Darryl Bieniasz and fiancée Visi Gonzalez had to sell the beloved Holden panel van when two surprise kids arrived. Photo: Bianca McEwen.
When Bianca and her twin sister Allison arrived in October 1990 as a “complete surprise” to their parents, they came with a sacrifice.
Their dad, Darryl Bieniasz, had to sell his pride and joy – a cream-coloured Holden HR Panel Van.
“They had to get a more appropriate family vehicle with back seats for the two capsules they hadn’t planned on and make the sacrifice to put us through private school and get braces and all the rest of it,” Bianca explains.
But Darryl has never forgotten that car.
“He’s been looking for it, I’d say, at least 20 years,” Bianca says.
“We often call it ‘his first child’.”
Bianca is now married with the surname McEwen and her own kids – a four-month-old, a two-year-old and a four-year-old. But ahead of her father’s 60th birthday on 29 December, she’s made it her mission to reunite Darryl with his Holden.
She posted a message to the Canberra Notice Board Group on Facebook this week, asking if anyone has information on where the car ended up.
“What it looks like? Anything? The life it’s had since? The old boy’s turning 60, and my mum, the rest of his family, and I would be so grateful!” she wrote.
Darryl met the love of his life, Visi Gonzalez, while growing up in Whyalla in South Australia. On holiday to Canberra in 1986, the engaged couple decided to stay and moved into a government house in Weston Creek.
Have you seen this Holden? Photo: Bianca McEwen.
Darryl secured a job with ACTION as a panel beater in February 1987 in what is now the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston. A short time afterwards, he met a bloke at the Belconnen depot, who owned a cream-coloured Holden HR Panel Van.
“Dad bought it for $50 as more or less a shell and rebuilt it,” Bianca says.
“He was a massive car and bike nut, and that’s why he went into professional panel beating. He’s always been clever with his hands.”
He sold the panel van for $5000, and initial leads suggest it ended up with a house painter in Narrabundah. Another owner has since reached out to Bianca too, Cathy of Majors Creek. She bought it in the mid-90s and used it to tour Australia – from Daintree to Alice Springs.
“It’s had a wonderful life,” Bianca says.
Cathy is now looking into who she sold it to.
The hunt is a secret to her father for now – “I’ve blocked him on Facebook so he can’t see the post”. The goal is to surprise him for his 60th.
“Maybe, at a minimum, just having some information on it or even going for a drive,” Bianca says.
“But ideally, we’d like to purchase it as a family for him. That would be incredible.”
Cathy from Majors Creek took the HR around Australia. Photo: Supplied.
Bianca is also learning some precious things about her parents along the way too, such as a message from a young mother who also found herself pregnant with twins around the same time as Bianca’s parents.
“Your mum and dad, I will forever be grateful for them, as they helped me out with numerous hand-me-downs from you and your sister – prams, clothes, etc,” the woman wrote on Facebook.
“They are amazing people, and I hope you find your dad’s panel van.”
Can you help Bianca? Contact her at biancasgonzales@hotmail.com if you can help her find her Dad’s Holden HR Panel Van.
