The low-down Once marked as a rising Queensland rugby star, Pete taught himself to play acoustic guitar after being confined to the sidelines because of injury. He quickly went on to become Australia's most popular singer/songwriter.
Career highlights Releasing his multi-platinum-selling debut album Feeler in 2003; releasing the hugely successful follow-up albums See The Sun, Summer At Eureka, Blue Sky Blue, and The Byron Sessions.
Current project On national tour to promote the Feeler 10-Year Anniversary Edition. See petemurray.com for dates.
$600 - the amount I eventually sold it for
8 - the number of years I had my Valiant
What was your first car?
A dark green Valiant Ute with a 245 Hemi. It was my grandparents' car. My friends used to call it the Khaki Ghost because you could never really sneak up on anybody - it was quite noisy. It didn't have any aircon either and the seat covers were the old vinyl, so you'd get out of it in summer and you'd be just drenched. But you know what? It went fast and that was the main thing.
What are you driving now?
A '77 Kombi, 2.0-litre. I bought it from this old guy who was the second owner. He'd had it for 15 years and he and his wife had travelled around Australia twice. I went around and checked it out. It was $4000. I took it for a drive, came back and said, 'mate, I love it'. He said, 'I just want to make sure it goes to a good owner'. A lot of Kombi owners are like that. He said, 'you can have it - now you'd better hurry up and drive off before you see me cry'. His wife had just died and it was a really sentimental thing for him. I felt pretty lucky and pretty special to have this Kombi that had meant so much to this old fella. I've repainted it and done it up inside, so it's in good nick. I don't think I'll ever sell it.
What's your pet road peeve?
Aggressive drivers - drivers who get angry so easily - and people who aren't considerate about others on the road. They're the ones who drive like crazy and are probably going to kill someone down the track.
What's your favourite drive?
Driving down the east coast and stopping off at little coastal towns, especially in the Kombi, is great. I used to do that a lot years ago. Some of the drives I've done in Spain and France are also incredible. Poland I'll say is beautiful, but the roads are horrendous. There's potholes all over the place and it takes a long time to get anywhere.
If you could go on a long road trip with absolutely anyone, who would it be?
Elvis Presley. He was a pretty funny guy and he'd have lots of stories to tell. The other guy that'd be interesting is Adolf Hitler, just to see what made him tick. If you could sit down with him now after everything that's happened and say, 'what were you thinking?' … I'd be so stuck on that conversation.
