Words and pictures: Lara Wilde

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You can tell a lot about a person by the car they drive. When I was looking for an auto electrician to work on my Cadillac Coupe de Ville, I knew Pat Le Plastrier was my man after I saw his divine 1971 XY Ford Sedan. It might be a replica, but it is immaculate, and Pat was hands-on to build every inch of the blue beast himself.

Pat has always been a Ford man – he currently owns six 1971 XY Fords – and back in the day, he leapt behind the wheel of his four-wheel drive XY ute with wife Kelly to tour Australia before selling that ute to fund his mobile auto electrician business Bright Spark in Cairns.

“It hurt to sell the Ford to buy a Toyota Hi-Ace to get my business started but it was a good long-term investment,” he says.

However, the urge to replace the XY was strong and so he went shopping.

In 2009, Pat took some mates on a road trip to Mt Garnet in the Gulf of Carpentaria to pick up this 1971 XY sedan. The car was originally from the outback in the Northern Territory and so was rust-free and had a great body.

“I argued the case for needing a full resto to try and knock the seller’s price down from the advertised $7,000, but he wouldn’t budge,” remembers Pat.

The tidy Ford was loaded on a trailer and dragged home ready to begin its new life.

When Pat bought the sedan, it had been dressed up as an XY GT Replica. As Pat began the full rebuild, he chose to keep the replica theme but this time he painted the big girl blue with black GT stripes.

The rebuild was thorough with a full rotisserie treatment seeing every part either restored, reconditioned, or replaced.

The driveline to the 393 Stroker Windsor was upgraded to a manualised C4 automatic gearbox with a 31 spline 9-inch diff. The suspension was given a tickle to make the ride smooth and solid. Being an auto electrician, Pat made sure the wiring was immaculate with crispy-cold air conditioning to battle the tropical Cairns humidity.
Pat’s happiest moment was taking the Ford for the first drive when it was finally registered and on the road and the XY would subsequently win Best Muscle car, Best Ford and place in the Top 5 overall at many car shows.

There have been many happy moments behind the wheel on cruises with mates, down the quarter-mile at Springmount Raceway and taking kids to their Year 12 formal. Pat’s saddest moment was crashing the car and having to start the rebuild process all over again.

That sad day happened in January 2017. Cruising south to Babinda with mates, Pat was on the return trip to Cairns when it began to rain. As the roads became a little moist Pat was taking it easy and driving responsibly. The Ford was at the end of a long line of cars following a slow van which was towing a camper trailer. When there was a break in the oncoming traffic, Pat decided to apply the ponies nestled under the bonnet and overtake everyone.

After biding her time patiently in the wet, the XY was a little too excited and stepped out in the rear end. The blue boot of the Ford hit the camper trailer and Pat spun 180 degrees smack bang into the van towing the trailer. Somehow the XY slid backwards between two large culverts missing them both and miraculously plopped down beside a railway line in long grass. It was a mess. Amazingly, Pat was not hurt – only the XY suffered injury.

Pat counted his lucky stars and began the process of rebuilding the XY all over again. This time though, he was a little wiser, having learnt many lessons from the first rebuild.

“During the first rebuild I learnt to plan ahead ordering parts so I wasn’t waiting for essential bits to arrive before the work could continue,” he says.

The second lesson was provided by his paint and panel guy who advised Pat to do at least half an hour of work on the car every day.

“Doing just half an hour maintained interest in the project. I kept making progress and often half an hour will turn into a full hour.”

Pat learnt that you can’t rush the process. It is important to not cut corners but little by little maintain the build quality until the end.

Pat finished the XY and put it back on the streets in 2018.

The big blue Ford is a regular on cruises in the region and at the Springmount Raceway drag strip. Running with a naturally aspirated motor, the XY runs a 12.02 second quarter mile with a top speed of 113mph (182km/h). With a bottle of NOS in the boot, the sedan has a best elapsed time of 11.5 seconds at 119 miles per hour (191.5km/h) down the deep end.

Still on the wish list is a front coil over suspension and rack and pinion steering, but that will have to wait for now as Pat tries to finish the rest of his car collection to his high standards.

In July 2021, after two years in the rebuild shed, Pat finished another 1971 XY for his wife Kelly. The quicksilver sedan with two-tone blue interior is immaculate and far more civilised than his own beast of a Ford.

Still to be completed are his unrestored 1971 XY V8s including a Fairmont Sedan, a Fairmont Wagon, a Falcon Panel Van and a Falcon Ute. The ute has a modified four link and the front is chopped out ready for a tubular suspension kit. It is earmarked to become Pat’s dream street and strip car with the latest Godzilla supercharged engine.

Pat has a reputation for turning out exceptional, quality work on custom cars through his business Bright Spark Custom Rewiring and Air Conditioning. His own cars showcase his ability to deliver quality work and his attention to detail. It is no wonder that car enthusiasts in Cairns are lining up to have Pat work his magic on their dream car.

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (September 2021) 

21 September 2021