Upper Middle Petrol Head:

This car was NOT at the Noosa Hillclimb!   An SMS exchange between Our Man in Buderim and the UMPH editor in chief:   OMiB:  “I have no idea what sort of cars interest you.   Here’s a selection,” he wrote, simultaneously forwarding a couple of images of Clubmans, what Google Lens suggests is a Radical SR3, a 911 Carrera, a chopped MX5, a Datsun 510, a Toyota 86 and a couple of late (last) model Celicas.   EiC:  “All those kind of cars, actually … .” OMiB:  “How about this one?” he asked, sending the photos above and below. EiC:  “Absolutely this one!  A Lancia Beta coupe, powered by a Lampredi-designed twin cam, as shared with the Lancia Integrale and Fiat 124 coupe and Spider!  What’s not to go nuts over?”   The EiC decides, then and there, that this is the lead car - the click bait, if you like - that would headline today’s piece. However, it later came to light that the photos were actually taken earlier and at a different event....

We're working our way from small to big today, starting with this diminutive Austin Healey Frog Eye Sprite and ending with a straight-eight cylinder Buick behemoth.  Along the way, we'll visit a couple of Jags, a pair of almost matching XB Falcon utes, a lovely Morris Eight, another Austin Healey - the larger 100/4 - as well as a Mazda RX4, and as clean and tidy a VH Commodore as you're ever likely to see.   Sadly, that's the sum total for our coverage of October's instalment of Sandy Bay's first Sunday of the month cars 'n' coffee event - held at Long Beach from around 9:00 to 11:00 am - as some sudden squally weather put a premature end to the show, sending many of the open-top contingent scuttling for cover.  It's a pity that a few more didn't brave the short burst of wintriness, as it cleared up within ten minutes or so, leaving plenty of vacant car spaces and quite a few disappointed spectators.   Did you enjoy this article?  If so, why ...