Perth Voice Interactive

Aah, the humble bog lap in Fremantle.

For those who don’t know their dipstick from their camshaft, it’s when drivers do slow, rumbling circuits of the Freo CBD in their souped-up cars at the weekend.

At some point we’ve all enjoyed an alfresco lunch on the Cappuccino Strip, only to be deafened by a pink hot rod spewing diesel into our face.

It’s a bit like Mad Max meets “Carbo” from Packed to the Rafters. 

Perth photographer Ben Reynolds pays tribute to the bog lap and the wider car community in his new exhibition Road Warriors of Fremantle.

He’s spent the last decade documenting the car culture in the port city and admits it’s become a bit of an “obsession”.

But forget about flashy muscle cars and E-Types, Reynolds grew up driving Holdens in the 1980s and has a soft spot for ordinary, well-loved vehicles.

“The restored vintage cars are magnificent, no doubt, but some of my favourites are the cars that don’t belong to a car club, that don’t have a big group of enthusiasts, but are simply the cars that their owners love, cars that have a story – like an old Holden inherited from a neighbour,” he says.

“They aren’t necessarily the most beautiful, yet they still manage to turn heads.”

The exhibition features more than 50 photos taken by Reynolds on his old medium-format film camera (mostly on portra 400 film for the camera buffs out there).

The snaps are beautifully composed, often featuring Freo landmarks in the background, and the film gives the photos a warm nostalgic feel that complements the theme.

Most of the photos are accompanied by intriguing stories about their owners, highlighting the romantic bond they have with their car, which at times is akin to the unconditional love a parent has for their child.

Marcos Toribio bought a Chrysler 1980 CM Valiant from two sisters whose dad had passed away. The car had sat deteriorating for years because they couldn’t face selling his pride and joy.

Toribio’s dramatic description of driving the Chrysler home has biblical overtones and is like something out of Field of Dreams.

“So as I drove off that stormy evening I said, ‘if you make it back home I promise to get a you a tow-truck, find you a good mechanic, and give you anything you need’,” recalls Toribio.

“Just as I said that, you wouldn’t believe it, lightning filled the sky and the second head light came on.

“We made it home that night and she is still with me today. That was the first moment I had with the spirit of the car I call ‘Wonder’.

“As I drove away that day, I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw one of the girls wiping tears from her face and waving goodbye to memories of her passing father.”

Then there are folk like architect Mike Richardson, who build their own Franken-cars.

He designed the Tracer mk III to have the comfort of a car with motorcycle cornering.

“I thought of building this vehicle because I used to go to university on a normal motorcycle, and as a result of getting wet and cold, I thought there must be a better way of doing this,” wrote Richardson for the exhibition.

“After I graduated and accumulated a bit of money, I decided to put my ideas into practice. I designed and built this vehicle. Until you see it on the road you can’t appreciate how it corners, how it leans into corners.”

Part of the 10 Nights in Port festival, The Road Warriors of Fremantle exhibition is on from August 16–25 at the Walyalup Civic Centre foyer in Walyalup Koort, Fremantle and includes a classic car display.

Reynolds says the exhibition is a snippet of a book he will release A Portrait of Cars – Road Warriors of Fremantle. Fittingly, the exhibition will close with a Beach to Koort bog lap from 2pm-5pm on August 25. For more details see 10nightsinport.com.au and benreynolds.com.au.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK