Upper Middle Petrol Head:

This delightful Mk I Cortina was photographed by our East Coast correspondent but the image appears to have been captured closer to Tasmania's capital city of Hobart.  It was in great nick, especially when one considers that the car's roughly fifty-five years old.  It's a little known fact that early Australian-built Cortinas, like the one shown here, differed from their British-made cousins in that they featured extra internal cabin bracing off the rear wheel arches to cope with this country's rougher roads.  This is not dissimilar to early Aussie Ford Falcons ; the first model, the XK, was based on a North American vehicle and therefore lacked the rugged suspension that local conditions demanded and that was fitted to subsequent iterations.      The Cortina was very popular in Australia from the early 1960s until the mid 1980s, when it was dropped from the Ford line-up.  There were five different models, designated the Mk 1 to the Mk V, with the Mks I

Even the most ardent Holden fan would be hard pressed not to appreciate the sheer muscularity of the XY Falcon GT with its aggressive looks and purposeful 'shaker' air intake poking through its bonnet!  This particular example, photographed outside Shannons' office in Hobart, Tasmania, was immaculate in every way.  All the Falcon GTs, from 1967's XR through to the XB of 1973 (plus the XB hardtop-based John Goss Special  and the XC Cobra hardtop that followed in 1978), are highly sought after by Ford aficionados and investors alike.  However, it is without doubt the XY GT that tops the desirability list - especially in its rarer GT-HO (Handling Options) Phase III form. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

Sometimes, just every so often, the planets really do align to create something truly special!  In this case, it was the coming together of Club Motori Italia's annual display on the lawns of Parliament House, Hobart, plus the Australian Lancia Register and TR Register Australia's concurrent Tasmanian tours, combined with a particularly pleasant spring day.  How could anyone not love that?! The locals ... There was a strong showing from the locals, including a good-sized display of Fiat X1/9s, an 850 Sports, Phil Blake's awesome 850 Abarth replica, a 128 and a 131 coupe, as well as some Alfas, plus a Dino and one or two other Ferraris.  They're not all featured in this post.  However, just about all of them can be found elsewhere on this 'blog (just use the search field in the top right of the screen).   The Lancia Contingent ... A fair-sized chunk of the Lancia tour was made up of Fu