These days, the little Falcon has a 347 Windsor, twin NX nitrous kits, a G-Force G101A four-speed dog box and a nine-inch with a full spool and 31-spline axles.

It’s also become a regular sight at Drag Challenge — and, according to Bruce, something of a test of how many diffs you can get through in five days.

“I’ve had the ute since 1985,” Bruce says.

“I bought it off my high school. It was the groundsman’s ute. I paid 60 bucks for it.”

His mum even kept the receipt.

“I framed it a few years back when she found it and gave it to me.”

The funny thing is, Bruce never set out to build a Drag Challenge car.

“It’s the only thing I’ve ever had that I never intended to be a drag vehicle, that’s for sure.”

He used to drive it to work, and over the years it slowly evolved from an old street ute into something that was much happier at the track.

Now it’s run low tens, and Bruce still has his eye on a nine.

“It’s always in the back of my mind is to try and get a single figure,” he says.

“But it’d be nice to get a nine out of it maybe one day. That’d be good.”

The problem is, there’s only so much you can do to an early Falcon. It still has 1960s steering, and Bruce admits it’s becoming a handful.

But for now, though, he’s giving it another crack.

The car has had a freshen-up since last year, including a rebuilt engine after it destroyed a piston at the end of the 2025 event.

“We drove home from Tailem Bend on seven cylinders.”

It’s a bit of a mismatch, Bruce admits, because he’s working with what he can afford — a new bottom end with the same top end.

Bruce has always built and improved it in his own shed, with a bit of help from mates when he needs someone who can weld a little better than he can.

Nothing about the car is particularly easy, either.

The engine bay is tight, getting wheels on and off around the guards is a mission and Bruce has deliberately kept the original shape rather than cutting the body up.

But after nearly 40 years, he knows the old Falcon pretty well.

And Drag Challenge has given it a whole new purpose.

Bruce used to trailer the ute to drag meetings because he was worried about breaking it.

Eventually, he sold the trailer.

“I thought, well, you either fix it or you’ll sort something out.”

That attitude has probably been handy.

The first year Bruce did Drag Challenge, the XL sailed through without any major dramas.

Then he started chasing more speed, and things started breaking.

For a while, that meant changing the BorgWarner diff and swapping ratios around to find something that worked both at the track and on the highway.

Eventually, he fitted the nine-inch.

Now, at least, he can change tyres for the road rather than changing diffs.

Last year was still a proper mission, though.

Bruce found himself doing engine work in a service station car park with barely any sleep, changing head gaskets and trying to keep the car in the event.

“I got a bit grumpy the next day,” he laughs.

That’s why, for Bruce, getting through the week is still the biggest challenge.

“The challenge of finishing the road side of things is the biggest challenge, getting through that.”

But he’s not going to Drag Challenge just to cruise around and collect the sticker.

“I’m not one just to turn up and just do a run and then move on. I’d like to try and do the best that the car’s capable of.”

The goal this year is a top three finish — and there are two particular names Bruce wants to see behind him.

Zane Heath is one.

After not knowing each other before last year’s event, the pair ended up having a good bit of back-and-forth competition throughout the week

“We had a good old back and forth. It was good.”

The other is Nathan from The Hackshop.

“Nathan and Zane. They’re my two goals.”

It’s all part of what makes the event fun for Bruce.

Because while he wants to beat them, he also reckons the people you meet along the way are what keep Drag Challenge special.

“It’s that camaraderie. It’s a little bit of the unknown.”

“You see a bit of the countryside, you pull up at a servo and others will pull up and you’ll talk crap or whatever and move on to the next one.”

Bruce has now convinced four different mates to give Drag Challenge a crack, and they’ve all wanted to come back.

That says plenty about the experience.

“It’s like your one-time-a-year family that you go and catch up with and travel around with for that week and share stories and laughs and cry, whatever, you know.”

And when something inevitably goes wrong, that family is usually there to help.

“Others are so keen to pitch in and help and share knowledge, share tools, share parts to get you back in the game.”

For Bruce, that’s the part that sets Drag Challenge apart from other forms of racing.

“They want to see you finish and beat you fair and square.”

This year, Bruce will once again have plenty of help in his corner, and he wanted to give a shout-out to Wilbur, Lee, Simon and Cody for the work and support they’ve given him along the way.

He also wanted to give a special shout-out to Lisa, who looks after his dog while he’s away at Drag Challenge.

Because despite all the work that goes into getting the XL to the start line, Bruce knows it’s never just one person who gets a car through five days of Drag Challenge.

And after nearly four decades with the same $60 Falcon, he’s got one more week to find out just how far the old girl can go.

Street Machine Drag Challenge, presented by VPW, runs from Tuesday 27 October to Saturday 31 October 2026, starting and finishing at Victorian Motorsports Park