carsales Drive-Thru car chats with Dale Thomas
You don’t have to be an AFL aficionado to know Dale ‘Daisy’ Thomas. An ambassador for Nissan Australia, Thomas answers our drive-thru questions with genuine (self-incriminating) candor.Dale Thomas made his AFL debut in 2006 playing for Collingwood Football Club and saw out the end of his professional AFL career with the Carlton Football Club. Standing arm in arm with celebrity chef Miguel Maestre, Thomas was named runner-up in the 2020 season of Channel 10’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, where Thomas endeared himself to the entire nation displaying a warmth and compassion equal to that of his energetic and playful ways.
Growing up on a farm in Drouin South in the West Gippsland region of Victoria, Thomas has fond memories of a hobby-farm, motorbikes and paddock bombs - ideal elements for the formative years, if you ask us.
These days Thomas joins the majority of Australia’s new-car buyers, seated behind the wheel of a 4x4 dual-cab ute – in Thomas’ case it’s the capable Nissan Navara N-TREK Warrior. It’s fair to say however that the ex-footballer’s earliest memories behind the wheel were not so capable, as you’ll soon discover.
What are your early memories of cars?
“I think my earliest memories of cars or a car was when my sister and I got in my parents car… and to this day it’s not disclosed who took the hand-brake off, but we went through the neighbour’s fence!
"I can’t really remember much, but Mum swears it was me and my sister also swears it was me. I think I was too little [only three or four] to lift the handbrake. It’s a story Mum and [older sister] Jess share and if it was me… I’d still deny it!”
First car?
“An old Subaru Liberty wagon and I did plenty of kilometres in it. It had enough room for surfboards and what not. Then it was a green Ford Territory – a questionable colour that my mates still give me sh*t about. I’ve always had wagons or bigger SUVs for the golf clubs and surfboards. I love keeping them in the car so they’re at hand.”
Who taught you to drive?
“My Dad taught me to drive. We had paddock bombs. We grew up on a hobby farm and so Dad taught me in a paddock bomb. Then on the road, it was my Mum.”
How would you rate your parallel parking skills on a scale of 1-10?
“I’d give myself a solid nine and with the technology these days if you can’t reverse parallel park, well. Even without that I’d say nine. The Navara has the birds-eye 360-degree camera – I’m still not sure how it [the technology] happens!"
How awful is your driver’s licence photo on a scale of 1-10?
“I’d say probably five. It’s the standard average driver’s licence photo. I had a beard, which has come up a bit of an orange beard. They didn’t chuck a filter on it for me.”
How would you rate your navigational skills on a scale of 1-10?
“I’d say pretty good 7.5. But I do use my satellite navigation in the car.”
In heavy traffic do you merge patiently or sneak up the inside lane and pray someone takes pity and lets you in?
“You’re kidding, aren’t you? I’m driving a big truck. I’m up the inside with the lights flashing! I would wave though, when someone let me in. There’s politeness – a hand out the window or in the mirror.”
What are two things we’d find in your car?
“A phone charger or connection cord and a surfboard. There’s always a surfboard in the back of the truck.”
Do you regularly top up with petrol or do you wait until the light is flashing and engine failure imminent?
“I’m the run it right down to when the light starts flashing and test the waters kinda guy. I saw Hamish and Andy once and they got 110km [of travel] when their car told them there was zero range left. So [using that as a benchmark] I figure let’s see how far we can go!”
Do you know what these car-related acronyms mean?
ABS – the brakes
ESC, AEB, RCTA – nope, no idea
Taxi or Uber?
Uber
Sit in the front or back of Uber?
Sit in the back.
Uber rating
4.73
“Natasha and I, we’ve got this chalkboard or a glass wall and that was one of the things we did, anyone who came in the house had to write up their Uber rating [for all to see].”
How awful are child car seats - am I right?
“They are pretty awful. They look pretty comfy to be completely honest but the amount of food and stuff that gets stuck in there… They’re not overly attractive selling points. Just burn it and buy a new one.”
Have you ever taken your daughter for a drive to get her to sleep?
“Oh numerous times! And sometimes [just] if she’s bored. She had an iPad the other day and she had the maps and was pretending to direct me.”
Are you forever a dual-cab devotee?
“I don’t think I could go back [to a normal car] now to be honest. I love playing golf. I love surfing. There’s room for everything. Then to also have enough room in the back for a child seat or your mates. [In my 4x4] I get down the tracks to get to some hidden beaches or hidden surf-breaks and then get back on sealed roads for school pick up - it’s something I’m very grateful for.”
How does driving help your mental health?
“Once I get in the car and I feel the car is heading away from the city, there’s something that mentally is so refreshing. All your troubles - literally and metaphorically – you’re driving away from them. There’s certainly something to having a car that can take me wherever I want to go.”
Related: carsales Drive-Thru car chats with Lincoln Lewis
Related: Top 10 greatest automotive icons of TV and film according to fans
Related: Eight celebrities and their first cars
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
