Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Where - or maybe the question is how - was there a clue alluding to camel dung contained in November's CMI Lufra cryptic drive?  We contestants obviously missed it but it was no doubt there.  You may have set the bar a bit too high this time, Graham! Camel poop aside, the drive - held on Sunday the 8th of November - was  a great day out, combining glorious weather, some delightfully twisty country roads, lovely scenery and a couple of dozen or so competitors in a mainly Italian fleet pitting their wits against the devious mind of crypto-meister Graham Mitchell.  The only certainties of the day were its starting and finishing points, Salamanca's Retro Cafe and the beloved Lufra Hotel at Eaglehawk Neck. In true cryptic style, Graham set some observational, botanical and biological tasks, requiring participants to describe certain features en route and to collect specimens of eucalypts, hawthorn blossoms, feathers and sea shells, with extra points awarded for the quality and / or

It's a toss-up whether this or the previous UMPH post - featuring a gorgeous deep purple XA GT hardtop - will be more popular with readers.  And while we're tossing, I wouldn't bet the fluff from my socks that correspondent Ziff comes close to knowing the answer himself. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by Ziff.  

The UMPH Special Correspondent for Pricilla-Buses and Pimp-Mobiles has excelled himself with today's offering, an amazing XA GT in his favourite colour of Deep Purple, proving what a total Machine Head he is!  1972 was a good year, eh?!   U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by Ziff.

  The Canberra Correspondent photographed this rather restrained looking Chevy.  And when I say restrained, I mean tasteful - elegant, possibly - designed before America started making big, bloated, boastful behemoths just because they could.  From before Number 45 was born.  Nicer times, I suspect.      U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) iPhone images.