carsales Drive-Thru car chats with David Bromley

David Bromley is one of Australia’s best known artists. Nominated for the Archibald Prize portrait competition six times, displayed and collected across the globe, he’s best known for a trio of very different genres of richly textured painting: female nudes, butterflies and portraits of children.

But that’s the David Bromley of the art world. There’s a very different David Bromley that anyone with petrol in their veins would rather get to know: a Brit-born, Adelaide-bred car and motorcycle nut who currently owns about 140 cars and bikes and at least one bus! And he reckons hasn’t stopped collecting yet!

David’s a lover of classic metal but equally enamoured with the concepts of safe, modern refined motoring.

The current Bromley fleet is eclectic to say the least – everything from his daily driver, a “gangsta” Mercedes-Benz GLS, plus a gaggle of Vitos and Vianos for family and business; through to his most recent purchase, a brace of Leyland P76s which he reckons are collectors’ items in the making.

Along the way, there’s also been Defenders, Mustangs, Kombis, Ford Broncos and F100s, scooters and performance and cruising motorcycles of almost every ilk.

"I don’t like the art thing very much and yeah, I find that it’s much healthier to find interest in other areas -- but I do probably bring a unique blend to my involvement in some of my other passions and cars are one of my obsessions."

And like all of us car guys and girls, it doesn’t take much to get Mr Bromley talking about what is clearly a passion.

"One of my first memories was dad’s big road-hugging black, black Pontiac. You know, black as night and the hilarious thing is that my mum learned to drive in this thing. It was huge…

"I remember sitting on the fold-down centre armrest that my brother and I would fight over. We had an old stopwatch and [on road trips] we would time between mile posts. Mum and Dad would put pillows and things between the backseat and the front seat, so my brother and I could have a sleep on the way.

"And even before that, I think, was a Ford from the early 1960s. We couldn’t afford one that went, so it sat in the shed and we just sit in it. We went on imaginative drives and we still felt pretty special that we have a car -- but didn’t go."

Originally from Sheffield in the UK, the Bromley family (David, aged 4) first landed in Adelaide but it wasn’t a Holden that captured his heart when he was old enough to drive.

"We were a Valiant family. At one stage, I think I had the AP6, my brother the AP5, and Mum and Dad, the S Series. And we lived in an area called Torrensville, surrounded by Greek and Italian families and more Valiants. There were always at least three slant sixes in our driveway."

"My daily is a Mercedes GLS -- the new one. It’s got the biggest wheels you can put on it. Yeah, it’s black. A lot of tinted windows and I said to the dealer I want a really, really ‘gangsta’ one.

"I do think Mercedes make a beautiful car… We’re actually pimping out a big Sprinter at the moment with a high top, black and bucket seats and things to take all the kids around.

"With the P76s, I’ve always like to find the things that are in between the lines. I do feel like in certain areas I’ve tried to predict what is going to be that the next big thing. I just think they must be one of the most under-valued cars.

"I do remember looking at them and thinking, that’s really ugly --  a non-charisma sort of vehicle… But when you compare what you had to pay for a pretty standard issue vehicle, anything else of that era that’s going to have age in it, they’re [going to be] hugely valuable.

"I said to people years ago, if you can’t afford a Kombi, you know, buy a station wagon or a Beetle because they’ll be next in line… And all the cars of that [P76] era that had the big [V8] motors are incredibly valuable… It did win Wheels Car of the Year."

David’s wife Yuge, pipes in here… "In the car? Sorry, I thought just bad habits in general… But he always buys bombs!"

"I just absolutely love a basket case," David laughs.

"But in the car, indicating is not something I do that well. But I’d say probably most of my bad habits have left me, you know -- I’m 60 in a couple of months and I’d say finally I think I’m a pretty well-behaved driver.

"When it comes to motorcycles, I don’t know… I think a bit of a madman comes out of me."

"In my younger days, I taught some girls how to ride motorbikes. I don’t know whether that’s about teaching them or you know… That was probably one of my tricks [to meet girls] in the old days."

David suffers from anxiety in wide open spaces – looking out of an aeroplane window is a no-no! So, he’ll drive rather than fly if he has a choice.

"I used to live between Byron Bay and Melbourne, and I would do that trip probably every eight weeks. So, I’ve done a fair few miles and I certainly like going different ways -- so I’ll take a left or a right here and there.

"But I’m not the sort of person to ask would you like to have dinner with something [famous] like that. I wouldn’t want to go on the road trip with anyone else but my wife, Yuge.

"We can drive from Melbourne to Queensland… and you know, sometimes by the time we get there, we want to keep driving because we still have lots of things to talk about.

"Certainly on a motorbike I like two-up… My number one is my wife and I wouldn’t miss a drive with someone else. I wouldn’t mind, you know Keith Richard maybe pick him up, do a 100 miles or something then dropping off somewhere else…"

"New cars do it for me so much. I’m not enchanted by their very essence but certainly having been a poor artist for a reasonable amount of time means you appreciate a car you can count on.

"I used to have an old warehouse in Adelaide and I remember the guy in the car yard across from me just saying, you know ‘You’ll always trying to start your F100… You’re funny with the old cars.’ And I’m like, ‘Dude, it’s not funny. I can’t afford anything better.’

"And I got to say since I got into new cars, having, you know, the reliability and the performance of a new car [is hard to live without].

"I’ve driven interstate with a caravan and wondering if I’ll get up some of the hills and burning out the clutches and stopping with exploded radiators… I’ve probably pushed more motorcycles… The amount of times I’ve tried kicking them over and over, you know, just ready for a cruise and not being able to get it started…

"One of my [early] major exhibitions up in Brisbane was quite a successful exhibition. I loved the fact that there was a certain amount of success but I did not enjoy the social interplay. And I walked outside after this very successful exhibition and there was a downpour in Brisbane and my [Holden] HQ wagon was parked and there was a river flowing around it and I had a flat tyre.

"So I got my jack out and lay under the car in this river and I thought to myself, that’s the best fun I’ve had all night."

"I remember I was driving one of my daughters in my old F100 and the wind was whistling, and she said, ‘What's that?’ And I didn’t think twice about it, but it dawned on me that she had never been in a noisy old car.

"Anyway, I turned the corner and she said, ‘The car whistles but we still love it.’

"And then some rocks were hitting up under the car and you know it’s going rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle. And she said, ‘What's that?’ And I said, ‘Well there’s no insulation’ and you can hear everything.

"And, she said, ‘Oh that’s okay. We still love her.’

"We’re driving along a bit further and the F100 conks out and we cruise up to a halt.

"She said, ‘What’s going on?’ And I said, there’s something wrong with the engine.’ She said, ‘Oh, that’s all right. We still love her.’

"And I’m like yeah but, the thing I can definitely do without is a car that is going to break down. If it’s destined to break down, I’m not going to drive it too far.

"So I’d say, you know, reliability is something and I can’t do without"

"Just appalling… Absolutely appalling. I’ve only just learned to be able to sleep with my wife driving and yeah, I don’t like it.

"I definitely like to have a pair of handlebars or a steering wheel in my hand. That’s for sure. Terrible passenger."

"Yes, I do. That would be Dirty Har… No, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, with Peter Fonda. And I’m trying to think what they drove, but I know they hit a train at the end of that. I reckon that was Rambler or something [Ed: a Dodge Charger R/T 440]. I totally love that film."

"I haven’t named one, but I did have a Triumph Thunderbird that was I working on and meanwhile I was riding a red Vespa scooter so I painted on the side of my Vespa: When I grow up I want to be a Triumph Thunderbird.”

We couldn’t let one of the country's most famous artist go without asking the BIG question.

"Having grown up in a place where my brother and I were always in the shed, I think art is a broader term.

"Some people could say it’s design… But I love Ducatis, you know -- 750 GT round case. I’ve had a couple of beautiful 1960s Mustangs with 289 [V8 engines] and stuff. I mean they are more than pragmatic. They are more than utilitarian: you know, it’s sex; it’s rock and roll; it’s emotion.

"And you know, I sincerely do feel that once you start going beyond just pragmatism… Even the big Telsa [Model X] the way it dances, it’s genius.

"We all know the hum of a certain engine or something [in a car or bike] that we can, that we can feel. So, yes, you know design that is way, way beyond the utilitarian… Yes, I do [think that is art].

“When anything hits that certain key point that takes you beyond purely just being able to examine it. Basically to making your gasp, or making you sweat, or making your heart palpitate or making you want it badly, someone has taken something [design] beyond just the foundation levels…”

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