What was your first-ever car?
It was a mustard-coloured Toyota LandCruiser, long wheelbase troop carrier-style. That was the family car. It's what we got driven to school formals in. To top it all off it was actually diesel as well, so you could hear it coming from about a kilometre away. I'm not sure it was the coolest car going around, but everyone knew it was the Eales' car. You'd fit 11 people - three in the front and eight in the back, so almost a full cricket team and definitely more than half the rugby team. So dad used to do a lot of the driving for those things. I learned to drive in it and it was the only vehicle I ever drove for years and years.
How did you find the whole learning to drive experience?
Our local shopping centre was Brookside at Mitchelton. That's basically where everyone around our 'hood learned to drive. In those days there was never shopping on Sunday. They'd even shut at midday on Saturday. So Saturday afternoon and Sundays was when everyone learned to drive around the car park. There was a number of shops there and one was actually called Jack the Slasher for a while. When I learned to drive, it was in Jack the Slasher's car park.
Sounds like the name of a horror movie.
He was like a cheap grocery store. And dad's name was Jack as well, so it had that double meaning.
As a Lexus ambassador, what are you driving these days?
I drive the LS460. It's a wonderful car. I love it because it's a big car but it doesn't give the impression of being massive when you're driving in it. It's actually quite compact inside. The other thing I really like about the brand is that it's very understated. It's not necessarily showy. It has the mod cons, but the premium aspects of the car are subtly included in the interior and exterior.
What's been your most memorable drive?
I can give you the scariest. We once landed in Dublin with the Wallabies and for whatever reason we had a police escort. I don't know why we had one - we weren't in a rush. But this escort was basically clearing the road. It had the bus driving up half on the footpath at times, going through thin lines of traffic. There was a lot of traffic around. I had no idea why we had this escort but it endangered a lot of people, including us. We just shaking our heads saying, 'well this is Dublin, things happen differently here, perhaps'. But it was harrowing, to say the least.
Vital Statistics
17 – the age I learned to drive
5 – the number of years I've been a Lexus ambassador
The lowdown: the Wallabies legend commenced his driving career courtesy of a robust and reliable family favourite.
Career highlights: chalking up 86 Test caps; captaining the Wallabies on 55 occasions; leading the team to their 1999 Rugby World Cup win and four Bledisloe Cup victories from 1998 to 2001; scoring Tri Nations wins in 2000 and 2001 as well as a series win against the British Lions in 2001.
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