Upper Middle Petrol Head:

UMPH fired off a few frames of this early 60s Cortina in Campbeltown, in central Tasmania, on the Friday before the the annual Baskerville Historics racing programme   was due to begin  ( http://www.mgtas.org.au/baskerville-historics.html ) .  The event is usually held on the first weekend of October, with practice taking place the day before.  However, on this occasion wet weather had put a kybosh on that, with the track being closed for the afternoon. According to the owner, the car has a worked 1500 SOHC engine coupled to a four-speed manual 'box.  The two-door shell looks straight and tidy and is fitted with period accessories, including widened steel wheels, a sports steering wheel, full instrumentation and a half-cage.  It really did embody the style and spirit of historic racing.   U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au .)

If there were ever a perfect place to own a classic sports car, Queensland's Sunshine Coast would almost certainly rate amongst the top choices.  This lovely Mk II Sprite and its two friendly occupants was spotted cruising Moloolaba's Esplanade.  No wonder they're smiling! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com .)  iPhone image.

Tasmania has a very healthy population of Ford Mustangs, as evidenced by the numerous examples of that model gracing the pages of this 'blog.  What is much, much less prevalent, however, is Ford's other sporty offering of the period, the Thunderbird.   According to Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Thunderbird ), Thunderbirds or - as they're also colloquially known, T-Birds  - were less of a sports car but heralded a new class of vehicle "...  t hat eventually became known as the  personal luxury car."  That distinction is easy to understand when examples like the one featured here are compared to contemporary Mustangs or other models from manufacturers such as GM's Chevrolet Corvette. Stylistically, there are some strong links to other Fords of the era, including the Falcon.  Take the round tail-lights and winged T-Bird emblem, for example ; both features mirror, to some extent, those of the humbler, and significantly small...