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Showing posts from February 10, 2019

Better Than Bought Ones: When Spares Are Too Rare

Adapt and Overcome, Part 1 My 1975 GC Galant hardtop. I'm often surprised by the range of spare parts that are available for older cars.  MGB and "Spridget" owners, for instance, can access pretty much anything they like, from switch-gear right through to entire body shells, courtesy of British Motor Heritage Ltd ( http://www.bmh-ltd.com/ ).  Other companies, such as English-based Alfaholics ( https://www.alfaholics.com/ ), can similarly provide - manufacture, if required -  Alfa Romeo   suspension, performance and body parts to order.  An amazing array of spares are readily available for Fiat X1/9s from Midwest Bayless ( https://www.midwest-bayless.com/ )  and other specialist suppliers, too. GC hardtop / GD hardtop, sedan and wagon front indicator / park lens. But what do you do if your car doesn't have quite the same following amongst the cognoscenti?  Clubs and informal Facebook groups are great sources of advice and many participants are ofte

Old Beach Car Show, 2019

It's probably poor form to begin an article with an apology.  But I really do have to confess to utterly failing to capture the 2019 Old Beach car show as it deserves, so I'm sorry for that.  If I may offer a plea in mitigation, it's simply that I had no idea just how good the event was going to be, having thought I might pop in, meet a few people and fire off a couple of dozen frames.  An hour, tops?  Wrong.  Oh, so very wrong!  This chopped-top Morris Minor packs a mighty V8 and a host of other mods that might just make it one of Australia's - if not the world's - most extreme Morries.  Not only was it tough as, the attention to detail shown during its amazing resto-mod was a credit to its creator. I'd rather not think about them, actually! There are a surprising number of these lovely ex-USA Falcon coupes in Tasmania, the majority being left-hookers.  However, there'