Where can I buy Bowden's Own from?

Have a look at the 'retailers' link to your left, that should have a comprehensive list of where all the AutObarn's around Australia are.

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If we are not in your local area, you can buy it over the internet through our official online store, just click on the "Products" page and scroll down.

Where can I visit the cars?

We always have roughly 12 cars on constant display around Australia and we regularly attend car shows and race meets. These events and sites are posted on the 'what's on' section up on your left. Due to security and insurance reasons, we do not allow people to visit our property. Sorry.

Click here to see the museums our cars are on display at.

Who makes your products?

We have a Queensland based research chemist who we contract to create most of the formula's. He is a very capable person to say the least and completely understands how much we care for our cars.

His brilliance and complete understanding of why we are doing this, is what sets him apart from other chemist's. This in turn, puts us well ahead of the competition.

Why do we do it (The cars)?

Good question!

David always saw the touring cars of the 60's, 70's and 80's as special. An era where parity was governed by technology and skill. Not CAMS, TEGA or whatever takes your fancy. So when his hard and smart work started paying off, instead of taking the "large boat and waterfront mansion package" so many other successful people take. He started buying old race cars, the more David and his friends searched, the more leads they got, and more cars were rescued.

This 'crusade' of sorts started a phenomenon that we are still amazed with; People who had owned particular cars for many years and felt that they could not look after them safely, or restore them correctly, started offering us their cars.

People, who just like us, would rather see there cars going to the right home, other than the right bidder. We are happy to say, that most of those cars are now restored to when they were at their competitive peak. Again, to all of those who helped, our most heartfelt thanks.

Why do we do it (the car care stuff)?

The process mentioned above, of "search and restore", did not happen quickly. We only like to do one car at a time and a lot of thecollection was sourced from overseas.

A time was finally reached when we could reflect on costs (ouch!!) and what path the collection was taking, we happened upon two things;

1, We had amassed an amazing amount of motoring history.

2, One of our greatest expenditures on the cars was high end car care products. Something we knew a hell of lot about working with, but not about what makes some better than others.

We now know for a fact, that the car care industry is pretty un-regulated and there is a fair bit of B.S. floating about. When we started we were pretty clueless, so we did what we always do when stumped for answers;

call in the experts.

For this example it was a talented research chemist, reffered to us by a friend. A very thorough process of trialling and testing followed and after a substantial amount of time and money was spent, we drew up a hit/shit list of sorts.The overall conclusion was pretty simple;

"you get what you pay for"

(The chemist, to his credit, started the project saying this.)

However, three points struck us as odd:

1. Was that no manufacturers met a simple criteria; Quality at an affordable price. We are not saying that there aren't any quality manufacturers out there, as we tested some very good ones. The problem is you pay a lot for the quality they deliver, even then you have to wonder what they have in the products. When you are maintaining around 80 cars the costs are simply horrific. We believe the manufacturers of the genuine premium products would probably agree.
   
2. The above point led us to a second conclusion. That no-one makes products for their own collection of cars. So why would they give a hoot about what you inhale, rub all over your skin and rub all over your car? Who cares if you have to re-spray your car? Who cares about you in 10-20-30 years? When the dust settled from all of our tests, it seemed to be your classic case of big business making money and bugger the end user.
   
3. Why the hell is Australia's car care market dominated by imports? It has the most harsh and unique climate in the western world and no one is making the formulations needed to protect our cars from it? (I can hear their ad men making changes to their marketing copy, right now!!)

As for the other products that we tested...

Well, a wise person once said to me;

"Only no good, can come from no good."

(Not as deep as you would have thought, huh?)

All you, the consumer, can do is conclude that there must be a very good reason as to why these guys bother making their own products.

Sorry for the rant and rave, but we are VERY passionate about car care and our health. I hope that covered the question?

Is Clive Noonan, of Noonan Motorsport single?

Yes ladies, he is.

When you restore a race car. where do you get all of the information on it? (Model car enthusiasts, please READ this, as you can save yourself some time and money.)

To start with we give our substantial library of racing magazines and programs a thorough going through, then we politely try and contact the driver, mechanics, managers etc. to see what we may (will) have missed.

Then finally we call David Blanch at Autopics.com.au and grovel to him, as David has over 460 000 images of motorsport from the 1950's,60's,70's,80's,90's and naughties. David will have the images you need to get your restoration looking just as it should and will get them couriered to your door, ASAP.

Bathurst 1979 Gossie and KB shot courtesy of David Blanch and Autopics.com.au.

Oddly enough, these two are sitting side by side in one of our sheds!

www.autopics.com.au

Why don't you race the (Insert whatever car we own right here)?

To genuinely RACE a car means that you have to be prepared for it to be damaged. As they say: "That's motorsport.".

We are not prepared to race a lot of the cars, for the simple reason that they mean a lot more to Australia's motoring history than the driver, or spectators, getting their jollies at that point in time.

They have won their races and proven their worth.

We frequently do driver demonstrations etc, at racing speeds, as then it is only mechanical and driver error you have to factor in. Not someone who thinks mirrors are for checking their helmet hair in, or some unfortunate chap who oiled up that high speed corner.

We are not prepared to take that risk, and if you think we are selfish for that, then I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

How often should I wax my car?

If the wax you are using is of a high quality ( Auto Body Perfection), and the car is garaged most of the time, then you could get away with maybe two to three times per year. Some of our cars NEVER see the elements and are garaged out of direct sunlight in a cool dry area, they only need to waxed twice a year max.

On the other end of the spectrum, our work van and regular race cars need waxing every other month. The trick is to be honest with yourself and assess how much you use your car. If it cops all of the elements and is driven every day, then you will only keep it looking its best if it's waxed every month. You could get away with every second month, but then it wouldn't be looking too sharp after a few years.

Another plus for waxing the car regularly is that you don't have to cleanse every time. I do the bonnet every time, as it cops the most heat, bugs and grime on the car. But the rest of my cars get by with a good wash and loving wax.

So here we go;

The average car, stored under "normal" (Is there such a thing?) conditions, would benefit greatly from being waxed every second month. Be honest about the action your car see's and from the information above find the balance that matches! Simple huh?

Who do you recommend for detailing tips?

US!

I was born with a bucket and sponge in my hand. If I don't know it, I can find out.

dan@bowdensown.com.au

Are you guys a brand owned by a large multinational company?

The first time I heard this one I thought it was kind of funny, hilarious actually. After a few more questions along the same lines, I realised that it was not funny. So for the record;

NO!

We are a 100% Australian owned and run company. So is our chemist and anyone else we employ. Anything that is in a bottle and has our "Bird" on it, is made for our exclusive use.

Admittedly, some of our ingredients are imported from Germany, but if you want the best, you have to do things like that.

©Bowden's Own