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Random # 349: a 1923 Ford T Bucket

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At the time of writing, the underpinnings - chassis, transverse leaf-sprung front suspension and possibly the cabin - of this amazing Ford T Bucket were an impressive 103 years old.  The rest is certainly a whole lot newer and definitely significantly more performance-orientated than the archaic components it came equipped with when it was new!     As you can see, the T Bucket is a hotrod and, as the name suggests, they're based on the Ford Model T of 1908 to 1927.  According to Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-bucket ), they originated in the USA in the 1950s, the first example - known as the Kookie Kar - having been built by  Norm Grabowski   in the 1950s.    Today's example - photographed on Tasmania's north west coast - would appear to sport all the right stuff to be a "true" T Bucket, including: the upright radiator, similarly vertical front windscreen, its bus-like steering wheel position, outrageously big V8*, modern transm...
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From the Egg Man: a 1960s VW Type 3

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  Hats off to the owner of this very, very cool Victorian-registered VW  Type 3  fastback - more or less a svelte version of the Beetle - for bringing it all the way to southern Tasmania.  That's a fair ol' trip for a sixty-odd year old car with a 1600 cc engine, producing somewhere between 50 and 60 hp, and a three speed auto or four-speed manual gearbox.  And no aircon or power anything! It's immaculately presented and ostensibly stock.  The duco - Birch Green , possibly - is spotless, as is the brightwork.  Egg Man wasn't able to sneak a peek at the car's interior but it's a fair bet it would be just as nice as its exterior.              In addition to German and Brazilian Type 3 production, notch-backs (essentially two door sedans), wagons and vans were built at Clayton, Victoria, from 1963.  However, the fastback was only available in Australia from 1965, fully imported from Germany  ( https://en.wikip...
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Classics by the Beach: October, 2026

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  This heavily patinated XP Falcon, with its distinctive   sign-writing, has piqued the UMPH editorial team's interest.  Two questions arise:  firstly, what is or was the  Falcon-Mobil 70,000 Mile Durability Run  and, secondly, did this car actually participate in whatever that event was? The answer to Question 1 was easily answered by reference to the the excellent Primotipo ... 'blog,  which, rather than quoting or plagiarising, we've made available via the following link:  https://primotipo.com/2022/03/18/ford-falcon-70000-mile-9-day-reliability-trial/  .  (We at UMPH are a little sensitive to IP thievery, having recently discovered our images and research reproduced, without our permission, on an overseas FaceBook page.) The second question was only slightly harder to answer, with AI suggesting that the original car has gone to the Great Wrecker's Yard in the Sky, as do Shannons ( https://club.shannons.com.au/club/news/racing-garag...
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Classics by The Beach: September, 2026

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And now for something completely different ... .  A 1969 Honda CB 450, to be precise.   Motorcycles don't often make it into our coverage of Classics by The Beach - Hobart's first-Sunday-of-the-month cars 'n' coffee, held at Long Beach, Sandy Bay, about fifteen minutes' drive south of the CBD - but this one looked too good not to get a guernsey!  We're unsure if this is what a CB 450 looked like in period, although it would appear to be a bit sexier than the examples thrown up by a quick Google search.  Our guess is that it's some sort of 1970s-inspired cafe racer.  Whatever the case, we love it; that bikini fairing, those side-mounted exhausts and the bike's low-slung, chrome-heavy aesthetic look magnificent! This Mk1 Cortina's a bit of a beast!  Lurking under the bonnet is a fuel-injected twin-cam four-pot of some kind - a Honda, possibly - but certainly something significantly newer and quicker than it would've been running back in the '60...
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