40 YEARS OF
BRICKLAYING
“ That wasn ’ t an isolated incident either – every time we pull up for fuel with the car on the trailer , someone seems to know it .
“ It is funny thinking about our experiences driving with the car on the back – it is getting to the stage now if I see a gap on the highway , instead of waiting for those in the lane to pass you just have to take it , as you know they are going to pull up beside you and just look at you , and you can ’ t get over ! Even with your hands out the window telling them to go by , they are there waving back at you , doing 40km / h looking at the thing on the trailer !
“ You sure get some interesting responses . One time , I even had this guy in a Torana at the lights in Melbourne revving up wanting to race me when I was in the truck with the car on the back – I beat him over the intersection , looked down and his girlfriend was practically wetting herself , she couldn ’ t believe it !
“ It can get a bit overwhelming , just how popular the car is and the cult following that it has got . The good thing is that the car is known , and I am not ! I can be in a crowd of people and no one knows me . They might hear my name and think they have heard it before but when someone tells them I own Bricklayer the whole attitude changes and you start hearing stories about how I let them sit in the car when they were six years old , and these are people that I am often racing now !”
The ‘ Brickie ’ s ’ on-track exploits are well lauded , but the green machine also has enjoyed a colourful life off the track as well as a genuine part of the family .
“ I learnt to drive in it , I took my wife Linda on our first date in it , then she later learnt to drive in it herself ,” Cooper explained .
“ I tell you what – I thought she was going to leave the gearbox in the driveway when she was learning ! I wasn ’ t actually racing at that stage , she got her license before I started racing so it had a four-speed gearbox and I thought it was going to end up on the ground . Luckily , I was a little bit more patient with her then than I would be now ,” he laughed .
“ Not only has it been a key part in my life and Linda ’ s as well , but also for our daughter Telisa – it was her wedding car a couple of years ago and that was a proud moment for sure .
“ Nowadays the EH doesn ’ t have a lot of time on the road – I
had it on club registration for the wedding , and I took it up on New Years ’ Day for the Mornington Car Show afterwards as well . I tried it again this year but this time I got some official feedback that maybe I need to get another engineering certificate and some mod plates on it - the police man just looked at me and said , ‘ you have got to be kidding me don ’ t you !’” laughed Cooper .
“ So , the EH will stay a race car now , if it ever does need to go back on the road I will just put the original six-cylinder engine in it . I don ’ t think it will ever see the road again though , truth be told , the car is too well known for what it is now to be changing it for the street . It is fitting really ; the thing has done more miles on the trailer on its way to race tracks than it ever did on the road !”
So , what is next for Cooper ? If you think he is planning to hang up the helmet , you would be very , very wrong .
“ It has been an entertaining 40 years , that is for sure , and we are looking forward to celebrating the 40th anniversary in May ,” he said .
“ I bought the car on the 13th of June 1975 , and at the closest event to the 20th anniversary of that purchase , the 1995 Winternationals , I came up to Queensland and won that event . Hopefully we can do the same for the 40th anniversary of racing it at this year ’ s event – if it doesn ’ t happen , it doesn ’ t happen , and it won ’ t be a problem of course , but it would be nice ! It will actually be the 51st running of the Winters this year – with our car being number 51 and us taking out the 51st Nationals last year , here is hoping the number will play lucky for us once again !
“ As we prepare for that , we are also busy preparing for the next chapter – I will soon be driving the 2004 Monaro GTO of Morabito brothers Frank , Michael and Rob of APS Service Centre in Top Sportsman .
“ I can ’ t say too much at this point , but it sure should be a fun adventure and we hope to have both cars – the Bricklayer and the Monaro – on-track this year . Stay tuned for more details !”
You can next see the Bricklayer on-track in the DENSO Super Street bracket at the Grand Finals ( Adelaide International Raceway ) across March 23-24 , 2018 .
Images : Outlaw Images , Daniel Milligan Photography and the collection of Graeme Cooper
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