Classics by the Beach kicked off 2021 in emphatic style with a large turnout at Sandy Bay's Long Beach. Not only were there numerous cars on display, the quality and range of vehicles at the regular first Sunday of the month gathering proved, yet again, that it is the very best event of its type in southern Tasmania.
Upper Middle Petrol Head's January coverage of Classics features eight distinctly different but equally engaging cars, and one motorcycle. We'll begin with the Alfa GTV pictured above and below but there's also a magnificent XW Fairmont GS, a pair of lovely E30 BMWs, a very interesting Volvo van, what appears to be a genuine Shelby Cobra and a contemporary kit version of the same model, plus a Norton Commando with a brilliant metal-flake paint job.
Matt's 1985 Alfa GTV might just be as a good an example of the model as there is pretty much anywhere! He tells me that he's owned it since the early 1990s, it has approximately 130,000 k on the clock and it's totally original. The only non-operational component on the whole car is its air conditioner, which has had the compressor drive belt removed to save it sapping engine performance but, otherwise, it'd be functional.
The paint and panels are as perfect as they were ex-factory, as is the interior. However, the plastic bumpers have had a re-touch but that's the extent any cosmetic work. The prop-shaft doughnut has been replaced, which is hardly unexpected of any of the transaxle-Alfas; it's reportedly a common issue with all GTVs, GTV6s, Alfettas, Giuliettas and 75s.
If the mint condition exterior and interior aren't enough to demonstrate what a special Alfa this is, take a peak at the efforts that Matt's gone to keep it looking perfect. The headlights are fitted with a set of domed covers and the under-bumper Carello fog lamps are protected by what look to be custom made perspex shields. It's unlikely to surprise anyone that the car's always stored in a garage, either.
According to Matt, the car's a delight to drive and, while the GTV6 version does have more grunt, he reckons his four cylinder example is a little better balanced and doesn't suffer from the inherent feeling of the bigger engine's weight pulling the car forward under deceleration. And it's not like a peppy 2.0 litre Alfa twin-cam is an inadequate motor, afterall!
There's not much to tell about this XW GS, as its owner wasn't present and I'm no Falcon or Fairmont expert. However, it would appear to have been specced up to GT trim with the addition of a bonnet scoop, some black-out treatment in the same area and a set of 12-slotters. As a GS, it may be that it was fitted with a 302 V8, as opposed to a GT's bigger, more performance-orientated 351, but I couldn't see anything to confirm this to be so. It was running a T-bar auto, though.
It's my understanding that in terms of luxury designation, the GS - standing for Grand Sport - was the performance variant of the Fairmont line, putting it above the GT - short for Grand Tourer - which was based on the less-prestigious Falcon. Everybody knows, however, that even if the GS did wear the more up-market Fairmont badges, it was the GT that had the greater get up 'n' go and that's why many people prefer them. For my money - and either version is almost unobtainium these days, anyway - I'd be equally happy with a gentlemanly GS or a more brutish GT.
Somebody knows somebody at Transport Tasmania! How else would you get these general issue rego plates that rather freakishly happen to match the model designation for your trick looking Beamer? It's not the first such coincidence that I've seen; there's a rather nice Kombi getting about sporting plates that read "A 75 VW." What are the chances, eh?
Enough of that! Both these two-door E30s were immaculate, with one wearing an M-style body kit and the other dressed in Zenda. I think I'm a little inclined towards the latter but it's a close-run thing, as both look fabulous. I may be a bit biassed, though; Zenda produce a really great looking kit for the Alfa 33 and I do love Italian cars.
We'd better get a few things straight! First, Rhys' 1978 Volvo is a van and not a wagon. It does look like a wagon. It even features four doors (I don't count tailgates as doors but, if I did, there'd be five). And as you'll soon see, it's even fitted with a rear bench seat.
However, those Swedes were smart; they saw the benefit of a wagon-based van that provided mid-ships access via its second pair of doors, even if they didn't open from the inside, their windows were fixed into position and would-be-passengers were disappointed to find a hard floor where the rear seat should've been.
And that rear seat? Rhys has Hobart-based company Cramp Brothers fit one, as well as having them install interior door handles so that the car functioned conventionally, rather than trapping passengers inside until released. Those interior door handles look awfully like HQ - HZ Holden versions, which is very in keeping with its Tasmanian modifications.
Rhys has owned the car since new and told me that it's been faultless all its life. He also sheepishly admitted that it's been living outside, exposed to the elements, his only available undercover parking spot having been taken by his usurping BMW i3! The Volvo's in great nick, though; the duco's still looking fresh, other than some crazing on the bonnet, and there's no obvious rust. It's a testament to Swedish built quality!
All evidence suggests that this tough-A-F Shelby Cobra is the real deal! It's left-hand-drive, the body has been fashioned from raw aluminium (aluminum if you're from the land of its birth!) and it's equipped with a what appears to be a genuine Shelby-modded V8. It's also sporting an Arizonan personalised rego plate - COBR 8 - a number of US Shelby-related car club decals and what purports to be Carroll Shelby's signature on the dashboard.
One tiny detail to have caught my forensic eye, and it might mean nothing, was that a Texas Cobra Club sticker on the front windscreen was overlaid on an Australian glass manufacturer's watermark. However, that's not to say that the windscreen's not a legitimate replacement that was fitted after the car arrived on our shores.
This Cobra replica was parked alongside the previous car and was, in its own way, nearly as mesmerising. The body - finished in fibreglass, as opposed to the original's unpainted aluminium - was deeply lustrous and was arguably better finished, with its very striking orange on silver livery really giving it some visual kick.
UMPH sources indicated that it's a local car, finished to extremely high standards. The body was originally purchased by a younger bloke who had intended mounting it onto an early Toyota Crown chassis - a not uncommon engineering solution, apparently - but he baulked at the project at the last minute, on-selling the kit to the current owner who custom built all the car's underpinnings from scratch.
The last machine to be featured in today's post is this art-in-motion Norton 750cc Commando, featured simply on the strength of its extraordinary 1970s metal flake blue paint job. Even the period-correct Bell helmet accompanying the bike's finished in the same '70s effect, albeit in a complementary silver hue. Spectacular!
Thanks to all participants for bringing their prides and joys along, and especially to Matt and Rhys for having taken the time to fill me in on their cars' histories. Events like Classics simply couldn't exist without people like you!
U M P H
(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)
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