Wyndham’s transformer … Mitch Savage and his Decepticon police car. 66412 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Xavier Smerdon
WERRIBEE is a long way from Cybertron, the fictional home planet of the famous Transformers, but that has not stopped one resident from bringing a slice of it to his quiet suburban street.
Mitch Savage has spent the last nine months converting a former BT1 Victoria Police car into a lifelike version of a Decepticon police car.
In the Transformer movies and television shows, the Decepticons are the evil force that try to take control of the universe.
The Decepticon police car disguises itself as a regular member of the police force before transforming into its true evil form.
Mr Savage said he decided to take on the daunting venture of converting the car to a piece of cinematic memorabilia, not only because he is an avid Transformers fan, but also because he was sick of seeing the BT1 cars being bought by irresponsible drivers.
“I always saw the BT1 being changed into hoon cars,” Mr Savage said.
“The rev-heads buy them and they make changes to them so they can hoon around.
“I wanted to turn it into something like it was, but in a legal way.”
Mr Savage’s car has seven antennas, a fully working police computer and sirens, three visual cameras, wireless internet and a spotlight.
The detail is incredible, with fake bullet holes and completely authentic looking hubcaps.
“I wanted to stay on the line of it being legal, but I also wanted it to look just like it does in the movie,” Mr Savage said.
“Absolutely this is the first time someone has done this in Australia, I would say.”
Mr Savage’s neighbours have also taken to the idea of living on the same street as a Decepticon.
“I thought they would get sick of the siren because I’ve been testing it a bit, but they’ve been coming up and asking me to turn it on for their grandchildren and stuff,” he said.
To view the car on YouTube, search for mitchjw73.
