Marcus Pike and his mate Gerard De Campe are driving their 1995 Ford Falcon more than 3000km across the Nullarbor to watch their beloved Fremantle Dockers play in the AFL grand final – and despite the Falc’s age, they reckon it’s dealing with the journey “beautifully”.

Pike and De Campe documented the process of getting the 31-year-old vehicle ready on their Instagram account. Two weeks before setting off, Pike said there was “heaps of work to do” to the “tyres, suspension, diff pulled apart, new fuel lines, all that sort of stuff”. 

White station wagon with purple stripes on a dusty dirt road, roof rack loaded with suitcases, Australian outback in the background.
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The work – which also included new shocks – cost them $3000 at a time when they weren’t even sure their team would make it to the biggest game of the year after their shock loss to Hawthorn in the first finals match of 2026.

The duo christened their car the “Wharfie Wagon” – after the Dockers’ famed “Wharfie Time” celebration – once they’d added some decals to the duco in team colours the day before they hit the road.

With the roof rack packed until it was chockers with supplies including petrol, they set off, despite their Instagram followers warning them it was a bad idea. “A lot of you seem to think this vehicle shouldn’t be out here. And you’re right,” Pike said. 

“However, this thing is running a treat. If you don’t think it should be out here, well then, follow along … this thing’s going on a f***ing journey.” 

Speaking to Channel Seven’s Sunrise the morning after they reached the remote roadhouse community at Balladonia on their first stint, Pike said, “It’s been smooth sailing so far, mate. We made good headway yesterday, about 900 kays. Ran into our first minor mechanical drama, which we’ll get tidied up this morning and hopefully push on from here.”

Pike admitted the Falcon “is older than us” and said “it’s probably not the smartest choice”, but added, “It runs, drives and goes beautifully, mate. It’s just stopping that’s become a little bit of an issue … we’ll try and get the brakes sussed this morning and then see how we go after that.”

Man with long hair and sunglasses beside a white car with purple chevron stripes on a dirt road near a lake.
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Asked if they attempted to get on a plane to get to the MCG, Pike (pictured above) revealed, “Nah, we didn’t even try, to be honest,” with De Campe adding, “There’s not much fun in that.”

Pike was a little less upbeat in a clip posted to Instagram. “We’ve had a tumultuous day,” he explained. “Last night coming into camp, we’re doing about 109 and I pumped the brakes … and then bang, all we heard was a hissing noise.”

The mates limped the car to Norseman, about 190km south of Kalgoorlie, and had a brake booster freighted so they could install it on the third morning of the run. They obviously pulled it off because the next post showed them in South Australia with a working set of anchors and the aim of reaching Melbourne on Friday morning, just over 24 hours before kickoff.

Their most recent post saw Pike checking the oil as part of some “preventative maintenance” as they punched out 2200km in two days. He invited petrolheads who’ve been following their exploits to meet them at the MCG, where they can check out what sort of state the Falc is in… and how it’s looking in anticipation of the return journey.