Upper Middle Petrol Head:

I'm reliably informed that the 6th of March, 2022, is the 50th anniversary of the Jensen Healey and am therefore very pleased to be able to bring you these photos of two excellent examples - plus their proud owners - taken at a popular monthly car meeting in Sandy Bay, ten minutes' drive from Hobart's central business district in Tasmania, Australia.  The Jensen-Healeys on display were accompanied by a Jensen Interceptor , along with a host of other classic, sports and performance cars.  Happy birthday, J-H! Above and below are several photos of a beautifully restored Fiat 850 Spider.  Coincidentally, the car that replaced the Spider in Fiat's line-up - the X1/9 - shares its 50th birthday with the Jensen-Healey, having also debuted in 1972.  I know this, as I plan to attend a celebration of the Italian mid-engined masterpiece's big-5-0 in Canberra in April.  More on that next month ... . The quality of this Bertone-styled Spider's restoration is first rate, with

Followers of P3P may remember that a full set of replacement seat belts*, clear gauge lenses, a short length of exhaust pipe, and a new sill and inner brace were all that was preventing it passing a rego check, as we Aussies call it.  Whatever you might coin that process - be it a roadworthy, an MOT or a pink slip - I'm very, very happy to say that P3P is now a totally road legal member of the UMPH fleet! The last pieces of the puzzle - the sill and driver's side luggage compartment brace - were completed a few weeks ago, earning the car its long-awaited Tasmanian registration plates.  I've had to go full rego, rather than SI ( Special Interest , which is our state's equivalent to vintage or club registration in other Australian jurisdictions), because SI regulations are being savagely enforced with only cars deemed to be "immaculate" able to qualify for the scheme.  Immaculate P3P is not! The repair to the luggage compartment brace, shown above, has been nice

It's pretty clear that uppermiddleptrolhead.blogspot.com.au was destined to do a shaggin' wagon special, even if I hadn't seen last week's magnificent HK van ( https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/02/random-312-hk-panel-van-not-boring.html )!  Seriously, how could this awesome little Escort not kick start the late 1970s and early 1980s' nostalgia and set me down that path? This particular example - a tribute to "The Purple One" or, as said artiste was also known, Prince - is an absolute riot!  It really, really ticks all the  classic  evolution of the shaggin' wagon boxes, including, but not limited to:  a custom metallic purple paint job (yes, proper 1970s'   p u r p l e   duco !!); all-over body murals (of Prince, musical notation - presumably of his work - and purple rain drops); a pop-up sunroof; mags (wider on the rear); a front spoiler; AND bubble windows!   Prince Rogers Nelson, aka "the Purple one"! Unfortunately, those

This 1968-9  HK Holden panel van is a prime example of what was, by the late 1970s to early '80s, fondly known as a "shaggin' wagon."  The origins of these iconic machines have their basis in Aussie surf culture, as vividly portrayed in Kathy Lette's 1981 coming of age novel,  Puberty Blues .   The phenomenon began simply enough with surfers' use of panel vans and station wagons - anything from VW Kombis through to Holdens, Fords and Chryslers - as mobile change rooms, and simple but comfortable beachside accommodation in which they could sleep or pursue other horizontal activities.  Early examples were simple affairs: a roof rack for the 'boards, a foam mattress, and curtains, but only if your mother was prepared to sew them.    They weren't status symbols at first, with older - and thus cheaper - ex-tradie vehicles being all the rage.  It was the sea, not the road, that early adopters worshipped.   However, by the late 1970s, a new breed of van owner