carsales Drive-Thru car chats with Glenn Ridge

Glenn Ridge is no stranger to Aussies – at least those of an age who remember him as the host of the super successful Sale of the Century TV quiz show.

But he’s also a very famous face to the country’s keen car guys and girls, having long-term involvement in motorsport from tarmac rallies to Australian Safaris as a competitor and promoter. He’s a collector and adventurer and his four and two-wheeled passions have also been highlighted via a series of television shows, the most recent of which, Garage 41, featured our own Editor in Chief, Sinkers.

A prime target for one of our carsales Drive-Thru chats, Ridge reckons his interest in cars started at an early age, prompted by his grandfather’s choice of daily drive.

“My first memory of a car was my grandfathers 1951 or 52 Vauxhall deluxe -- the one which looked like an FJ Holden. We were living in Adelaide. It had red interior; real leather so it had ‘that’ smell,” Ridge reminisces

“But we weren’t a car family – it was just a means of getting around.”

Motorsport was still a family day out, Ridge says, in part kindling his passion.

“As a family we used to go to the speedway at a place called Rowley Park (in suburban Adelaide). The old man was never really into cars. He wasn’t a mechanic by any means or anything, but it used to be a night out...

“My brother then started working for Chrysler, which was at Tonsley Park, he got more involved and I just tagged along. I never really got to the point of competing until Sale of the Century came along -- before that, I was doing a lot of surfing and riding motorbikes.

“One of the benefits of Sale was enabling me to get into other people’s cars and go racing.”

“I thrashed around in mum’s Ford Escort for a while, for a long while... And then my brother was at Chrysler and he was able to get really good rates on new cars. So my first car was a brand-new Valiant Charger 770.

“Orange, 245 [cubic inch], three-speed manual -- all of that sort of stuff and I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It was just fantastic.”

Ridge’s original Charger was totalled and the inflated prices of classic Aussie cars like the two-door Valiant has stopped him from finding a replacement (yet!) but there’s still a small collection in his garage including his long-term Targa Tasmania entry, one of just 25 original run Mazda RX-7 SPs .

“We got that one [the RX-7] sitting in the shed. Probably, however, my pride and joy is my aunty’s 1950 Morris Minor. It was the first car I ever drove -- illegally – and it was the first car my son ever drove -- around the carpark in Port Melbourne.”

Ridge also has a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS and another Japanese classic to bookend the RX-7 SP – an Australian delivered Nissan R32 GT-R.

“My daily driver is one of the cars you [Sinkers] love to criticise. It’s a [Volkswagen] Amarok -- I also love it.”

Ridge does much of his commuting on two wheels (“If ever I hear the Melbourne Council want to ban scooter parking on footpaths I’ll scream”) and he’s a passionate believer that riding bikes makes people better drivers.

“People will say you’re crazy getting on a bike, but I encouraged my kids to get on a motorbike because they became far better drivers.

“I’ve been lucky enough to do some motorbike rides through India and all that, and anyone whose ridden in those areas know you become a stick in the river. It just works, in a way it doesn’t yet here...”

Ridge counts multiple Australasian Safari finishes among his achievements and there’s only a handful of drivers with more Targa Tasmania finishes (he’s only missed one – the first!). He also created documentaries searching for the mythical Lassiter’s Reef and Hidden Valley in the Aussie outback. So are there still road trips on the ‘to do’ list.

“The bucket list one is more on two wheels than anything else. I kind of figure as I get older, I’ve got to do stuff on a motorbike as a priority. Certainly, [a road trip] through America is on the list -- I love some stuff through there. We had one planned for 2020 until COVID hit.”

And he also has unfinished business at the top of the world.

“I rode [on a Royal Enfield] through India and we were hoping to get into Kashmir. We were in the Himalayas when the Indian Army sent a million troops to the border with Pakistan -- apparently, they had a difference of opinion. So, I didn’t get into Kashmir...

“I’d love to do that again because the proposed trip had one of the world’s most dangerous drives -- a cliff-hanger, which we’re gonna ride.”

A proud dad of grown up kids, Ridge says he wasn’t the best instructor.

“You ask them and they probably would say they wish someone else had taught them. [But] My old man taught me to drive and I figure that I could teach my kids...

“Look, I wasn’t good at it. And I’ve got to say that’s one of my pet peeves... If I’ve got something I’d really love to make sure happens it is that if parents are going to teach their kids to drive, then the parents need to be tested first.”

“Apparently, I can get impatient. Do you know the TV ad where the mother swears and curses and then the kid replicates it? All of my kids do that and I can only take credit for it, I guess.”

Joking aside Ridge adds: “But [on the positive side] all of them did professional [defensive] driver training before they actually hit the road.

“We’re having highly educated kids who are killing themselves on the road, so I can’t figure out why [defensive driver training] is not a part of the education system. Fortunately, people are still pushing for it but the bloody politicians don’t want it.”

“I like to look at old cars, but I like to drive new cars. The reason I like looking at old cars is because again it gets back to my lack of patience. I look at the amount of time and effort and work that people do in restoring old cars... I don’t know how they do that.”

He’s not a fan nor proponent of autonomous cars – nor does he believe they’ll be a viable option any time soon.

“I think it would be a sad day when we have autonomous cars all over the place. From the safety point of view, I’m not convinced that that’s such a good thing either...”

No point in asking Glenn about his favourite television show – he’s honour bound to say Garage 41... And in any case, Editor Sinclair would just change this copy to read that way no matter what.

“It’s got to be The Fast and the Furious... [which I’ve got to know] through my son, who has watched all of them... but when I look at Steve McQueen in Bullitt and to think that was done [without any special effects] ... I just reckon it’s fantastic...”

Ridge is a passionate car guy but predictably it’s not just the nuts and bolts that he connects with – a point he’s focussed on with his successful run producing The Car Show a decade or so ago and more recently Garage 41.

“Whenever I have had a good time with a car, there’s always been a person involved somewhere along the line... The car makes it happen but it’s the people that you connect with.

“When Eric [Bana] did up his Ford coupe for Targa Tasmania, he said the car was like campfire -- which it was and anyone who’s involved with cars can relate to it. You’re working on the car but the experience is actually what’s happening around it.

“You know sometimes I think is when we go racing, it’s kind of a bit dull if you don’t have a problem. Because when you have an issue, that’s when everyone kicks in.”

As Carpool hits publish on this article, Ridge will be competing in his 28th Targa Tasmania, there’s only been 29 of them! And fingers crossed, it’ll be a trouble-free run. Ridge classes the classic island week-long tarmac rally as the best competitive event on the planet. He’s not alone.

“It’s the best... I go down there each year and I look forward to it each year. The first one I did, I navigated – and I’ve driven ever since.

“I have had the pleasure of doing it with my mates as co-driver. All of my kids have also sat in the co-drivers seat... Wining it will never be on the card so we just kind of go along and have a good time.

“We enjoy it and if we get to end, that’s the achievement.”

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