the memories and the emotions this collection of vehicles evokes with our visitors is remarkable, you see their faces light up when they spy a familiar vehicle, and then their stories begin which are full of emotion - ‘My father once drove that exact same car, the family would go to …’- every tale is different, but every story is so visceral it often ends in tears.

“The collection of motor memorabilia we have is always being refined. Since we’ve been opened, we have added a few new vehicles. A Dennis 1927 fire engine, an FJ Holden sedan, a Valiant S Series, 1961 Vauxhall Cresta, 1988 Porsche 944, 1930 Ford modal A sedan and a 1951 Cadillac sedan are all recent addition to the collection.

The Dennis fire engine was originally used in New South Wales, it has since had a wide proprietorship. After its useful life it was then bought and housed by a collector in NSW for a good number of years. Then it moved to a motor museum in South Australia where it sat for around fifteen years.

“The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations. So, with its carrying capacity it was ideal for its new life when it was then bought by a musical band in Perth who used it to parade with, having the band members playing instruments whilst standing in different fireman-transporting places on the back of the fire engine. Once it lost that unique appeal it then sat idle in a shed for quite a few years until we found it.

“The Dennis Fire Truck is now our oldest vehicle in the collection, it still has its original wooden ladder it was delivered with. The chassis and body of the truck was built to stand the test of time, the body being made from a heavy gauge metal. The main problem we have had with this vehicle has been with the fuel. The fuel tank sits below the steering wheel, around the driver’s knees, the baffles inside the tank are oxidising and flaking off and clogging the fuel filter.

“Having solved the fuel issues, we recently featured the vehicle at the Boyup Brook Country Music Festival, the fire engine was in the vehicle parade that once again musicians exploited the special features of the fire engine.

“The 1951 Cadillac, a vehicle which weighs around three tons’ has had a few issues. Before electric windows operating systems, in luxury cars the windows were raised and lowered by a hydraulic ram. The main problem we had with the lifting rams was their age and the fact that the fluid used in the hydraulic systems was brake fluid, yes, and as you can guess, the leaking of the brake fluid had a dreadful effect on the paint work of the car.

“Another new collection we are featuring is by another helper, Justin Fallon.

Justin has made a display with his collection of radios he has from the 1930s to the 1960s. A time when the wireless was a ‘must have’ which informed and entertained and took pride of place within the home.

“We never tire of showing off the display. The garage is being visited by different groups and social clubs throughout the year. With school holiday times and different festivals, rodeo and events we are seeing an increasing number of visitors.