Australian singer songwriter Joe Camilleri – whose band The Black Sorrows celebrate their 40th anniversary with the release of a new double album The Quintessential Black Sorrows – bought his first car at the age of 19; a 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
Drawn to its blue grey exterior, the car was sporty and purchased at auction with his dad and older brother in tow.
Camilleri was working at the Kensington Flour Mills at the time, loading flour bags onto trains and earning a decent wage to save up for his first wheels.
“The car cost $600 and I fell in love with because I thought it looks really sporty and was cool. They’re worth $100k if you have one now,” says Camilleri adding that he wishes he kept his.
“It was while working at the Flour Mills that he also learned how to play the harmonica. I got a taste of the blues baby at that time,” he recalls.
It was while working at Kempton’s [the Flour Mill] that Camilleri also saved enough money to buy a ticket to the MyPonga 1971 Pop Festival in South Australia with an all-star line-up of Black Sabbath, Bon Scott and Daddy Cool.
“It was a three-day outdoor festival in Adelaide and I had to be there,” he says.
“Daddy Cool performed Eagle Rock and that was truly a highlight. I drove my Karmann Ghia down there and back on my own – no girlfriend in the front seat, just me heading to a rock concert.
“I didn’t know anybody at the gig, and watched all the bands in awe. I had nowhere to sleep but I had this beautiful car and I slept inside it during this festival.
“I was surprised it got me from Melbourne to Adelaide. It ran beautifully and I kept it for six years. The worst thing about the Karmann Ghia is their nose sticks out above the bumper, and cars would hit the front of it and make it look like a shark front."
Camilleri remembers driving his 60s wheels to various gigs around town including to see Dudley Moore and Peter Cook perform in Melbourne in 1971 for their Behind The Fridge tour. He was driving to see Shirley Bassey perform at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda when he got in a small car accident in October 1971.
“That’s when I copped it in the front. I was so disappointed. I had to fix my car, but I never really did,” recalls Camilleri.
After quitting work in Kensington, he got a job in Preston in 1972; making the commute from his home in South Melbourne across town in his first car. Melbourne’s CBD experienced its worst flooding in history in 1972 and Camilleri was caught in the middle of it.
“I remember coming down Flinders Street and the entire city being flooded; from basements to walkways,” he says.
“I was driving in the rain and everything was at a standstill. Even police were neck deep in water trying to direct traffic. That’s when I realised my car was floating on Flinders Street. I ended up pushing it toward Queensbridge underpass with one finger. Then one day, a cab driver ran into the back of me and the car was done – that’s when I kissed it goodbye.
“I loved that car. I could do the basic things like change a tire and fix the windscreen wiper; it had VW badge but was more like a Porsche looking car with a Volkswagen engine.
“There wasn't anything really wrong mechanically with it the entire time I owned it – a sweet, loveable ride. I owned the car before I got married for the first time too! Then I bought a saxophone and started playing music soon after.”
Jane Rocca is a Melbourne journalist and author who writes for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s Sunday Life Magazine, columnist The Dish at Good Food, Harper’s Bazaar Australia, ABC Arts. She has written four books and hosted a podcast series Some of My Best Work with Mushroom.
