NARRANDERA’S Gary Myers sat on the back of his beloved Ford Falcon XA Coupe with the Street Machine of the Year trophy.
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Then he sat on his secret for close to a month.
But the ‘burnout king’ can celebrate in public now, after becoming the first person to win the award for the third time, with three different vehicles.
His vehicle, known as the AGROXA, won the magazine’s popular vote to give him a hat-trick of titles and the $20,000 first prize.
“It was really weird because with the quality of cars now, I didn’t think I had much of a chance in the running,” Myers said.
“But we’ve done the hard yards promoting the car, we drive the car hard … and people have appreciated the car. I must have a pretty good fan base out there and a lot of support.”
Doing the hard yards has included taking the car as far as Cairns, Darwin, Perth, Alice Springs and Canberra.
Myers said the phone hasn’t stopped in the last couple of days and when The Daily Advertiser called he was getting ready for a trip to Eastern Creek in Sydney, with the AGROXA and the famed trophy.
“You just get enjoyment from people looking and appreciating the car and the work that’s gone into it,” Myers said.
“It’ll be the first outing for the car since we won. We’ll take the trophy up there too. It’s pretty iconic. Not too many people see this trophy in public so it’ll be good.”
He’s built three Mustangs since starting out when he was 17 with the GM 176, which he passed on to son Jake three years ago.
But the AGROXA holds a special place for Myers now.
“Pretty well, because you don’t see these very often,” he said.
“It’s a two-door Falcon which had very limited production so they’re very rare and worth a lot of money. So to see this car out doing what I’m doing with it, you just don’t see it.
“And it’s an iconic car. An Aussie muscle car. Fat and tough and cool.”
A mechanic by trade, Myers built the car from a wreck and a body shell around nine years ago. It debuted as the XACUTOR but was then off the road for six years.
But with a new engine, new trim, new wheels and new motor, a 1000hp beast was re-born.
“There wasn’t much left,” Myers quipped.
He’s done panel beating and spray painting courses and does as much of the work as he can himself. But Wagga’s Batkin and Damme smash repairs have also been a huge help.
The AGROXA debuted in Cairns in May.
Within six months Myers is the proud owner of that third trophy. He said it’s just about giving the people what they want.
“We do straight line powerskids, probably 120 miles per hour still smoking the tyres up to see who can make the most smoke for the longest period of time,” he said.
“A lot of things can go wrong. It’s very twitchy when you get high speed, spinning the wheels and you’ve got no traction.”
Myers came second with the AGROXA in Cairns. But the six months since have earned him the bigger prize.