A nine-year-old boy and his dad who restored a 1956 Kombi van abandoned in a paddock have found its original owner thanks to a small Queensland town.

Sammy Young's dad Scott saw an advertisement on social media for the rusted old vehicle on a grazier's property in Barcaldine and was immediately intrigued.

Photos confirmed the dilapidated vehicle with its front wheels missing, its engine lid gone, and vegetation encroaching was likely to be one of the first Kombis in Australia.

The Kombi was in a sorry state when the Youngs turned up to collect it from Barcaldine, western Queensland. ( Supplied: Scott Young )

"My little assistant here was pretty keen and asked if we could do it, so we made a family holiday of it," Mr Young said.

"It was pretty complete and even though it was sitting in a paddock with no front wheels, it had potential.

"It had some great character with the sunburn, and the story to it looked pretty good, so we loaded the trailer and off we went."

The Young family faced a 2,000-kilometre road trip from Newcastle, all for a wrecked old car they had lovingly nicknamed Rusty.

The Young family turned collecting Rusty into a family holiday. ( Supplied: Scott Young )

"I wanted a project with my dad and when we got it home, I started on the cab by getting everything out," Sammy said.

"We found a lot of bullets, marbles, and old matchboxes."

One restoration job was at the top of the father and son's list.

"Taking out the engine," Sam said, excitedly.

"We took it out, one long night, with my tools and my dad's tools. It took 20 minutes to get it out because it was rusted on. It was a really rusted engine."

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Rusty's backstory uncovered thanks to locals

Sammy and his dad spent two years restoring the Kombi and now, thanks to a local history group on social media, they have traced Rusty's original owner, Quilpie plumber, the late Colin Gibson.

The Youngs learned Mr Gibson's patch reached all the way to the NSW border, meaning Rusty would have covered many hundreds of miles in the late 1950s.

"His first 10 years as a plumber's truck was pretty brutal with the roads he had to travel on, and he wasn't just a plumber's truck, he was the family vehicle, so he was cleaned out and used for family holidays as well," Mr Young said.

"He frequently went across to Brisbane on family holidays with three children on the back on a mattress.

"They'd take the 15 or 16-hour trek and back in that day. The road to Roma was just red dirt and then it was sealed from then on, so it was a pretty wild old ride, I'd say."

Quilpie plumber Colin Gibson used the Kombi as a work vehicle and a family car for his wife and six children. ( Supplied: Gibson and Young families )

1950s VW team curious to see innovation

In addition, Mr Gibson was a bit of an engineer and after two engine rebuilds in the Kombi's early years, he came up with a solution that so intrigued Volkswagen mechanics they travelled to Quilpie to see his invention.

"The back of the engine has vents at the rear of the car and red dirt used to go into those vents and cause havoc with the motor and overheat," Mr Young said.

"So [Colin] came up with a plan with the local mechanic to run pipes from the front of the car to the engine to allow fresh air to blow in.

"Volkswagen has gone out and had a look at what he's doing, and in the early '60s they changed the design and closed those vents in, and used air from the front of the vehicle to flow through ducting to the back of the vehicle.

"It's kind of quirky to think old Colin may have been the brains behind that."

The Young family would like to take Rusty back to Quilpie, but it is a long drive from Newcastle. ( Supplied: Scott Young )

As for Rusty making it back to his home town, Mr Young is not sure.

"It's something we would like to do because Sam and I plan to do lots of camping trips in him and we'll never say no," Mr Young said.

"But it's a long way to Quilpie, and will Rusty go on his own steam or will he come back on a trailer like he left?

"It would be nice to bring him home and show some of our supporters."

Quilpie helps bring boy's dream to life

Mr Young and Sammy are grateful to the community of Quilpie for the valuable history it supplied.

Sammy Young now has a line of Rusty merchandise he sells at car shows to help pay his bills. ( Supplied: Scott Young )

"It's a small town, 610 population, and if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be where we are today, talking to you and the family," Mr Young said.

"Social media is the devil to a lot of people, but it brought Rusty into our lives and gave Sam a platform to say thank you to all the people who supported him, and also gave us the chance to meet the family.

"We can't say thank you enough to the township of Quilpie to be able to turn what was once a plumber's truck into a little boy's dream."

Despite not being able to drive for another six years, Sammy is ready to start on his next project — a Mini shell — that he anticipates will take him five years to restore.

"I'm going to learn to drive in Rusty and my first drive will be to the beach," he said.