Dean Perkins and his V8 Falcon XD go way back.
The former New Zealand touring car driver has owned the burly, red 6.5-litre Ford for 31 years, giving it a new lease of life once it finished its traffic officer-transporting duties.
The longevity of their relationship perhaps is perhaps due to the success Perkins has had in the Falcon, including featuring in nearly all five of the Central Muscle Cars races at the weekend's Highlands Festival of Speed meeting.
Pukekohe's Perkins managed to win the round, with a race win and three second places, although he could not quite beat Christchurch's Andy Knight in a Chevy Monza during the top-10 shootout, the first the CMC class has contested.
Knight, a former Toyota Racing Series and V8 Super Tourer driver, smashed the CMC lap record at Highlands with his time of 1min 42.827sec.
The podium presentations also featured Hamilton's Tony Galbraith in a Dodge Charger, Christchurch's Graeme Allan in a Chevrolet Camaro, Papakura's Sean Fowler in a Holden Torana, New Plymouth's Ross Graham in another Torana, Porirua's Paul Boden in a Mustang and Auckland's Andrew Turner in a Commodore.
Rearing off the track occasionally as the massive, 850hp Roush Yates 358cu inch Ford Nascar engine lifted one of Perkins' front wheels away from the Highlands' circuit, it was easy to see how that kind of power helped its owner win the CMC series last year.
He is on track for another victory with only one round left to run in Taupo at the end of March.
With temperatures soaring at Highlands over the weekend, Perkins estimated the heat inside the Ford's interior would have been about 52degC, as the exhaust was located right underneath him.
"It's a real work-out round here. It's a busy track,'' he said.
The third annual Festival of Speed also featured the Pre 65s, predominately from around the South Island.
Christchurch's Corey Ross won the first race in his Mustang, while father and son Wayne and Dan Patrick, driving a Falcon and a Vauxhall, shared the honours in the second and third races respectively.
Highlands general manager Mike Sentch said in the vintage and historic single-seater category, "you'd never know the drivers were in cars that are more than 50 years old''.
"Dunedin's Paul Coghill had some mighty battles in his 1952 Jaguar Special against Ashburton's Russ Haines in a 1965 Frangapelli Holden,'' he said.
Formula Libre honours went to Invercargill's Damon Leitch in a Ralt RT4, while Geraldine's Milne Horne powered his Mazda RX7 to victory in the modern classic class. Dunedin's Allan Dippie dominated the nostalgic classic category in his immaculate MG GTS.
