The passion for cars and motoring has been passed down through generations since the early days of the automotive industry.
While most car enthusiasts are a real-life encyclopedia on the industry, passing down knowledge to the next generation is a rite of passage in some families – a changing of the guard that’s perfectly symbolised by the first time a parent and child work on their first car together.
For Daniel and Jayden King, a father and son duo behind the One More Flip YouTube channel, what started out as a $500 Christmas present for 16-year-old Jayden led them down a journey filled with important life lessons, endless memories, and oh so many cars.
Under the gloomy skies of a Melbourne afternoon and an online Zoom call, 44-year-old Daniel said his love for cars was a combination of his passion for Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores, as well as his father.
“I’ve always loved cars and obviously it’s a generational thing with my dad, and probably his dad, who also loved cars,” Daniel told Drive.
Getting his licence sometime in 1996–1997, Daniel said the prominence of Aussie icons like the Falcon and Commodore attracted his love for motoring like a moth to a flame.
“I’m a big Ford Falcon guy myself. I love both brands, Holden, Ford, especially now that they’re both obviously gone. But growing up, a couple of cars that really stood out for me were an XA GT Falcon in a nice lime green or violet/purple colour with white interiors, beautiful.
“As a kid, I remember looking over the back seat of my stepdad’s car and seeing the Holden VL Walkinshaw and I remember him saying ‘there’s a UFO behind us’, and I look behind me and it’s one of the most iconic cars [in Australian history],” Daniel said, a smile etched on his face as he reminisced on the memory.
It’s a similar story for 16-year-old Jayden, who told Drive, his love for cars “started with my dad. He loves cars; he just has a lot of cars in the garage. And on social media, I see all these cool cars, people doing crazy builds and stuff. My friends talk a lot about it, I just love it,” he explained.
According to Dr Max von Sabler, a clinical psychologist at Melbourne-based MVS Psychology Group, when it comes to hunting and restoring classic cars, “nostalgia is a potent emotional driver”.
“Classic cars often evoke memories (real or imagined) of a time perceived as many different things; it could be simpler or more authentic. For some, it's a link to family history.
“For others, it's about re-living a cultural moment they admire. In psychology, nostalgia can potentially enhance well-being by strengthening identity and creating a sense of continuity between past and present,” Dr von Sabler told Drive.
Though Daniel has highlighted his love for classic Aussie icons, Jayden’s passion for the JDM scene and Japanese cars, and more specifically, the Mazda MX-5, has bridged the gap between the father and son.
But rather than purchase the car online or through a dealer, Daniel had an interesting idea.
Instead of searching for the Mazda MX-5 directly, the Adelaide father thought it best to build towards it by finding, restoring and flipping other cars to build the savings to purchase young Jayden’s dream car.
And so, armed with the $500 Jayden got for Christmas in 2023, the pair started to work on the One More Flip YouTube channel; a content stream dedicated to their journey of turning $500 into a Mazda MX-5.
As Daniel explained, “I told him [Jayden] why don’t we use this 500 bucks and see if we can actually get you that dream JDM car? If you’re going to lose $500, we’ll work it out; it’s not a huge deal”.
“We’ve built a good relationship as a father and son, but he also learns not just about getting a car, but the first [and important] steps of car ownership. It takes a lot of confidence to get that $500 and give it away to a car that you may or may not make money on,” he told Drive.
The pair started their first project on a Holden VL Commodore approximately one year ago, and since then, their garage is currently home to 12 cars, ranging from various Commodore models, a BA Falcon, a Mitsubishi Magna, an MX32 Cressida, just to name a few.
In the digital age, where information is easily accessible and cars can be purchased online, Daniel said the project aims to educate Jayden about the trials and tribulations of life through the process of hunting, restoring and flipping classic cars.
“The goal is to get Jayden’s dream JDM car, obviously, but the whole process is also about buying a cheap car, doing some things to it to get it legal and roadworthy, so there are a lot of things Jayden will learn along the way,” the Adelaide father told Drive.
“Things like how to negotiate, where to look for parts, what to do with the car, and the communication skills needed to sell a car… as I said to Jayden, sometimes the project cars are also money in the bank.
“So if something goes wrong, say if the car blew up, or if a bargain for his dream car comes up, we can sell all these 12 cars [to put towards] his dream car. It's a holistic approach, really, and I'm trying to teach him those skills that can transfer to everything else in life,” he explained.
When asked what's the biggest life lesson he's learnt within the two years since the project began, Jayden explained, “I think the biggest thing is probably just being patient. If you're finding the next car to flip, just be patient”.
Beyond the physical rewards, Dr von Sabler said the restoration process can “fulfil a deep psychological need for mastery, meaning and connection”.
“Restoring a car is a creative act that can give people a sense of control and skill application, often meeting the needs for competence and achievement.
“People feel part of the car’s history, as though they are rescuing and preserving a piece of cultural heritage. For some, it’s also a form of escapism, providing focus and purpose outside of daily stressors. There are different ideas at play for different people,” he told Drive.
Since starting the One More Flip YouTube channel, the father and son duo have explored various parts of South Australia in their search for the next flip. But it's their visit to a rural farm that had readers in shock.
Posting to YouTube in May 2024, Jayden and Daniel visited a rural barn somewhere in Adelaide filled with an estimated 500-plus classic cars.
The pair's barn find video is their most successful to date, accruing over 115,000 views and generating interest from a range of older drivers reminiscing about the glory days to the next generation, marvelling at pieces of motoring history.
Daniel, who formed a relationship with the unnamed collector for decades, said the barn was a “labyrinth”, given the enormous footprint of the collection.
Beyond the monetary value, Daniel said barn finds offer an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals who have a passion for cars that have spanned decades.
“It's one of those things where you might be able to build a connection with the owners of the car, you sort of understand the history, why they're there, but it's just historic,” the 44-year-old father told Drive.
“These cars are encapsulated and frozen in time, you can go there and go 'this is cool, remember when this happened'.
“I think the people that do collect these cars have great intentions of doing something with the cars, but they end up just sitting there for 20 or 30 years, and then the collection gets out of control,” he explained.
While crossing the 100,000 views mark would be enough for any content creator to jump into YouTube as a full-time career, Daniel and Jayden prefer to keep a low profile and instead use the platform as a tool for connecting with others, as well as a modern-day archive.
“We're a small channel, but I've watched YouTube for a number of years, and I've found that a lot of channels crash and burn or don't get enough use and don't have the consistency,” Daniel told Drive.
“We didn't really want the views or subscriptions. What we wanted was somebody to connect with. But I also want him [Jayden] to look back at this [the YouTube channel] when he's an older man and go, 'hey, that was a pretty cool life experience'.”
We'd like to hear from you. Do you have any memories of buying and fixing old cars with family members? Let us know in the comments below.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
