Collecting Cars Contributors - Meet Tim Ali

I’m Tim Ali, a new contributor to Collecting Cars coming to you from ‘down under’. Born and raised in Melbourne, I've spent my professional career as a television director and producer. My true love for cars began at 10 years old, when dad brought home a 1969 Ford Mustang convertible with a meaty 302 V8. It was a car I spent my childhood in and the first one I ever worked on, rebuilding the interior and learning all about 302s.

I learnt to drive in my 1973 Toyota Corolla; bright orange, black interior, manual. Always finding something to fix or upgrade every weekend, it was my schooling of how to run a car well. It was also when my passion for making car films began.

Dad’s mate had a 1979 Ford Escort MKII race car and for my final school media film I strapped the department’s camera to the front bumper and attempted to recreate Claude Lelouch’s ‘C'était un rendez-vous’ through the streets of Melbourne. The Escort blew a water pump half-way, but we managed to fix it and finish the film – though my media teacher was NOT impressed.

My next car was something I’d pay a lot of money to have back. We all have one or two of those, don't we?

The car in question was my red 1989 E30 BMW 318i. A 2-door, with 5-speed manual, lowered on 17” wheels, fully re-trimmed leather interior with the classic wind-yourself sunroof. It was my pride and joy. I ran a car wash at the time, so there’s no question it was the cleanest around.

Weekends would see me and my mates cruising Melbourne's popular Chapel Street (for any Melburnians out there, ‘chap laps’) or joining any car event we could find. Given this was the height of the ‘Fast and Furious’ era, most of the time I was surrounded by JDM heroes blasting 2000s club hits out of lots of speakers. As much as I’m a fan of the JDM world and still haven’t recovered from the death of Paul Walker, my heart always lay with the Euros. My dream car at the time was the legendary BMW 1M.

Joining my two passions of cars and filmmaking has always been a constant, making plenty of automotive films which now sit on dusty DVDs somewhere. My life in television began in 2009, which has turned into a 15-year career. The majority of this time I owned a black, manual, E87 BMW 120i hatch – a trusty daily to carry plenty of gear.

I’ve been lucky enough to direct and produce some amazing TV shows, taking me all over the world, but always pondering the next car adventure. In 2021, on the way home from a shoot in Europe I dropped into Germany where I hired a BMW M840i from Frankfurt airport and cruised the autobahns to Nurburg. Staying for a few days, I completed five laps of the mighty Nordschleife while hanging out with the awesome team at Apex, and discovering the eclectic car community that this part of the world has to offer.

This trip was one of my truly memorable car experiences and it sparked a motivation to start creating car content again; this time making short cinematic pieces using friends' cars and gifting them as mementos, as well as starting a YouTube channel.

My next and most recent purchase was one of the best automotive decisions I’ve made. While living in Sydney at the time, I bought a Toyota GR Yaris and finally joined the world of Japanese performance cars.

I absolutely love this car and literally spent every weekend taking it for spirited drives through Sydney’s national park. Basically, kilometers and kilometers of windy roads along the beautiful NSW coastline. But more importantly it opened me up to the car community again. Now back in Melbourne, it’s no longer ‘chap laps’ on Friday and Saturday nights, but early morning car shows, meets, cruises and connecting with the fantastic car community we have out here in Australia.

I’ve also been working on the Mustang again, rebuilding the carburettor so I can get it back on the road for dad.

The most significant car event I attended recently was the Collecting Cars Aussie Coffee Run, where I met the local team, and this journey began.

I am truly excited to be contributing to the Collecting Cars family by showcasing some of the amazing cars and stories that the Aussie community has to offer.

1968 Mustang GT500, an officially licensed ‘Eleanor’ 427 from Fusion Motor Company. A ‘68 donor car reimagined with carbon-fibre body, 6-speed manual and the famous “go baby go” shifter. Growing up with Mustangs and being so connected to that raw V8 sound, I’d have to have one in my life. For me, this is the ultimate.

2012 BMW 1M in Valencia Orange on stock silver wheels. Still one of the all-time greats from the M division and arguably the best BMW ever made; it will always sit as one of my all-time favorite cars. Easy to daily and a pleasure to throw around a track whenever the urge hits.

I’m biased but Porsche 956 chassis 118 has to be one of the most special cars I’ve been in the presence of. While making the film, I learned so much about its rich history and was blown away by how active it’s been as a race car since it was built in 1984. The amount of time and effort invested into its upkeep and racing preparation is beyond impressive. It was an absolute pleasure to spend the day having a detailed look around it and sit in it! One of the best parts of car culture is getting to know the people in the community, and meeting and chatting to all the people involved with 956-118 was fascinating and made the experience even more memorable.