002

OPINION: RAY CULLY
Ray
That’s Ray’s GQ but
that’s not Ray Cully.
cully
Who is Ray Cully?
Sitting in pride of place on
top of my toolbox was a crisp
new brochure with a picture of
a flash new GQ Patrol wagon
on the beach at sunset. Every
time it caught my gaze, I’d smile,
distracted from the mundane
grind of swinging spanners and
fixing everyone else’s car woes.
My fiancé patiently put up with
me visiting the closed Nissan car
yard every Saturday on my way
home from work for months… so
that I could stand and daydream
about all the fun, we could have
and new-found freedom we could
explore together… Yep, I had
to have one! From my earliest
memory of constantly playing
with my Hotwheels model cars to
spending all my time after school
hanging out in car yards; I was
obsessed with cars. I dreamed of
a Track Red GTHO Phase III, crisp
Ermine White 350 HT Monaro,
a Hemi Orange RT E49 Charger
or the newer Jasmine Yellow
SLR/5000 or that awesome
hatchback the A9X with an
L34 engine option… finished in
Aquarius Blue.
These were quintessential
mechanical muscle machines;
the engineering principles were
simple - if you needed more
power, you just added cubic
inches. From my sixteenth
birthday, time tortuously slowed;
months were years, weeks were
months and days felt like they
would never end… I suspected
cars would become obsolete
by the time I completed my rite
of passage and obtained my
license. I think I accumulated
more hours behind the wheel
in my first twelve months than
most do in five years. Friday
night - pub, band and screaming
conversation with my mates?
Yeah, sure whatever. But a full
tank, latest soundtrack, and keys
in hand… I was out of there! It
wasn’t about being anti-social,
I enjoyed the serenity of being
lost in my own thoughts. I love to
drive, always have - always will.
I’m happiest when I’m behind
the wheel. I was more about