By Jessica Micallef
Four Sunbury men will be driving towards a good cause.
Sunbury Rotarians and brothers Michael and Terry McCabe, together with Mario Spiteri and Jeff Sarbach will this month participate in the Variety Big Bash drive to raise funds for the children’s charity.
Michael said the motivation to participate in the drive was to support Australian children.
“Variety fills the gap between what the Royal Children’s Hospital does and what the government does. Variety helps supply the things that other bodies can’t do,” he said.
The men will be driving from Melbourne to Geraldton, Western Australia, stopping at 10 towns and covering more than 4000 kilometres in a 1967 HR Holden.
“It’s been heavily modified with suspension and protection underneath because where we’ll be driving will be pretty rough,” Michael said.
“The engines’ chained in place so if something does happen to the engine, it doesn’t smash into the front of the radiator. It’s got a bulbar, it’s got dust lights on it to warn people in the dust we’ve stopped.
“The car has to meet a set criteria of safety standards before it’s allowed to go on the run and we passed with flying colours.”
The men have spent the past four months modifying the car at MJ Auto Electric in Sunbury. They decided to name their team in honour of the car’s famous history.
“We’re Team Garfield,” Michael said.
“The car was built for the 20th Century Fox Studios. It was a promotional car for the movie Garfield. I saw it advertised and Jeff and I had a look at it. We bought it, drove it home and pulled it apart.”
Michael and Terry said they were excited to be supporting the children’s charity and taking part in the challenging drive.
“It’ll be rough driving, but the community aspect of it and our involvement with Rotary has brought all that together,” Michael said.
Terry said: “I think the important thing to remember is that regional Australia gets the raw deal. All the focus is on metro Australia and this sort of thing really gives regional Australia help, exposure [and] recognition.”
The men depart for Geraldton on August 20.
To donate: bit.ly/2K9w4jq
