Harold Patrick Thynne, known as 'Chig', built his life around a love of cars. Whether it was working at his spray painting business, attending a classic car rally with his wife or teaching his granddaughter how to drive - he did it all.
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Mr Thynne passed away at Warrigal Aged Care on June 28 at 90 years old. He was dearly loved by his late wife Tess and his late daughter Janet as well as his granddaughter Sonya and two great grandchildren.
Mr Thynne was born on October 29, 1929. He was the oldest, with four younger sisters: Merle, Betty, June and Joan.
He married Tess Evans on February 14, 1947. The pair were married for 57 years until Tess passed away. They had one daughter named Janet who tragically died at 39 years old.
Granddaughter Sonya White, who was raised by her grandparents, said Chig was a very special man.
She said he was always buying cars, fixing them and restoring them.
"He was clever, he could fix anything," she said.
"If something was broken you fixed it, you didn't throw it away."
Mrs White has fond memories of her grandfather teaching her to drive.
"I used to sit on his knee and drive around... from about four years of age," she said.
Mrs White said her grandparents were inseparable and did everything together.
"When you saw one, you saw the other," she said.
Mr Thynne helped found the Goulburn Historic Classic Car Club in 1991.
Mrs White recalled her grandfather's penchant for collecting classic cars.
"Over 30 years ago he promised my grandmother he would buy no more cars, because his sheds were full, however, he just built more sheds to fit more cars."
Mr Thynne was also a skilled racer. He used to drive at the Goulburn Speedway and was renown for getting flagged for having his arm resting out the window.
His granddaughter recalled his efforts to fix a broken zipper on her favourite jeans when she was 14 years old.
"It was dearer to get a zipper than it was to get a new pair of jeans, so he took them up to the shed, when he came back they had been fixed with press studs," she said.
Mrs White said the mended jeans reminded her of the first ever Levi 501s.
Fellow car club member and long time friend Max Keys shared some of his memories of Mr Thynne.
He said Chig was a master at spray painting cars.
"If other cars were sprayed incorrectly, or a shade out of colour, [people] would bring the cars to him and he would fix it. His eye was so good," Mr Keys said.
His friend said he could do all the mechanical work, trimming, panel beating and spray painting when it came to restoring cars.
"All the cars he restored were a total credit to him," Mr Keys said.
"He hardly ever asked for help and did all of it on his own."
Mr Keys said Chig was always a gentleman.
"He always looked immaculate in his dress, regardless if it was in his overalls or going out with the car club," he said.
He recalled an old photograph and the story behind it.
"Someone rang [Mr Thynne] one day when they found a photo of an old FJ Holden at Parramatta Speedway that was airborne and rolling over a fence," Mr Keys said.
"They asked if he knew who the driver was.
"Chig responded 'I was driving' and that's all he had to say."
Another time Mr Thynne confessed he was running out of space for the cars. He said Tess only knew of 40 cars, but he actually had about 50 or more put away.
Mr Thynne's funeral will be held at S.s Peter and Paul's Cathedral at 11am tomorrow, July 2.
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