Nothing beats the sound of a V8 engine roaring into life [see video below], particularly after Peter Hughes has spent some time working on it.

Mr Hughes is a bit of a genius when it comes to restoring cars, and the vehicles he has ready for an upcoming auction in Ulladulla will be snapped up.

His cars have been described as "show stoppers".

The vehicles are set to go under the hammer at an auction, presented by the Macquarie Auction Group, this weekend.

Some of the highlights of the Saturday, October 18, auction, which starts at 11am are:

Icons such as the Austin Healey Sprite MK III, a 1976 Dodge Sportsman Van, and a customised Bedford Truck are part of the auction.

Auction Date: Saturday, October 18, 11am (Live Audio Simulcast)

Pre-bidding; Now open at www.macquarieauctions.com.au

Auction location: Ulladulla

The Milton Ulladulla Times recently caught up with Mr Hughes, a former Ulladulla business owner and long-time local resident, for a chat, which started with the often-overlooked Valiant.

Over a dozen cars, of various makes and models, are being auctioned with quite a few Valiants up for auction.

Mr Hughes knows about labels, particularly in the 1970s and 80s, that Valiants were branded with, and added the make; compared to Holdens or Fords, was just not that popular.

"But they had some very unique engineering - the Hemi engine was very unique," he said about the Valiant.

"The Hemi engine was designed in America and, of course, adopted here [in Australia], and it was a very strong engine and did extremely well."

He added that the fastest production car produced in Australia was the six-cylinder Charger.

"They [Valiants] were always a lower version and nobody really wanted them," Mr Hughes said.

"The perception has changed, and I knew Chrysler Valiants would rise from the ashes - so to speak.

"The problem is - so many of them have gone to the wreckers or have been scrapped, and so there are fewer of them."

He added that interest in the Chrysler Valiant scene has grown significantly over the last decade.

He is sad to see the cars go, but also knows the auction is needed.

Mr Hughes does not want the burden of getting rid of the cars to fall to any of his children.

He is downsizing, yes, but this does not mean his hobby/love of restoring cars will end.

Then comes the obvious question. Do you have a particular favourite?

"There are a number of them that will always be somewhat of a favourite," he said.

"Yes, I may have half a dozen Valiants, but I have also picked on cars that I remember seeing as a young fella."

He remembers working in a service station when he was growing up in Sydney, and his boss had a Buick Riviera, and he loved it.

"So I bought one [a Buick Riviera]," he said.

"You migrate to things you grew up with, like old Holdens, and I have always liked V8s as well."

He has a couple of Chrysler Valiant Pacers and a Chrysler Valiant Regal 770, which is a "very rare car" that he is restoring at the moment

Mr Hughes, for his day-to-day vehicle, is happy with his Nissan Patrol.

"I have had it for a long time," he said about his Nissan Patrol.

He is a member of a local car club. When he was a business owner, Mr Hughes supported various community causes and was a member of some service groups.

Being an engineer by trade means that when Mr Hughes finishes working on them, the cars are immaculate.

Mr Hughes always had a love of cars, "ever since he was a young fella" growing up in Sydney.

"I loved cars and just always tinkered with them," he said.

His dad, George, also shared a passion for tinkering with cars.

He bought a couple of cars when he was younger and did them up.

His passion for cars was set aside when family commitments and the need to earn a living arose.

Mr Hughes has lived in the Ulladulla area for around 42 years, and occupation-wise was "self-employed" in the transport industry.

Along with his first wife, Lyn [deceased], Mr Hughes also owned a furniture business [Ulladulla Furniture and Carpets] in the early 1980s. The late Mrs Hughes ran the retail side of the business, and Mr Hughes handled the transport side of things.

Both parts of the business grew "very strongly", and they decided to sell both.

His present wife Catherine and her then first husband Norbet [deceased] bought the shop.

Mr Hughes has been married to Catherine for around 15 years.

Lyn bought Peter an old FC Holden, which he still owns, as a present, which gave him something to tinker with in his spare time.

When Lyn passed away in 2006, all Mr Hughes did for a time was "operate and survive" for a while, until the relationship with Catherine grew.

Catherine could see Mr Hughes loved cars, and he "more or less" fell into what became an impressive car restoration operation.

He went from just thinking about buying cars to collecting cars.

Mr Hughes ended up with a stock of vehicles - mostly Holdens - HK 1967 models.

Then he started getting into Chryslers, and then around 2008/10, he started to restore his purchases.

He was fortunate enough to have all the facilities and know-how needed to restore the vehicles.

"I also surrounded myself with like-minded people," he said.

A panel beater looking for casual work, an upholsterer and another "mechanical engineer type fella", Mark Richardson, came part of the "team".

"All of a sudden, things were starting to come together, and then the next minute I am doing a car up," he said.

Like-minded people thanks to "word of mouth" all started to contribute to the work.

Things then started to get a little bit too big.

"I had about 30 cars, in various stages of restoration, at one stage," Mr Hughes said.

"I was still buying cars, which was another problem. I thought I had to lighten the load - I was running out of room - it became a bit of a problem.

He had to downsize and spent the last two to three years doing so.

The now-retired Mr Hughes also found that his hobby was starting to become like a job - another reason why he needed to downsize.

"It was becoming something I was starting to not enjoy," he said.

The Saturday, October 18, auction is part of the downsizing process.

Mr Hughes said it was a shame that Australia no longer had a car-making industry.

Reflecting on the situation, as a business owner with 40 years of experience, he says over the decades, changes in the way Australia did business with the rest of the world meant our labour costs were too high.

"So we started importing back in the 1970s from Japan. Eventually, this eroded away our own manufacturing, and that is across the board - very little manufacturing goes on in this country," he said.

Mr Hughes is always on the lookout for projects that offer "something different and interesting" and so there could be more auctions in the future.

"I still like the hunt, so to speak, and trying to find something that is unique," he said.

So watch this space .....

Pure power, precision and polish: Ulladulla car auction to be a "show stopper"