Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Welcome to this, the third installment of Morris Minor Week ... It's true that this custom-built Morris 1000 flat-tray ute, now doing duty as a mobile barista's work-horse and promotional vehicle, has seen better days.  It's also likely that serious Morrie fans will be horrified to see that a sedan was sacrificed in its making. Whilst it is looking a bit knocked about, UMPH prefers to think (hope, even) that it may have been salvaged from a damaged sedan that might otherwise have been scrapped.  He can't help but be impressed by the ingenuity shown in its construction and design, too. Please see this coming Sunday's post for the final installment of Morris Minor Week ... U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images. 

Morris Minor Week continues, with today's offering being ... Well-spotted to readers that correctly identified that Morris didn't actually produce a Low-light version of their Quarter-Ton utility!  That didn't bother Vic, the owner and restorer of this lovely, and quite possibly unique, flat-tray ; the only thing that matters to him is that he likes it.  UMPH does, too!  It seems that Vic might be a bit of a restoration wizard, having completely rebuilt this car from the ground up, as well as having been responsible for Nigel's excellent Mk I Sprite (please see: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7165367970551834236#editor/target=post;postID=3155192261352050345;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname ).  He's currently doing up a Morris Traveller which, if the standard of his ute and Nigel's Sprite is anything to go by, will also be first rate! In addition to the Low-light front, the car features front dis

For the next seven days, UMPH is paying tribute to the Morris Minor, beginning with ... This 1956 Morris 1000 Traveller puts one in mind of picnics in the English countryside, complete with wicker-baskets,  cucumber sandwiches,  thermos-flasks and tartan rugs.  It also conjures up words like splendid and jolly and all manner of other Blytonisms.  It would almost be impossible to imagine a nicer car to take the family on a picnic in, which is sort of what the owners were doing when UMPH spotted them in Hobart's historic Battery Point.  Admittedly, there were no cucumber sandwiches but the fresh fish 'n' chips they were eating down by the waterfront looked like a pretty good Tasmanian substitute!  Eagle-eyed Morrie-spotters like UMPH will probably think they've detected an anomaly when they try to reconcile the Morris  1000  in this post's title with the car's split windscreen.  However, people who  really  know their Nuffields - like

Nick's original XA GT 351 Falcon hard-top. These three photos chart Nick's rise from 1980s boy-racer to to the pillar of society that he's become.   Betcha wish you hadn't sold the GT, eh, Nick!  His more sedate MGB. And his positively gentlemanly Jag. If you'd like to share images of your  past or current  cars on this blog, please email them and a brief outline of the vehicle's history to alastair.watson1463@gmail.com. Please refer to the U M P H Guide to Car Photography  ( https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7165367970551834236#editor/target=post;postID=3131145303004047383;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=110;src=postname ) for hints on maximising the quality of your images to ensure that they're suitable for publication.  U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos from / by Nick.

This lovely 1960s Valiant sedan was photographed in Argyle Street, North Hobart, one fine spring morning.  It looks to be straight as a die, the chrome and paint are in really good nick, and the interior is clean and tidy, too.  It appears to be an earlier model than the Regal station wagon featured in https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7165367970551834236#editor/target=post;postID=1753458892522698749;onPublishedMenu=overview;onClosedMenu=overview;postNum=5;src=postname .    U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au .) All iPhone images.

The first summer Classics by the Beach for 2016 / 2017 was particularly well patronised, with a vast array of wonderful cars present.  All the regulars were there, of course, plus more than a few that were new to the event. Take, for example, this very stylish early 70s Datsun  240K , as it was called in Australia.  It was known as a  Skyline  in other markets - a name that wouldn't be introduced here until the squarer version of the late 70s was released.     It's clear that the owner has an eye to the car's history, as he's fitted it with classic forward mounted mirrors (they were always placed towards the front of the driver's door on Aussie versions) and he's added Skyline GT badges to the rear side panels, too.  The whole effect is very Japanese and very 1970s.        The wheels appear to be from a later  Skyline and they've been shod with natty white-wall tyres .   It's also been fitted with a boot-mounted chrome rack, and th