Upper Middle Petrol Head:

In my not quite as humble as it could be opinion, the E3 is one of BMW's most handsome cars with lovely lines, perfect proportions and lots of glass, resulting in an airy, light-filled cabin.  Just look at today's example - photographed by the Special Correspondent for the ACT - and dare to disagree!   Our subject car does hail from Canberra.  However, there is a Tasmanian link - more a segue, I suppose - to Tasmania.  In the late 1990s, motor sports identity and proprietor of the Special Vehicles Centre in Argyle Street, Hobart, Brent Willing, built one for his wife Gloria.  It was black, had a modified Commodore front spoiler, Volante-style wheels, a sports steering wheel (a Momo?), Recaro seats and - here's the kicker - a 253 cu Holden V8 motor!  It was very, very classily done; just a magnificent car. Our Bimmer du jour would appear to be less of a sleeper than Gloria's beast and, whilst I was a big fan of her car, this one also has me a bit excit...

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 ...

The Upper Middle Petrol Team have a strict editorial policy of not making shit up.  Therefore, we won't pretend to know anything about this awesome looking Ford, other than to observe that it is a Ford, as stated, it looks great in striking yellow and it's running front wheel disc brakes.  And it's a lefty, so it's very likely to be an ex-US import.     U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) iPhone images.

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 qualit...