Classics by the Beach: June, 2022

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This classically 1950s' designed car - replete with chromed over-riders and bumpers, a big grille and super-sized fins - is not an American offering, even if it does also pack a V8 engine.  It's not an Aussie or British marque, nor is it an obscure Soviet-era vehicle, either.  So what is it ... ?

Would you believe that this 2.4 litre V8-engined machine is actually French?  It's a circa 1959 Simca Vedette, to be precise, and it very likely owes its American styling to the fact that Chrysler had a hand in the company, with Simca eventually becoming a subsidiary of their European arm in 1970 (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simca, accessed 05 JUN 22).  

Our Vedette very, very nearly took out June, 2022's, Classics by the Beach Car of the Day but was just pipped by another extremely interesting and super-rare automobile that we'll get to in a minute .... .  Mind you, it's not because the '50s' Simca was a little bit beaten up; the UMPH team are all for patina - which is evident here in spades - but simply came down to rarity. 


This lovely Ford T-Bird - fresh from the 2022 Targa Tasmania tour - isn't CoTD, either!  It's also an undoubtedly special car, scoring extra points for be a convertible, but it still falls short of the gong.       












Early attendees probably missed this British HRG clubman-styled styled beauty, as it arrived quite late in the morning, not that this prevented it being easily the most popular vehicle - garnering many, many fascinated onlookers - when it rolled in.  And yes, it is the super cool rarity that took out the UMPH CoTD award.*

From what I can gather from eavesdropped sntaches of conversation is that it's a 1949 chassis with a 1951 twin-cam engine (those dates could be ar*se-about!) and, until recently, it was resident in NSW.  It has four owners - two couples, I believe - who joke that each individual owns a one of its wheels.  It's been driven as far north as Noosa, Queensland, and has made numerous appearances at Australian east coast historic races meetings over the last few years, but now lives right here in Tasmania.


It's not a fibreglass body, having instead been fashioned from steel, and is a one-off prototype that didn't proceed beyond to production, making it the only one of its type in the world.  More information on the HRG marque is available via: https://hrgcars.com/history/.   



































Coming to Upper Middle Petrol Head soon:  Kev's absolutely perfect hot KE27 Corolla coupe and an update on Todd's very, very nearly finished Alfa GTV.  I promise that both are well worth a look, as are a few features coming through from our South East Queensland correspondent.  






U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

* First prize = the warm glow of recognition.  No trophy, certificate or cash, I'm afraid!  Sorry.













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