As the gleaming, charcoal-coloured 1975 Holden Kingswood HJ Premier Wagon thundered up the road to the National Arboretum, the emotional father of the bride bent over and said, "I'm going to lose it".
Friday was already special - Kambah couple Wendy Carney and Jason Gunning were getting married at the arboretum.
What Wendy's dad "Stretch" didn't realise is that she had organised the ultimate sentimental surprise for him - bringing his other pride and joy to the wedding.
Wendy and her sisters were ferried to the wedding in the 1975 Kingswood - a car Stretch had owned and loved for decades but thought he'd never see again.
Stretch heard the car before he saw it.
"She doesn't like the hills," he said.
"Second gear, mate?" one of his friends called out.
"Probably," the laconic Stretch replied.
Stretch, 64, had to sell the family car and Summernats staple in 2018 when he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and couldn't work.
What makes yesterday's gesture even more heart-warming is that the current owner of the Kingswood - Phillip McDermott - ferried the car more than 1500 kilometres from his home in Adelaide to Canberra so that it could be part of the wedding.
With the Kingswood on a trailer, Phillip and his wife Natalie shared the driving to get it to the church (well, wedding venue) on time. They even brought mechanic Stuart McLeod with them in case the car needed any last-minute attention.
Stretch, wearing his trademark cowboy hat to the wedding, was overwhelmed seeing the car again for the first time in more than six years. Not only that, it was taking his beautiful daughter to her wedding.
"Unbelievable. Wow. I miss that old girl," he said as the car pulled up outside the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion.
Phillip said the Kingswood was recently found to have "a slight oil leak" that turned into more than $30,000 in repairs to make sure it could get to the wedding.
It even had a borrowed panel van engine put in before they departed, donated just days before by an Adelaide mechanic Brett from Gawler Mechanical.
Phillip, 50, a commercial floor layer, knew how much Stretch loved the car and how important the surprise of it appearing at the wedding was to the family.
"I've been told it was more important than the wedding dress," he said.
Stretch's iconic Kingswood, with its WAGN 75 number plate, had been a multiple Show and Shine winner at Summernats in Canberra.
Phillip had spotted the car at Summernats 2018 and fell in love with its colour. He has other cars in the same dark grey.
Stretch said the car wasn't for sale. But fate intervened and a few months later, the Kingswood was on the market. Phillip bought it in May, 2018 and has loved it ever since.
But he's always known how much the car meant to Stretch. And respected that bond.
"Stretch has been in contact with us every six months for the past four or five years, just saying, 'Hey, Phil, how's the car going?'. It was his baby," Phillip said.
Stretch's daughter Wendy said she found Phillip - and the car - by "Google stalking" him, eventually messaging him through Facebook to ask him if he ever brought the car to Canberra and could it maybe be part of her wedding.
"It didn't take me 10 seconds to say 'yes'," Phillip said.
Wendy said the Kingswood represented a "core memory" for her family. All the kids learnt to drive in it. When it was sold, everyone was devastated. Stretch had put so much work into it over the years.
"The car meant so much to our family, not just as a symbol of our shared experiences, but also as a lasting connection to my dad's legacy," she said.
Wendy said Phillip and Natalie answered her call for the car to be part of her wedding "without hesitation".
"They didn't ask for anything in return, just the joy of helping us relive a beautiful piece of our family's history," she said.
"In a world where generosity often feels scarce, Phillip and his wife's act of kindness is a testament to the goodness that still exists.
"It's not just about a car - it's about family, nostalgia, and the incredible connections we can make with complete strangers."
Phillip and Natalie are basically family now. Phillip drove the bridal party to the wedding.
Phillip, Natalie and the mechanic Stuart all attended the wedding and reception, taking pride of place on a table "up the front".
It was a moving, joyous occasion. But Saturday might just top the wedding. Phillip is letting Stretch take out the Kingswood.
"So he can drive his baby one more time," he said.
