Model cars recreate Road Ahead cover
The original photo, featuring five vehicles from RACQ’s historic fleet, was taken in front of the Club’s Eight Mile Plains headquarters to commemorate 100 years of roadside assistance.
Inspired by the image, Jack meticulously replicated the scene with vehicles from his collection and submitted his version to The Road Ahead.
The final addition to his fleet was a replica of the 1965 Morris Mini panel van, which he completed in April.
His passion for making models of RACQ vehicles was first sparked by a Trax scale model of a 1963 EH Holden panel van patrol, produced to commemorate RACQ’s centenary in 2005.
Over the years, Jack has collected and refurbished six scale models of vehicles used by RACQ, with another currently in the works.
Carefully disassembling, repainting, and rebuilding each model, he ensures they match their real-life counterparts.
For the Mini, he even replaced its solid back side panels with ‘windows’ to better replicate the RACQ version.
Sometimes, Jack modifies different models to recreate RACQ vehicles, like the 1938 ML Chevrolet tow truck and the 1937 AJS motorcycle.
“I had to do quite a bit of work on the tow truck, and I had to make a sidecar for the motorbike,” he said.
“The hardest part is getting the signage on the vehicles right, and my wife Glenda has been very good at helping with that. It’s hard to get it really accurate.”
Jack, who turns 85 this year and has been an RACQ member for more than 60 years, boasts an impressive collection of over 100 model cars.
“I have quite a few fire engines and buses too,” he said. “When I was younger, I used to catch the Redcliffe to Sandgate bus, so I’ve made one of those.”
William J. Tarrant and his wife Edith on their tri-car.
Family link to RACQ’s formation
Jack’s wife, Glenda, has a family connection to RACQ that dates back to its founding in 1905.
Her great uncle, William J. Tarrant, was one of the 18 foundation members of RACQ.
Mr Tarrant, who owned the Maryborough Cycle Agency, was one of eight founding members who were not doctors or dentists.
Although the Club’s first committee meeting on 7 June 1905 noted he had no vehicle listed, he was known to have been running a motor tri-car in Maryborough by February that year.
The tri-car, a converted motorcycle, was the first ‘motor car’ on the town’s streets. Mr Tarrant later became the Ford dealer in Maryborough.
Glenda and Jack Eagle with a bag owned by William J. Tarrant and a poster featuring historic photos of the long-time Ford dealer in Maryborough.
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