By Rebecca Skilton
Grow takes a trip on the Nostalgia Highway to discover what drives the family behind a thriving memorabilia business.
Welcome to man cave HQ.
Australia wide, they’re the go-to for anyone with an interest in nostalgia and hot rod memorabilia.
And they’re based right here in the Cardinia Shire in the small town of Garfield.
Owned and operated by Graeme and Jodee Webb, Nostalgia Highway boasts a range of nostalgic and hot rod memorabilia, supplying anything one could possibly desire to decorate their bar, garage, barn, man cave or shop.
From petrol bowsers, to signs, to vintage tyre inflators and oil bottle racks, the family run business caters for every nostalgic and automotive enthusiast.
As engine builder and son-in-law of Graeme and Jodee, Sam Obersnell explained, the memorabilia business kicked off around seven years ago, originating from Graeme’s passion for hot rod cars as well as the the American 1950s and Wild West eras.
“We were all bringing cars in and engines, and it started getting a little harder because the older engines were getting harder to find,” Sam explained.
“It started off with just bringing some signs in from the States, and then we started doing the bowsers, stools, tables and then we thought well there’s a market for it, and one thing led to another.”
With very few businesses catering for the nostalgic and hot rod memorabilia market, Nostalgia Highway’s popularity grew swiftly, and within 18 months the Webbs’ backyard-based company had become a household name within the automotive and hot rod industries. Seven years on, the Nostalgia Highway team now manufactures custom signs for car clubs and businesses; with a long list of customers that include Holden, Ford, ACDelco and Sidchrome.
“There was nothing like us here in Australia when we started,” Jodee explained. “We were the only ones. Before we were named Nostalgia Highway, we sort of just dabbled with the business, but we didn’t have a name or anything like that, and then it started getting busier and we thought we should do this correctly, so we started Nostalgia Highway.”
Yet despite their unique services and products, Sam and Jodee maintain that it’s the quality of their work that acts as their point of difference, with imported products from countries such as China failing to uphold the same standards as Nostalgia Highway.
“We’re now the go-to as far as manufacturing (the nostalgic and hot rod memorabilia) in Australia. We make everything pretty much in-house … you look at our bowsers for example and from start to finish everything is made in here … nothing is imported on that bowser,” Sam explained.
“But that’s our point of difference; we’re Australian made. You get a lot of people out there trying to copy products and they do it in a cheaper way and they don’t tell their customer how the product is made. Like they’ll put a stick on a bit of tin and say it’s a tin or a metal sign, and it’s just not right … we compete with a lot of imports that come out of China, but again, the quality isn’t there…it’s far from it.”
With stores across Australia now stocking Nostalgia Highway products Sam admits that while customers are coming through the door more and more, the business has no signs of slowing down.
“You’re always chasing new work, but now it’s getting to the stage where people are finding us,” Sam admitted. “They’ve either heard about us through clients or have seen our products out at (hot rod) shows and they find out who we are and what they do and they come through to us.”
“But what we can produce in terms of products is really endless,” Sam added. “You’re only limited by your imagination. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what we can do. The business is still growing.”
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