Classics by the Beach: November, 2020

This is Ian's 1971 Lotus Elan+2 S130. As a +2, it's more spacious than the standard Elan, being 23 inches longer overall - with just over half that length being added to the wheelbase - 7 inches wider, and features rear seats suitable for children, although, in this case, it's actually the family West Highland terrier that occupies that space. Lucky dog!

The S130 was the penultimate evolution of the +2, which was first introduced in 1967. 1968 saw interior upgrades, extra kit and the model designation +2S, followed by Ian's version - equipped with a big-valve head - and, finally, the S130/5 of 1972, the "/5" indicating that a five-speed gearbox had also been fitted.

Ian's car was first registered in Surrey, England, in late 1971 but I don't have any information to say when it arrived in Australia. However, I can tell you that Ian's owned it since 1987, that blue isn't its original colour - I forget what hue it used to be, but I'm told the roof used to be metal-flake silver - and its new paint is from Mazda.

The owners of this elegant Alfa 164 are true Italian car fans, also owning a Fiat 124 CC (I think ... feel free to correct me), as well as having a Fiat 128 SL, or Sport Lusso, that's getting towards the pointy end of a full restoration. The Alfa's clearly their "sensible car," doing duty taking mum, dad and bub to Classics. That a heritage to be proud of, young Alfisti!

I doubt that I'll offend the owner of this first series Datsun 200B when I say that it's a tiny bit knocked about, because it is. However, it's also uncharacteristically rust free and complete, with surprisingly glossy duco, which is good thing because it's currently for sale. Assuming that it's mechanically sound, it'd make a good base car for restoration, being mechanically simple with easily repairable and possibly fairly obtainable parts.

This XL - possibly, but less likely an XM - Falcon attracted a steady stream of admirers and no wonder! There are quite a number of similar era Falcons seen regularly around Hobart, almost all of them quite stunning, but this particular example was a crisply clean and perfect as you could ask for. It featured triple Holley carbies and wider than stock wheels but looked otherwise fairly standard. To my untrained eye, anyway ...

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

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