Chevs take Neil

By Marc McGowan
NEIL Titford yearns for the good old days, and he has gone to great lengths to prove it.
The Nar Nar Goon local lives on two acres and has rebuilt an old dairy milking shed into an oldstyle petrol station.
“Back in the ’50s there were no drivein service stations,” Titford said.
“The older service stations’ pumps were right on the curb.
“Back then, a guy filled the car with petrol for you – and probably washed your window as well.”
Titford’s reminiscing of the past is strongly tied to his major passion – Chevrolets.
It is an intriguing passion, considering his father never owned a car.
It is derived from his early work as an apprentice, which he began at the tender age of 13.
He moved on to a panelbeating shop in Box Hill, and has been involved in the industry until recent retirement. A fellow mechanic, Ron Wilshire, was the source of inspiration for Titford’s love of Chevrolets.
“I went for my licence at 18 in his ’46 Chev,” he said.
“I’ve had Chevs almost all my life.”
Among his other cars, Titford is the proud owner of five Chevrolets – a ’39, a ’62, a ’62 convertible, a ’56 twodoor coupe and a ’67 hard top.
He and his wife, Marion, go out in his cars as often as possible, particularly in his association with the Gippsland Latrobe Valley Group, a branch of the Chevrolet Car Club of Victoria.
Titford is the spokesman and chairman of meetings of the Moebased group, which he created for those Chevlovers who were unable, or unwilling, to travel to the official Moorabbin base.
“Cars are a very big part of my life,” he said.
A fact that’s hard to argue.