Classics by the Beach: August, 2021

There were a few real treats on show at August, 2021's, Classics by the Beach, held at the Long Beach carpark in Sandy Bay, fewer than 10 minutes' drive south of Hobart, Tasmania.  Fiat fans are likely to enjoy Chris' 128 sedan and anyone into their Holdens - or Aussie muscle, in general - could not fail to love Lester's immaculate HX LE coupe.  And of course there's the usual eclectic selection of vehicles large and small, classic, sporty or modified, from all around the Globe.  Please enjoy!

Here's Chris' 128, featuring a 1500 cc motor, twin DCNF Webers, a modified cam and extractors, plus a five speed 'box, uprated suspension - including a front sway bar - and cool 13" alloys.  It also has a tastefully upgraded interior with a nice four-spoke sports steering wheel, Honda Integra front seats and a plush rear bench, trimmed to match. 

The car used to belong to a biggish-wig within the South Australian Italian car fraternity but had passed through a few hands before Chris secured it and began upgrading it, paying attention to a bit of rust and a few other minor maladies along the way.  It's starting to come together very nicely and is a stablemate to Chris' son's dark blue 128 sedan, which is also being brought back to life.  

It'll be great to see both cars out together, especially as a reminder to the World that Fiat pioneered the front-wheel-drive concept, as we know it today, by combining unequal length drive shafts, separate lubrication systems for the motor and gearbox - unlike the Mini's setup - and a front facing, electrically controlled and powered cooling system, again at odds with the way the Mini was designed.  It has even been said - in no lesser an authority than Wikipedia, mind you - that VW bought and completely disassembled a 128 sedan in 1970 and used it as the starting point for their endlessly successful Golf. 

I'm calling the next few paragraphs LEarning with LEster, having LEarned rather a lot about HX Holden LE coupes during an informative chat with the owner of this immaculate example of the model.  Please note that, technically, the LE is not a Monaro, although this only comes down to GMH's naming conventions which saw them miss out on the famous Monaro nameplate in the same manner that the moniker was dropped for 1977's four door HZ GTS.  The LE is, however, a fully fledged and universally accepted member of the Monaro family - as is the HZ GTS - albeit a highly-specced, luxo-version.       

LEsson # 1:  Contrary to popular belief, the 1976 LE - standing for Limited Edition - was not a randomly thrown-together assortment of parts assembled primarily to use up unwanted HJ coupe shells, in the same way the XC Falcon Cobra is said to have been a marketing exercise to exhaust Ford's supply of Falcon hardtop bodies (a very, very successful exercise and one that resulted in a beautiful car, by the way!).  It is true that the LE shells were built as HJs, and were surplus to needs, but the original plan was to flog them off as, of all things, Belmonts!  

However, an American GM designer working in the Australian office tasked with orchestrating the run-out, Leo Pruneau, had a different idea, having recently visited his home country and seen a limited-run Pontiac Firebird.  The Firebird in question had been finished in cherry red with gold accents and wheels of the same colour. 

Pruneau was so impressed by the Firebird that he set about speccing the ultimate Monaro, combining the best performance components from the muscular HX Monaro GTS with the luxury appointments of GM's flagship Statesman Caprice, as evidenced by the four-headlight front end, aircon, T-bar auto transmission, variable ratio power-steering, electric windows and sumptuous interior.  His initial plan was to also fit a sunroof and to replicate the Firebird's cherry red paint scheme but these were dropped in the face of fierce resistance from Holden's top brass who, it must be remembered, were looking to save money by building budget-spec Belmonts and not range-topping super coupes!  It is said that the GM execs took a lot of convincing that the LE was a viable model but, fortunately, Pruneau had influential internal supporters who helped get the project approved!   

LEsson # 2:  As mentioned above, the Firebird's cherry red duco was dropped as a cost-saving measure, it being, for some reason, particularly expensive to produce.  Its more cost-effective replacement - aptly, if not particularly imaginatively named LE red - is a Dulux colour and is exclusive to the model.  The gold LE motifs and pin-striping were actually painted on, rather than being applied as decals, which apparently annoyed the paint shop workers no end!   

LEsson # 3:  The wheels fitted to the LE are Pontiac designs, although Wikipedia does state that they're actually bonded plastic covers on steel rims.  Lester was able to show me photos of the original HJ-based LE prototype once owned by Pruneau, which wore slightly different versions.  The Pruneau prototype also featured the sunroof that he had hoped to fit to the production cars but sadly didn't make it past the bean-counters' red pens.  

LEsson # 4:  Lester knows his stuff!  How?, you ask.  He met Pruneau a few years back at a gatheringing of LE cogniscenti and their cars, held in New South Wales, which is also where he witnessed and photographed the HJ prototype.  And just to prove all this, here’s a picture of Pruneau's signature - fittingly in gold pen - on the inside of the glovebox lid of Lester's LE! 

Touched by greatness:  Leo Pruneau's actual signature!

Does anybody know if this is how all E-Types are assembled?  It seems odd that there are no inner mudguards, meaning that the engine - and, in particular - the electrics are exposed to whatever moisture gets thrown up and splashed about by the front wheels.

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U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)