Shepparton's real-life Mustang Sallie fulfils childhood dream

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It was a big day for Sallie Murphy when she went from @Mustangsallie84 in Instagram handle only to a real-life, bonafide Mustang Sallie. 

Until recently, Sallie Murphy had been getting from A to B in Lillie. Lillie the Laser initially, then Lillie the lowered Vitara. When the Mustang dream came true, a new name was required and 'Steph the 'Stang' was born.

Two necklaces hang from the rear-view mirror. An amethyst pendant and a simple black cord with STEPH spelt out in metal beads. Both immediately conjure up an image of a teenage girl.

Ms Murphy's best friend Steph died in 2000, aged 15.

"She was a car girl, a horsey girl, like me," she says.

"These are actually her necklaces, that her mum gave me, when we finally met after 22 years," Ms Murphy says as she touches the pendant.

"And I do remember her wearing these."

"I even got to take her mum for a ride when we met up and she quite enjoyed it. I think she said too she didn't really expect me to be a bit of a lead foot. But you've got to do the brrrrr, the little spurts here and there, just to get the sound."

Steph isn't the only name on the car. Both Lillie the Vitara and Steph the 'Stang share another marking with Ms Murphy — her tattoo.

The striking lines, dashes and angles, somewhat reminiscent of a message stick, are her surname in Ogham, an ancient Irish form of early writing.

Lost friends, matching tatts — the connection between Ms Murphy and her cars is clearly very strong. It's a passion and they've led to numerous friendships.

Sometimes new friends are made doing laps of Shepparton on a Friday night.

Sometimes they're one-off interactions such as children waving or men screaming "That's such a sexy car!"

There are the friends made while discussing builds at show and shines, or while winning car limbo competitions.

And, safe from male critique, there are the girl-only car enthusiast clubs like Girls Garage or Slammed Queens where Ms Murphy will show off her cars this weekend.

Rachel Parkinson began Slammed Queens in 2019. 

"When I started to go to car meets I found that there weren't a lot of girls in the scene," Ms Parkinson says.

"There was a bit of drama in them because a lot of men were saying to girls, 'You can't be interested in cars', things like that."

"I'm with heaps," Ms Murphy said. "It's just girl chat and cars."

It's not just at car enthusiast groups where Ms Murphy's cars help her to make friends.

"A few weeks ago I saw a couple of lasses with their bonnet up and I came around, I did a U-ey to see if they were alright," she says.

"They were alright but we ended up chatting for 20 minutes, and they were like, 'I just love your car', and everything, and I'm like, 'Same'."

"I love my girls."

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