John Woodroffe's car may be worth less since he began his love affair with custom stickers, but it has increased exponentially in personal value.
The 2002 Holden Commodore is plastered with eye-catching stickers referencing a lifetime of places visited, favourite public figures, and Mr Woodroffe's family members and friends.
A near-death experience that left Mr Woodroffe fighting for his life is included in the collection of decals.
The beginnings
Artwork on the roof of his car was the first custom sticker Mr Woodroffe made for the second-hand Commodore, which now has more than 55 stickers covering its sides.
Mr Woodroffe's wife Katy is an artist and he had three of her paintings recreated as car stickers.
He then branched into word stickers that reflected his passions in life, as well as friends and family.
"I love music, I read a lot, I'm an avid cricket follower, I love Collingwood Football Club and my family are very important to me," Mr Woodroofe said.
He recently added stickers for his two new grandchildren as well as a tribute to his best friend who died last year.
"I managed to find a spot on the back of the car for him," Mr Woodroffe said.
"It's an ongoing process and it's fun".
A near-death experience
A close shave with death on Oxford Street in London is included as a location in red on the car.
In 1972 Mr Woodroffe was hit by a woman who jumped from several storeys up one night on the busy London street.
"I was standing there, minding my own business. Katy had just joined me and we were about to go home to our little unit," Mr Woodroffe said.
"A woman decided to leap from a fifth-storey window and I was between her and the pavement."
All three survived, but Mr Woodroffe's injuries were extensive, and he spent 10 weeks in hospital, much of that time in a coma.
"It was a pivotal moment in our lives," recalled Mr Woodroffe, who at the time and for decades did not know the identity of the woman who jumped.
In recent years more of the woman's extraordinary story has come to light through Mr Woodroffe's research.
He recently finished a memoir that he has sent to publishers and is awaiting a response.
"Her story is much, much more interesting than mine."
A conversation starter on wheels
Mr Woodroffe said his car drew "diametrically opposite" reactions.
He is stopped in the street when getting in and out of the car and said "quite interesting conversations ensued".
"People who are driving past, the passenger will often look at the car and then if I look up and catch them looking they immediately look away," Mr Woodroffe said.
He said at times, the quirky vehicle helped to diffuse tricky situations.
Mr Woodroffe said he distracted another traveller who was "in a fit of almost road rage" by pointing to the name of a musician on his car, whose music he was listening to.
"She stopped and looked, then rolled her eyes, shook her head and went back to her car," Mr Woodroffe said.
Mr Woodroffe said he was not an extrovert but that the car fitted with his personality.
He plans to drive it until it "dies" and will continue to add stickers until then.
