Upper Middle Petrol Head:

"Fair cop, Guv!"  This classic British police car was photographed by our newest UMPH correspondent, the cider-sippin' David Mathewson, who now calls Manchester, England, home.  It looks like it's just been driven off the set of Heartbeat or maybe the 2010s' prequel to the  Inspector Morse TV series, Endeavour , starring Shaun Evans as the younger version of the inspector during the formative period of his career. It's a great looking vehicle but as a police car ... ?  Let's just say that the bobbies' Australian contemporaries probably didn't know how lucky they were to be driving 351 V8 Falcon "Candy Cars" or hotted-up Valiant Chargers on patrol!  Given the choice, I know what I'd rather take the wheel of! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos supplied.

New From everything I've read, this Renault Alpine - snapped by Mr McBeardie during his seemingly never-ending European sojourn - is a car that genuinely excites me!  Why?  It's a proper reinterpretation of a classic car that's more than a cynical retro-styling exercise, reproducing not only the aesthetics of the original but its very essence.  It's faithful to Alpine founder Jean Redele's vision in a way that the contemporary Minis, Fiat 500s and recently discontinued VW Beetles are not and never will be.  For more info, please see:   https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/alpine/a110 .  Classic ( forza.fandom.com ) U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.com.au.) 

Mr McBeardie spotted this ripper contemporary Lola in a Parisian basement and flicked the photos through to UMPH.  He wasn't sure what it was, so, like anyone that's curious about anything these days, he Googled it. The text he sent with the photos says it all, I reckon:  " 900kg. 500hp Corvette engine. Steering wheel removed for security.  Phwoar!"  Just about sums it up, don't you think?! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Images supplied.

German vehicle maker Audi has knocked out some spectacular designs over the last couple of decades, including but not limited to their awesome mid-engined R8.  And they're still holding their own in the style-stakes, having set themselves apart from from their German rivals BMW, who have recently gone a little over-sculptured, and Mercedes, whose designers have frankly penned a few shockers of late! So how is it that Audi have been able to consistently deliver cars that are contemporary and stylish, yet aren't as try-hard as some of the other high-end European marques?  An educated guess is that their design ethos is more refined, focusing on clean, classic lines and an approach that references and respects their earlier works.  One of Audi's all-time most iconic cars, the  TT , is a case in point.  Having first appeared in the late 1990s, subsequent iterations of this sweet looking coupe / hatch have maintained much of the first edition's o...

There's nothing needs to be said about this lovely Alfa, resplendent with a set of original Cromodora Star wheels, snapped in Paris by Mr McBeardie.  Just enjoy it! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

It looks like Hobart's car aficionados were keen to make up for last month's Classics by the Beach wash-out with a bumper turn-out for July's edition of the event.  It was so popular, in fact, that several attendees had to leave their cars in the smaller car parks north and south of the Long Beach turning circle where the main action usually unfolds. "Oh, Wayne, you've done it again!"  (You might have to be of a certain age to get my little joke.)  This lovely early 60s' Beetle has joined Wayne's collection, replacing his recently sold black Bug and possibly a pristine Karmann Ghia, unless that's also been moved on.  It presents like a new car with stunning originality but that's just what we expect of its fastidious owner! Not one but two magnificent genuine BMW E30 M s!  Whilst they do ostensibly look like their less exotic siblings, the relatively standard but certainly very nice 1980s - 1990s' E30 coupes, the...