Upper Middle Petrol Head:

I've subtitled this third instalment of my Noosa Concours series  Australian and Other Marques.   However, that really means mainly British cars and a few Bugattis, as for whatever reason some of the examples shown here - ie: predominantly the Aussie ones - seem to be not so common at events like this.  These less-represented vehicles all struck me as being sufficiently concours, as I understand the term, so perhaps they're not considered to be as elegant as their more fancied counterparts?     Which is probably why I've led the piece with Dick Johnson's ballsy XE Falcon racing car.  It's in excellent nick - thus being "concours" - but its elegance could be debated.  Or you could argue that being elegant is overrated, anyway; that it's a bit wanky and elitist, and just get on and enjoy a magnificent example of Aussie motorsports history!  What really struck me about the Dick Mobile was just how much actual XE Falcon there is.  It's an os...

  No action shots from 2024’s Lufra hillclimb, I’m afraid.   There are these two competitors’ cars, though: this fabulous Mk1 Escort, resplendent in wild lime green, and the Imp that follows. The Escort looked amazing with black side striping reminiscent of those featured on the Mexico special edition, as well as RS-style bubble arches front and rear.  It was also running the split front bumper fitted to competition Escorts of the era, chrome bullet style racing mirrors and a set of 15” Superlights shod in 50/215 rubber.   It’s interior was similarly sport-specced and also looked fantastic! What’s not to love about this rear-engined, Scottish-built* Imp?  It’s an absolute screamer and looks fabulous, too!  Definitely one of the cars to watch on the day. 10 points for anyone who recognises the inspiration for the engine bay vents. Did you enjoy this article?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There are loads and loa...

  This awesome BMW 3.0 CS (aka E9) - photographed by South East Queensland correspondent PeteR, in response to a 3.0 CSL featured in our recent Noosa Concours d’ Elegance post  -  has really got my motor running!  But it’s also got me wondering about the hierarchy of the CS line-up … . The Noosa CSL  ( https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2024/07/noosa-concours-d-elegance-2024-part-2.html ) . Here, in précis, is what a bit of googling has revealed:   First, but not lowest in the E9 hierarchy, is 1968’s 2800 CS which, unsurprisingly, features a close enough to 2.8 litre version of BMW’s legendary M30 straight six (2,788 cc, to be exact).   Next in line is today’s feature car, the 3.0 CS of 1971, with a twin Zenith carburettored version of the M30 and a capacity of 2,986 cc.  Released simultaneously was the 3.0 CSi, which, as you’ve probably guessed, has the same donk but runs fuel injection and is therefore maybe a bee’s penis more desirable....

  For non-Aussies readers, this is a 48-215 Holden, aka an "FX," which was General Motors' first ever car to wear the Holden badge.  According to Wikipedia, the FX name was never officially used by GM but was actually an internal code to distinguish later 48-215s fitted with telescopic front shock absorbers from the earlier versions equipped with lever-arm dampers.  However, the term caught on and eventually became the model's unofficial model name for both early- and late-built examples ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_48-215 , accessed 08 AUG 24). So, how did GM come up with the 48-215 designation?  According to the same source, it's actually very simple:  '48 was the car's first year of manufacture and 215 an expression of the engine's 2.15 litre cubic capacity (ibid).  That said, I do question why a US-owned and based company operating in Australia would be using litres, given that both countries were very much non-metric back then.  Moreover...