Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Two things, before anyone gets their knickers in a twist:  1/. I really, really love this ute, photographed in uber cool Brunswick Heads, a bee’s penis north of NSW’s Byron Bay.  2/.  “Designer rust” is fine by me and, in this particular instance, it’s been done extremely well. H o w e v e r ,  I would like to draw your attention to the awesome EH load lugger available via the following link:  https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2024/06/five-reasons-why-this-is-australias.html .  Which one do you prefer?     No points for guessing where I stand in this!   The clue’s in the title of the post, after all!  But I’d still like to hear your views on “patina” in its many and various forms.   U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au) iPhone images.    

This month’s coverage of Classics comes to us via Mr McBeard, who it seems was one of a very few attendees hardy enough to brave an icy Tasmanian winter’s morning on the windswept shores of the River Derwent at Sandy Bay.   Not even our usually robust editor-in-chief, head writer or principal photographer turned up.  Other places to be, apparently. According to our hirsute correspondent, the baby Fiat and massive Lincoln garnered the most attention on the day, almost certainly due to the striking contrast of their size and styles.  They also illustrate a monumental cultural difference between their countries of origin, with the super-sized American saying rather a lot about life in the USA when compared to the diminutive - and, more to the point - frugal Italian.   DM420 isn’t a Jaguar, by the way.   It’s the more up-market Daimler variant, being slightly skewed towards luxury when compared to the Jag version, which - despite being jolly plush - was the more performance orientated car

Reason # 1:   Its exterior finish is appalling, looking for all the world as if it's been dragged from the depths of Hobart's River Derwent!      Reason # 2:  The registration plates are an affront to literacy!      Reason # 3:  The owner did it all on   purpose !   And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we at uppermiddlepetrolhead like to call a wrap. Did you enjoy this article?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There are loads and loads of classic, sports and performance vehicles featured, as well as stacks of car shows and motorsports events.  Even better, you can follow either the 'blog itself or do so via Upper Middle Petrol Head's Facebook page.   And please do like and share! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) iPhone images.

  Reason # 1:  The bodywork would appear to be entirely original.  And even if it's not, whenever it last saw a tin of paint likely predates the build dates of many, many so-called classic cars by a couple of decades or more. Reason # 2:  Everything points to it being straight as a die, with no evidence of it ever having been seriously bingled.  There's no penetrating rust, either.  Not even a hint of it. Reason # 3:  As you can see, it's still a working vehicle, 60-ish years after it was built.  Doing manly, utey things: carting stuff - classic Aussie car parts, by the looks of it - just like it was intended to do. Reason # 4:   Other than a set of old school widened steelies and a roof-top antenna, it's bog standard.  It might've originally been ordered with a full set of mud flaps, some fancy door handle trims and a set of Venetians, but that's about it.  No multi-post bull bar.  Nothing in the way of spot lights, either.  There isn't so much as an R M

Going ... One from the vault, just to prove that forensic photographers can occasionally nail a bit of "live" action. Going ... Going ... Gone! And back into it again! * No Jags were harmed during the photographing of this event. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

  There are worse ways to tour Tasmania than in a classic VW wagon, its modest flat-four putt putt puttering out the back as you take in the views!  And quite the practical choice, too, with plenty of room in the cabin and even more storage space in the front boot.     The example shown here - photographed in the North Hobart restaurant strip (I'm thinking the hipster NoHo tag has failed to catch on, thankfully!) - looked great with its whitewall tyres and nifty Venetians.  Just the thing for a bit of cafe cruising!    Did you enjoy this article?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There are loads and loads of classic, sports and performance vehicles featured, as well as stacks of car shows and motorsports events.  Even better, you can follow either the 'blog itself or do so via Upper Middle Petrol Head's Facebook page.   And please do like and share! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) iPhone images.

For several years, there have been whispers that an electric X had been constructed in Tasmania's south.  However, no one seemed to know much about the car and how it had been built. That's not to say that it was some kind of skunkworks project; it seems to have simply been an under-the-radar affair, quietly put together by a bloke in his shed.  It was actually so U-T-R that I'd seen it at least twice without me realising that it'd been electrified. The car's since been sold but this is what I could glean from its current owner:  - It's a 1980 model and, as such, was delivered to Australia as a "Series 1.5," meaning that it originally had the Series 1's 1300 cc / four-speed in a Series 2 body with impact-absorbing bumpers and the higher engine compartment lid, as well as the latter's interior; - The motor is a 120 volt DC unit from US company Advanced Motors and Drives, rated at 10 HP / 7.355 kW ( http://evalbum.com/advdc , accessed 03 JUN 24);