Classics by the Beach: Sunday the 1st of December, 2019

It just occurred to me that today's Classics by the Beach isn't just the last for the year, but for the decade, too.  That makes this striking alpine green XD Falcon a fitting car to feature as the lead photo, given that it's likely to have just had - or is about to celebrate - its 40th birthday.  If it's a 1979 model - XDs having been made from '79 - '81 - it's actually entering its sixth decade, its fifth if it hails from '80 or '81.

According to a blurb provided by the owners, it's an ex-NSW police car, believed to have once been on personal issue to Australia's most bent cop - now long term  guest of the NSW Prison Service - Detective Sergeant Roger Rogerson.  A letter from Ford Australia accompanying the car's CV certainly points to this being true, as the VIN matches one of two such cars sold to the NSW constabulary.

It was one of only 24 XDs finished in this colour out of 50,000 made.  As an ex-cop car, it has all the heavy duty bits normally fitted to police-specials, including big brakes, heavy duty suspension and some other mods to ensure it can be driven hard, fast and for long periods.  However, it's since had the 4.1 litre six cylinder motor replaced with a worked 351 cubic inch Windsor V8 - still coupled to the original four-speed 'box, though - and has been resprayed and retrimmed, and has been given a few tasty accessories like the gold Simmons wheels and front and rear spoilers.   

Obviously, I can't comment on the quality of other Australian states and territories' Leyland P76s.  What I can say, though, is that Hobart seems to have a freakishly high number of absolutely immaculate examples.  Trust me when I say this: there are two in orange - both featured elsewhere on this 'blog and one of them shown later in today's edition - plus another black one also gracing the pages of UMPH - that are genuinely as good as, if not better than, they would have been straight out of the factory.

The example shown here - resplendent in its quintessentially 1970s' lime green duco - is new to me.  I suspect that it's recently been restored, as every last bit of it's looking very fresh, including the interior.  The original P76 alloy wheels are particularly fabulous!

Ah!  Whatever happened to van culture?  As a child of the '70s and 80s, I remember it well, having had my own Escort van.  It might just have been that a few of the assembled throng were having their senses of nostalgia tickled by this excellent V8-powered Holden.

No one in the classic car scene wants their vehicle to suffer the ignominy of having to be towed.  However, I reckon the embarrassment might be mitigated to a fair degree if your tow was Black Betty - Classic Toy Hauler!  Bam-balam!!  

In the early 1980s, a mate of mine had a similar era Citroen sedan as this quirkily-styled wagon.  It may have been an unusual choice for a 17 year-old, especially when the rest of our group were driving Toranas, Valiants, Coronas, Monaros, Celicas, Geminis, Falcons and more than one Escort van.  However, the Egg-Mobile soon had a cult following amongst our year group for its amazing adjustable suspension, swivelling headlights and, possibly best of all, fold-flat front seats that butted against the back ones to form a bed.  Who needed an Escort van when you had a DS?!  

This lovely Alfa has been badged as an Alfetta GT, leading me to think that it's the 1.8 litre-version, as the 1.6 wore GT 1.6 badges and the 2.0 was known as the GTV (I should've looked at the rear vents!).  It also features a central instrument binnacle which, I believe, is an indication that it was manufactured earlier than both the 1.6- and 2.0-powered cars.

Either way, it's a great looking car - low-slung, nicely appointed and with a great paint job and tidy interior.  Regular readers will know that it's one of two chrome-bumpered Alfettas to have received a bit of recent love, with the Italian Correspondente's ivory-coloured GTV being within a bull's roar of being back on the road (please see:  http://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-work-in-progress-25b-italian.html). 

This amazing Aussie-built 1950s' Buchanan has featured on UMPH before, thereby technically disqualifying itself from a reappearance.  However, it's such a great looking car - having been made from moulds taken from an Aston Martin DB3-S racing car - that I just had to photograph it again!  It's just so perfectly sweepingly elegant that I couldn't resist it!!

The UMPH team - me, myself and I - wish you all an enjoyable, classic-car-filled festive / holiday season.  I look forward to seeing you all again for the start of a new decade, if not before.  Happy motoring!

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)