Vale Bill Cook 1942-2023 – Surf Coast Times

TORQUAY resident Bill Cook has been remembered as a deep thinker, a skilled builder, and a highly creative inventor.

Mr Cook was well known in Torquay for decades and noted for his many mechanical construction projects as well as his musical and poetry works.

He passed away peacefully on May 18 following a short, unexpected illness at the age of 80, and a service celebrating his life was held at the Geelong Crematorium Chapel on May 29.

Mr Cook converted this four-wheel Land Rover to have six wheels. Photo: JAMES TAYLOR

Mr Cook was famous in Torquay for his work as a stonemason, running his own business and completing several fireplaces for local identities.

Born in Holland in 1942, Mr Cook emigrated to Australia in 1969 a month after his marriage.

Speaking at his service, Mr Cook’s wife Nel described him as “unique, a most interesting and complex man, creative, stubborn and passionate about bringing his seemingly impossible imaginings to reality”.

“Some visions required hard physical labour – no matter how difficult the task, he persevered,” she said.

The Harley-Davison motorcycle with JAP heads used on Bill Cook’s album “Steel Stallions and Sugar”. Photo: JAMES TAYLOR

His projects – constructed with largely self-taught skills – included building a gyrocopter from scratch, converting a four-wheel Land Rover into a six-wheel vehicle, fitting JAP heads to a Harly-Davidson motorcycle, converting an MG to a Maserati, and modifying a Jaguar sedan into the rare XKSS model most famously owned by American actor Steve McQueen; which he was still working on at the time of his death.

Mr Cook built both his homes in Torquay, including the second out of quarry stone, and also spent several years constructing Cook Lodge, a 14-person lodge made from stone at Sawmill Settlement (near Mount Buller), which still stands today.

Mr Cook converted this Maserati into an MG. Photo: JAMES TAYLOR

He was a member of the local philosophy club and published three books filled with his poetry and wisdom; copies of which were handed out at his celebratory service.

In 1993, he rode his Harley-Davidson bike into a recording studio to use the engine noise as the drum track on his album Steel Stallions and Sugar, which resulted in Mr Cook owning the copyright to the distinctive sound of a Harley and the American motorcycle giant launching a legal fight in 2000 to patent the sound, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

“Bill will be greatly missed, but we are grateful that he was a special part in each of our lives and will live on in our memories forever,” Nel said.