Racy Rebecca Steels Herself For A Wacky Wander

Illawarra Mercury

Friday October 17, 2008

By MICHELLE WEBSTER

IF you could call a 1975 Kombi sexy, then "Rebecca" is one racy van.

The revamped vehicle is one of 30 cars participating in the Wollongong Wacky Wanderers three- day navigated car rally this weekend to raise money for deaf and hearing-impaired children.

Decorating their cars with crazy insignia or promotional signage, participants locate their destinations by deciphering a series of clues, the first of which is in German.

Purchased on the internet four months ago for $1500, Rebecca will haul BlueScope Steel's burly five-man team in their inaugural voyage in The Shepherd Centre's annual fund-raiser.

When Ross Schuback and his workmates decided to give the beautified bomb a new moniker, the final decision had been easy.

"An employee called Rebecca, who was part of the coke and energy employment, had a brain aneurysm in early April," he said. "She just collapsed and was clinically dead.

"But she has come back from it and is building each month and each day, so we couldn't think of anything better to name the Kombi than Rebecca."

Setting up camp at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) hangar at the Illawarra Regional Airport, Mr Schuback said rebuilding the Kombi had been a labour of love for the team, not to mention numerous backyard experts.

"There's a team of five core guys - they did the majority of the work - and some other employees helped.

"Down at HARS, it turns out pretty much everyone there used to own a Kombi so there were a lot of experts throwing in opinions."

Rebecca the Kombi may have a new lease of life, but four months of intense mechanical labour cannot fix everything.

"It's very smooth, but it's still a Kombi," Mr Schuback said.

"It can be hard to find first, second, third and fourth sometimes, but it just idles nicely.

"It's beautiful," he added.

The Kombi also bears the names of Aaron Sinadinovic, Daniel Schroeder and Adam Nall, the three young men killed in Unanderra on September 19 in a horrific car crash.

"All those four guys actually worked in coke-making for Andreco Hurll," Mr Schuback said. "It shocked the whole department for many weeks when that happened. It's just a gesture in memory of those guys."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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