A famous baker, his best mate, a 1930 A Model Ford make it 7443 km’s across Australia to raise money for Cancer

Tom O’Toole, founder of Beechworth Bakery drove his 1930 A Model Ford across the country with his best mate, Keith McIntosh in 2019.  The pair did this drive across the country raising awareness and money for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Centre.

The two mates took up the challenge of driving the vintage car over 7,443 kilometres starting in Byron Bay on the Sunday 25 March, across the country to Shark Bay, Western Australia.  The trip was a challenge, both by the scale of the drive and keeping the old car on the road. The car brok down, got bogged, had a dozen flat tyres and drove through floods.

Tom O’Toole is the founder of the famous Beechworth Bakery chain, successful inspirational speaker and self-described kindergarten failure-turned-author. With a formidable sense of humour and an enthusiasm bordering on inspired frantic madness, he has spearheaded the rebirth of a dying country town by turning his bakery into a phenomenon of Australian small business, which continues to gather strength and speed. Tom is passionate about regional Australia and its potential.

Tom and Keith have both been impacted by cancer and aims to raised over $40,000.00 for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute. Tom has spoken at multiple events on the trip, sharing his business and its marketing story success as well as hilarious anecdotes from the trip.

“Keith has been my best mate for most of my life, and to both of us the old A Model feels a bit like the third member of the party. The old girl is 87 years old and on good day we will averaged around 45 kilometres an hour, on a great day 50… simply because there’s a tail wind.” Said Mr O’Toole

“Both Keith and I have lost friends and family to cancer, and since this is likely the last trip of our ‘awesome threesome’ we thought we’d make it count by raising some money and awareness for cancer research.  Now we have finished, we really want everyone to dig deep.

“I’ve always been a huge believer in supporting good causes, especially in a regional context. So to do this whole thing knowing we’re doing our bit to help support the fantastic work the institute does is a real bonus!”

The documentary of the trip is available on DVD for $40.00 Preview clip below. Please email admin@fecri.org.au to order a copy of this hilarious story. Proceeds to cancer research.