By Charlene Gatt
FOR THEO Nelson, a love of Rolls-Royces is hereditary.
But it did take a while for that love to come to fruition.
The 71-year-old head of Footscray-based funeral directors Nelson Brothers still rues the day in 1959 when he – as a “young bloke out of school, the type that (thinks he) knows everything” – persuaded his dad to sell two 30-year-old models.
In the 1980s, Mr Nelson re-embraced the brand when a Silver Chateau bought in England attracted demand from customers.
Today, the company has a fleet of 11, including five that have been converted into hearses. The fleet has catapulted Footscray into the top five suburbs of Rolls-Royce owners. According to the most recent Motor Vehicle Census, Footscray (18 Rolls-Royce cars) is equal third with Glen Eira. Toorak (37) and Brighton (31) topped the list.
“They don’t date. Nobody knows if it’s a 1999 or 2004, unless they’re a Rolls-Royce person,” he said.
“Funeral directors that replaced cars at the same time as I did are probably on their fourth or fifth fleet of cars now, whereas I’ve had my same hearses since the ’80s. I was called a bloody idiot years ago … so I wonder who the bloody idiot is now.”
The brand has extended to Mr Nelson’s private collection.
A member of the Victorian branch of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club of Australia, Mr Nelson owns a 1965 Silver Cloud III as well as a 1925 Phantom I – one of the two cars he advised his dad to sell. He said the find came after years of searching.
“I couldn’t find them anywhere … (and) I was getting my eyes tested by my optometrist one day and I was telling him and he rang me back a couple of weeks later and said ‘I found your car – a doctor in Kew has got it in his sister’s garage’.”
Mr Nelson bought the vehicle back and had it painstakingly restored over eight-and-a-half years.
In an unusual twist, Mr Nelson drives a Mercedes 320 S model as his everyday car.
