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(Automotive) Fun in The Sun!

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Here’s a bit more Sunny Coast joy, just because great cars deserve to be celebrated and shared! Our first ray of automotive sunshine is this low-slung 1982 Corvette, photographed in Hastings Street, Noosa.   I’m no Chevrolet expert but it’s a fair guess that the personalised rego indicates that it’s a C3, which Wikipedia explains was manufactured between 1967 and 1982, making this an end of series car  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_(C3) ) . Interestingly, the C3’s body panels were made of fibreglass.   Our second sun-kissed beauty - photographed a couple of days later, up the road in Noosaville - was this immaculate 1975 XB GT Falcon. The car appeared to be completely unmolested, being equipped with its original three spoke sports-style steering wheel, a pristine interior and a set of twelve-slotters finished in semi-matte silver.  Did you enjoy this post?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There ar...
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Classics by The Beach: August, 2026

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IT issue resolved!  Or, more accurately, worked around.  Anyway, we've finally gone to press with the former Canberra Chief Correspondent's coverage of August, 2026's, Classics by The Beach.   This little unicorn is a Daihatsu ute, apparently.  It's not a model that seems to have been marketed locally but, had it been available Down Under, it probably would've been a sales success - not unlike the ever-popular Datsun 1200 load-lugger.   And on the subject of Datsun's 1200 ute, here's a particularly nice example.  We're not sure if it's made an appearance at Classics - held on the first Sunday of each month at the Long Beach car park, fifteen minutes' drive from Hobart's CBD - but it's a great example of the model. We do know that this pugnacious Escort's been to the event before, as it featured about a year back and caused some speculation amongst the UMPH team when a few items - race seats, four-wheel disc brakes and some other goodi...
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The Architect’s Eye: an XL Falcon Ute

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  Hobart architect Mark Drury has done it again, having snapped this ripper XL Falcon ute in historic Battery Point.  XLs were built between 1962 and 1964, bookending a very, very important year for more than just automobile production.    Look closely and you'll see that although it's ostensibly stock, this particular example may be a bit of a sleeper.  The fat steelies and column mounted tacho mightn't mean much on their own but the subtle twin exhausts suggest it could be packing a couple of cylinders more than it did when new.  For those that may be wondering where this month's Classic by The Beach post has gone, I can assure you that it's coming.  There's an IT issue to overcome but, once that's resolved, we'll have the former Canberra Chief Correspondent's photos up for all to enjoy. Did you enjoy this post?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There are loads and loads of classic, sports and performance v...
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Random # 348: a 1958 FC Holden ute

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Thank you, Noosa, my old friend!  Five minutes.  A mere 300 seconds.  That’s how long it took to find this magnificent FC ute on Hastings Street, home to the Noosa Concours d’ Elegance ( https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2024/07/noosa-concours-d-elegance-2024-part-1.html ) and the scene of many an UMPH Random post over the years.  It’s not like I wasn’t keeping an eye out.  But winter’s not exactly peak classics season in Tasmania.   Queensland’s Sunshine Coast’s a much, much more enticing place to exercise your classic car and to share a little joy.   And what a joy it was!  Beautiful two-tone duco, dechromed brightwork, red steel wheels and a magnificent interior with diamond quilted seats, in tan leather, and an elegant wood-rimmed sports steering wheel.   There is a set of LED headlights but, otherwise, it looks like the car is pretty much stock, retaining its three-on-the-tree gearshift and four wheel drum brakes but going large...
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