Chris and I (Russell) are a husband and wife team, who have always enjoyed working together. After years of restoring cars as a hobby, we decided that rather than do the things we were both commercially trained in, we would do together the things we both love (playing with old cars) and combine our talents to create beautiful things. We operate OWL from our 7 acre farmlet in the beautiful wine grape region of Mudgee which is situated about 3 ½ hours west of Sydney.

Russell:

Well I am actually a Chef by trade! Though the love of cars has been in my blood from an early age. I started work at 11 as a delivery boy for a local Pharmacist on my push bike (drug peddler at 11!). After buying a Beatles record with my first effort at saving, a 1959 car was my second effort (and I have since spent plenty on both, Beatles and cars). By the age of 14, I had 3 old cars in my parent’s back yard (much to their dismay) and I’ve never been without one since. After many, many old cars and many challenging restorations throughout all decades of manufacture, I decided it was time to get a Veteran and pursued this focus until I purchased a 1904 Curved Dash Oldsmobile in 1995. Since then, my passion for veteran cars, and the restoration and manufacture involved with this, has led me through my own restoration exercises to the OWL business - the present, where I now specialize and hone my many talents and focus on the finer details into this one area of restoration and manufacture.

                                                               Chris:            

Chris is trained in Biochemisty, which gives her a great understanding of the chemical processes behind lamp restoration. Chris was employed in liver cancer research for some time but the beurocracy got her down. So she did the “right thing” (good for me anyway) and came to work for me “us” in our restaurant. The rest as they say is history, Chris was Book keeper / Office administrator for our 70 odd staff and kept me on my toes to boot! After moving to Mudgee to “semi retire” and a sea (tree) change, Chris decided to do a degree in Accounting. Gifted with small, steady hands (great for getting things out of the sumps), she understands most mechanical things (most of the time, although she still has to turn the map around when we travel!). Chris is a wonderful asset to a restorer as she has a great aptitude to electricity and wiring which is just as well as I don’t enjoy it at all!

As you can see from the list below cars (and bikes) keep us busy, vehicles we have are:

• 1902 Thomas Model 17 Detachable rear entrance Tourneau (restored)
• 1909 Cadillac Gentleman’s Roadster (under restoration)
• 1914 Douglas 2 3/4hp Motor Cycle (restored) 
• 1918 Cadillac 5 passenger Touring (restored)                         
• 1934 Cadillac La Salle Super charged Boattail Speedster (under restoration)
• 1937 Chevrolet 4 door convertible (Holden bodied, restored)
• 1937 Chevrolet Panel Van, Holden bodied (basket case) 
• 1938 Cottman Colt Motor Cycle (original, rare Australian bike)  
• 1972 Kawasaki 750 H2 Triple (an original “widow maker”)