WILL HALL PLAYS AS DETECTIVE MIKE MCCARTHY IN SERIES 2 OF WESTSIDE, WHICH SCREENS ON SUNDAYS AT 8.30PM ON TV3
What do you drive?
I used to drive a 2005 Black Suzuki Swift Sport. It was a fine, economical manual run-about, but with only two doors and a huge sub-woofer that took up the entire boot, it wasn’t going to work with a baby, so it’s made way for a Subaru XV Crossover. My wife and I liked the idea of the extra height in transporting the kid and all his accessories in and out of the car. The car is new from Winger Subaru.
Who else is allowed to drive your XV?
My wife. My dad. My father-in-law. My uncle (by marriage), second cousins, first wife’s sisters, best friend. Anyone, really.
First car?
When I was 16 my father gave me the choice of a 1974 Holden Kingswood or a 1985 Honda City Turbo II. Foolishly I opted for the more modern, easier-to-park Honda City. I could have had the coolest car at high school; instead I had the lamest. But things came full circle when I finally got behind the wheel of a 74 Kingswood as McCarthy in the first season of Westside. I just hope that come season 3, he doesn’t go down to the dealer to buy a Honda City!
Your dream car?
My dream car would be a black Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454, 1970 model, with the “Melba Toast” racing stripes as driven by “Wooderson” in the movie Dazed & Confused. The film came out the year I learned to drive, so it clearly had an influence on me — although that makes my decision to choose the 80s Honda City over the 70s Kingswood even more bizarre.
Favourite car colour?
It’s harder to keep clean but everything looks better in black, from rugby jerseys to cars.
Who taught you to drive?
My dad, on the farm. A stress-free way to learn to drive at 15. Even if Dad spent hours discussing the mechanics of how gears work before I was even allowed to turn the key. I then remember taking formal lessons at school before, while we were on holiday, I decided to sit my practical test in Picton. Picton, back in the 90s, had no traffic lights, three roundabouts and just a couple of stop signs. It was pretty easy with a policeman who was keen to get the test done in time for an early lunch. The only thing that made it difficult was doing a three-point turn in the old man’s Ford Falcon stationwagon. It would have been much easier in the Honda City.
Do you prefer manual or automatic?
Manual. The more driving you can do, the better.
Most memorable road trip?
Six mates and myself piled into an old van with only three gears and drove from Christchurch to Gisborne to be among the first in the world to see the first light of the new millennium. The light wasn’t much to write home about (it was cloudy and wet) but the journey getting there at the age of 20 was amazing. We may have invented freedom camping, staying in such exotic locations as a Briscoes carpark and Marineland in Napier.
Favourite movie/TV car scene?
I have a bookshelf dedicated to vehicles from film and TV ... Doc Brown’s Delorean, Adam West’s Batmobile; Jesse Pinkman’s RV Fleetwood Bounder “The Krystal Ship”; Michael Knight’s KITT Pontiac Firebird; Deadpool’s Chimichanga food truck; Ghostbusters’ 1959 Cadillac; Bullitt’s 1969 Mustang; Homer Simpson’s creation “the Homer”.
If you could change one traffic law?
I’d probably make it compulsory to re-sit your test every 10 years. (Disclaimer: I’d be heading back to Picton to sit my test.)