PYTHON CHOPPERS

Brett Swain01/08/2016

I’m sure those in Melbourne have passed George’s workshop. I myself did many times and a while ago when I was looking for a competent mechanic to install my clutch and flywheel I decided to drop in and see if they could help. My experience there made me a repeat customer and an overall believer in what it is George and his staff at Python do.

I went in on a quiet Saturday for some photos and a short chat with the man behind Python.

B: Tell us a bit about your shop?

G: A quick way to give you that answer is this, I started off in early days of ’79 in my dad’s garage in Brighton and i’m here now in 2016, years later in a shop in South Melbourne. The shop exists because of my passion and because of what I love to do and that’s to play with cars and motorcycles. In particular AC Cobras which I have branded into my own brand called the Python sports car. My shop is what is it today because I love doing what I do.

B: As well as building the cobras you also have one which you often race, what is it about racing that you love/hate?

G: We started Python racing back in ’97 with the help of alot of people who gave their input in improving the chassis that we used for the street. We needed to race a car based on a car that we built for the street to promote the car and business and that’s exactly what we did. We continued racing ever since, its about 19-20 years now that we have been on the race track with our car, which has gone from a steel box section ladder frame chassis design to a round tube design.

The thing I hate about racing and the word hate is too harsh of a word, is the car that we are racing today in 2016 in no longer on an even playing field, Python Racing still races the same car which it raced in 2000 against huge cars of the 21st century. Cars like Audi R8’s, Porsche GT3 and GT2 cup cars, Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s and Aston Martin’s. The aerodynamics and technology of our car makes it very difficult for us to campaign our car in 2016 considering it is still the car that was built back in 2000. The car’s a 4 barrel carburetor engine with an old school V8 without driver aids such as traction control or abs, any driver error that could be corrected in a modern supercar will not be in ours.

B: There’s alot of great memorabilia in this workshop. Do you have any good stories you can tell me about where you collected them from?

G: One of the reasons there is such an extreme amount of memorabilia in this shop is that as a child I was never given the opportunity by my family to buy toys, so I always promised myself that when I get old enough i’m going to buy whatever toy I want, whatever model I want because i’ve got the money to do it.

The weirdest thing I probably ever brought was a 1958 construction workers lunch pale box that was carried up to one of the skyscrapers in New York. that was brought on one of the back roads of Kentucky back in the 80’s.

B: Where do you hope to see with Python in 10 years time?

G: We are looking to exporting our python sports cars to north America as well as focusing on downsizing our service department and up scaling the restoration side. For python racing we are looking at doing the 12 hour at Bathurst, as well as looking at a 2 car team in which we would lease one of the cars out to a well known driver or up and coming drivers looking for seat time in a car without driver aids to learn more in depth car craft. I certainly think in 10 years time if you come and ask me the question again we will be talking about the next 10 years of Python vehicles.