Actor Shane Jacobson’s Holden HJ Kingswood, featured in the movie Charlie & Boots, which he starred in alongside Paul Hogan, has been moved from the now permanently closed National Holden Motor Museum in Echuca to the Museum of Vehicle Evolution in Shepparton.
MOVE coordinator Andrew Church saw a social post about Jacobson’s car and the closure of the Echuca museum. He messaged the movie star on Facebook, asking if he’d like to display the 1974 classic in the museum at Kialla.
Casually, he received a quick acceptance, with a request from Jacobson: “Can you go and pick it up for me?”
Mr Church said he wasn’t expecting it to be that simple, but it was.
Jacobson, a keen car enthusiast and collector, like Mr Church himself, also has a 1964 EH Holden on display at MOVE.
“I’m thrilled that one of my favourites from my beloved car collection, moved homes this week,” Mr Jacobson wrote in a May Instagram post.
“As many would know, the National Holden Museum in Echuca has closed its doors for the last time.
“But as they say when one door shuts, another one opens.
“My Holden HJ Kingswood that starred in Charlie & Boots alongside myself and Paul Hogan, has a new home at the Museum of Vehicle Evolution in Shepparton.”
The Australian road trip movie saw Boots McFarland (Jacobson) and his father Charlie (Hogan) travel from Victoria to Cape York in the Kingswood, featuring many small country towns along the journey.
Released on Father’s Day in 2009, it had the best opening weekend for any Australian film that year. It was dedicated to the victims of the Victorian bushfires that razed much of the state also that year, claiming the life of Reg Evans, who had a cameo in the movie.
Mr Church said MOVE currently hosted many vehicles with famous ties, including a T-Bird owned by late Australian rock and roll singer Johnny O’Keefe and golfer Stuart Appleby’s one-of-one BMW M5 built by Southern Rod and Custom.
For motorsport fans, there’s the 2002-03 dual V8 Supercars championship car Marcos Ambrose drove to victory, the Gary Rodgers Motorsport Monaro that won the 2002 Bathurst 24-hour event that was driven by Garth Tander, Steven Richards, Nathan Pretty and Cameron McConville, and Craig Coxhell’s 2003 Australian Superbike championship-winning motorbike.
However, since the museum does not own any of the vehicles, the assemblage is constantly rotating to keep the offering exciting for out-of-town visitors and returning locals.
The impressive museum has much more than classic cars and bikes on display, with trucks, vintage bicycles, antique communications equipment, a Furphy museum, and the Loel Thomson Costume Collection for lovers of worldly historic textiles and unique and controversial curios.
Echuca’s National Holden Motor Museum closed on April 15 after its owners could not find a buyer for the business.
The museum was the original Holden museum, opening in Bays water in 1984. It then moved to various other locations, including Bendigo and Wangaratta, before settling permanently in Echuca in 1993.
Some of the collection was privately owned, some was sold, some returned to owners and some made its way to MOVE to be enjoyed by a new audience in the Goulburn Valley.
“If you get a chance to visit, say g’day to my baby for me,” Mr Jacobson wrote.