Rusty’s Garage celebrates milestone with Eric Bana

Renowned broadcaster Greg ‘Rusty’ Rust celebrates a milestone with the release of his 50th Rusty’s Garage podcast.

The wildly successful automotive and motorsport themed podcast has racked up over three million downloads since launching in 2018, Rust’s blend of knowledge and his warm and unassuming interview style hallmarks of its success.

To celebrate the milestone episode, Rust has called on genuine car enthusiast, and Hollywood star, Eric Bana.

Bana’s love affair with cars is no secret. Anyone who’s watched his 2009 documentary Love the Beast, will have felt his passion and enthusiasm, not just for his beloved XB Falcon hardtop, but for all cars; “They are memory machines,” he says.

That same passion shines through in this episode of Rusty’s Garage where Rust and Bana cover a wide range of automotive topics including the long rebuild of The Beast following Bana’s horrific accident at Targa Tasmania.

He also recalls the night he first laid eyes on The Beast, having found one for sale in classifieds section of The Age newspaper.

“I remember clear as day, a wet cold winter’s night driving over to St Kilda to inspect the car. We pulled up outside this dodgy apartment building and there was no one there and then this white coupe came around the corner sideways. This guy pulled over and that was the car.”

Listen to Part 1...

Bana, who actually harboured ambitions to be a mechanic but wasn't allowed to leave school to take up an apprenticeship, also talks at length about his motorsport career, racing both at Victorian club level events in a Porsche 944 as well as contesting three Bathurst 12 Hour races.

Rust presses Bana on his current car collection that includes a 1954 Ford F-100 pick up (“… bone stock. Still runs a 272 wide block engine, three on the tree, bench seat”, and a Porsche 356 Speedster.

“I’m not a collector at all,” says Bana.“So I fall into the category of if I’m not using it and abusing it, I’ve got no interest in it.”

Listen to Part 2...

The wide-ranging chat touches on Bana’s career in television and film, the Aussie actor revealing his current project, Mike the Bike, about the life of legendary motorcycle racer, Mike ‘The Bike’ Hailwood. Bana will write, co-direct and star in the feature-length movie.

Rusty’s Garage host, Greg ‘Rusty’ Rust, said: “I’d interviewed him once or twice before, just briefly, for TV but it honestly blew me away. He’s so grounded and a proper enthusiast. We’re fortunate to mark this milestone episode with a guest of his calibre, for me ticks all the boxes - car lover, motorbike rider and racer!”

The 50th episode of Rusty’s Garage is available from today and you can listen to it for free, by downloading the PodcastOne Australia app or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the inimitable words of Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, do yourself a favour. It’s well worth a listen.

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