Barney Rubble did not have an exclusive on bottomless cars. As a young tradesman in Brisbane, Armando Sgroi remembers the 1958 panel that he and another electrician used as their transport to and from jobs, and how, quite literally, they could watch the miles go by through several holes in the Kombi's ageing floor. The ‘58 was probably Qld's first official ‘ratter' before the term became popular nomenclature, but rather than deter him from ever owning a rusty brick on wheels, he bought his very own ex-PMG ‘67 Splitter in 1980. As a priority, the wheezing 1200 engine was upgraded to a less asthmatic 1600, thus negating the use of stone age ‘pedal-power', and the bus served him well for both business and leisure.
