The mechanic turned racing queen began her career in a very different industry to where she is now.

After finishing high school in 1975, she was inspired by her engineer dad and their time together tinkering with old cars. It wasn’t easy to find someone to take a woman on as an apprentice at the time but she finally found a job with a mechanic shop in Armadale. Today she has set up her dream garage and still makes time to work on her latest project as her “ time out go-to”.

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(Cristine's son's car before they restored it together.)

“There is just something about the smell of oil and AVgas fuel, I call it the Chanel No.5 of motoring," she said. 

“I never imagined it was going to be so hard to get a job offer as a female motor mechanic, however after a lot of persistence, many cold calls and the media picking up on my story I started and did my motor mechanic apprenticeship with John Ould Motors in Armadale, Victoria.”

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(Like new, her son's car with a  go-kart she found in the rubbish and fixed for her granddaughter.)

Her most memorable experiences were teaching her kids to work on cars and watching them develop a similar passion and of course when she was invited to do the 1/4 mile in a rare machine, The Famous 1951 Twin-Fuselage Tarf on the Fremantle Docklands.