ELLY the 1964 Balhannah Green and Fowlers White EH Holden has been on many adventures across the Limestone Coast with owner Kat Miller.
As original as the day it “rolled off the line”, Ms Miller believes the car has not been modified in anyway, shape or form.
“I think a lot of the time cars have extra gauges, mags or added modifications,” she said.
“It went through an older restoration around 8 to 10 years ago but it is as stock as it can get.
“The condition it is in now is how I bought it 1.5 years ago.”
Ms Miller said there is a story on where she sourced Elly the EH Holden from.
“A couple of years ago my dad passed away and left me a small amount of money,” she said.
“It just sat in the bank for what seemed like forever and I did not know what to do with it.
“When I was around five years of age, my dad and I actually restored an old FC ute and it made me think I should find one myself.”
The car enthusiast said she did not have success in finding a suitable FC but found Elly instead.
“The man in Melbourne who originally purchased it bought it from somebody in Port Lincoln and had it shipped,” she said.
“I thought it was interesting and I really liked the colour but then the owner pulled out of the sale.”
Ms Miller said she continued to try and convince the seller to change his mind.
“He did not reply to me in the end,” she said.
“We had planned to travel to the Gawler Ranges near Port Augusta to visit my dad’s gravesite and a ute popped up in Port Lincoln and thought we would look while we were over there.
“A couple of days before we left, Elly’s owner replied about the car around four months later and said he had changed his mind.
“I thought it was a bit prophetic so we went to Melbourne to pick her up.”
Ms Miller said she liked the fact you have to “physically drive” older vehicles.
“They are not like modern cars where you get in, sit and it does most of the work for you,” she said.
“If you travel 300km or more in one of these cars you know it.
“The longest trip we have ever completed was from here to Robe, to Kingston and then back again.”
Not confident enough to take it on any “long stretches”, Ms Miller said the car has remained in the district.
“I actually have a Facebook photo album for her named ‘Adventures with Elly,’ she said.
“I often set-up photo shoots with her wherever we go.”
People seem to approach Ms Miller when driving Elly even if it is just popping down to the grocery store.
“If I had a dollar for everyone who told me they used to have one of these and kept it, I would be able to rebuild the motor on it,” Ms Miller said.
“Rebuilding the red 149 motor is something I am interested in doing later on.
“When a car is 50 odd years old it can sometimes become loose for wear.”
