Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Might-ee Boy!  Australia’s favourite Kei car?   Almost certainly.  Mine, anyway.     This one, resplendent in radiant yellow, was spotted in West Hobart, Tasmania.  It’s been nicely modded with a magnificent set of 13” JDM rims that have been cleverly colour coded to match the car’s grille badge and tie into its custom rego plates.  It’s also running nifty LED headlights and has a raptor-coated rear tub.  For those not in the know, the Mighty Boy is powered - if that’s quite the right term - by a 543 cc, three cylinder engine, matched to a four- or five-speed manual transmission or a two-speed sludge ‘box. That third option sounds a bit dire; in performance terms, it seems unlikely to be particularly inspiring to drive, even if the whole shebang only weighs in at a minuscule 550 kg.    But that was never the point.  In busy, congested Japanese cities, they were a useful delivery vehicle, whereas in Australia it’s probably fair to sa...

  Welcome to the 2026 Easter edition of Classics by The Beach, Hobart's first-Sunday-of-the-month cars 'n' coffee event, held at Long Beach, Sandy Bay.  And what a ripper day it was!  Sunny, warm and still - perfect Tasmanian autumn weather.  And plenty of cars not previously seen on this 'blog, too! Sadly,  A nonima L ombarda F abbrica A utomobili  33s don't always get the love they deserve.  Not so for the Alfa Male's wonderful example, which looks great with crisp white duco, deep grey  Tele-dial wheels and matching door mirrors and boot spoiler.  Simple. Tasteful.  Elegant. This MkII Cortina was delightful, too.  Lovely - possibly original - paint, glittering chrome and a set of Bathurst Globe alloys.  It also had a genuine wooden dashboard that really set the interior off nicely. Volvo P1800s aren't exactly a dime-a-dozen and nor are they a super-common sight at CbTB.  This one, resplendent in a sort of chocolately-me...

This seriously tough, Western Australian-registered four wheel drive HZ Holden station wagon is a long, long way from home!  Or is it ... ? If the car's what I believe it to be - and it very probably is, there not being huge numbers of 4WD HJ - HZ Holden manufacturers out there - it may have actually made a home-coming to the island state where it was built.  And yes, I mean Tasmania. I won't bog you down here with the finer details (there are two links attached that provide more detail if you are interested) but in the 1970s, a bloke named Arthur Hayward - owner of Tasmanian company Vehicle Engineering and Modifications (VEM) - started building 4WD Holden Overlander vans, utes and one-tonners in his Launceston factory.  Later on, he expanded his range to include wagons. To my inexpert eye, this looks like Arthur's work, in that it's running beefy leaf springs all round with solid axles.  It sits high and is certainly solidly engineered, but otherwise there's no bad...