Classics by the Beach: November, 2022

It's probably ill-advised to begin an article by being a smarty-buttocks. But here I go anyway, writing stuff lots of people are unlikely to give a rodent's bot about or may even dispute. However, I'm pretty confident that those in the know - owners and lovers of Willys vehicles, in particular - will appreciate the pedantry ... .

Willys is pronounced Williss, with the y making an i sound. There's no apostrophe; the Willys company does not belong to Willy but was founded by Mr John North Willys.

And now that I've lost the remainder of my already very modest readership, we can move on to discuss this very nice early- to mid-1930s Willys 77 pick-up, photographed at November 2022's instalment of Hobart's Classics by the Beach. According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys_77), it's powered by a 2.4 litre four cylinder engine that gave what in its day was considered excellent fuel economy - just short of 30 mpg - and allowed for a top speed of 65 mp/h, which was fair flying way back then. Their chassis were a very popular starting point for racing cars of the era.

This particular Willys is an awesome looking machine with a rakish front grille, sweeping mudguards and side bonnet louvres that wouldn't look out of place on a Mustang P51 WW2 fighter plane. It also features a one piece front windscreen - split front glass was common back then - and suicide doors. The eagle-eyed will spot that it's for sale, too; the phone number is in one of the photos.

The Willys name is synonymous with US military and civilian Jeeps. However, the Willys brand - and the broader Willys-Overland Motors company - went the way of the dodo, winding up way back in 1953. However, the Jeep nameplate continues to this day, now being part the Stellantis / Chrysler stable, maintaining strong visual links to their Willys predecessors.

I'm generally not a fan of hyperbole - talking stuff up for the sake of it - preferring to keep things at least a bit real. That said, this 1980s Subaru Sports Wagon was in absolutely amazing nick! I thought it was a full resto but a few tiny things - a bit of sun damage to some of the decals, etc - suggest that it's all original. Every single bit of it is immaculate; its paint, plastics, interior trim and accessories are all, quite literally, like new. Perfect. Just perfect!

This crew cab Kombi was also in amazing condition, although it's very almost a cert that it has been restored. Whoever's done the work deserves full credit; it's very, very well done, as these photos hopefully show.

There's no point in me pretending to have even the foggiest clue about this extremely early Ford car. What I can say, however, is that I love its rugged simplicity and the wonderful way that it's presented today. There are a couple of stickers on the rear that suggest that it's used in historic rallys and endurance type events, which must be quite the adventure!

There won't be any further commentary on the rest of the cars shown here today, although I would suggest that you keep scrolling through. I hope that you'll agree that the Sunbeam Tiger shown a few pics up the page was well worth a look and find the immaculate VW Microbus shown several shots further down just as appealing. There's also a very nice HR X2 an elegant Humber Super Snipe and a cool Datsun Z to come.

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U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

EJ or the later EH? Several years ago, I posed the question: Can somebody please explain the difference between an EJ and an EH Holden ute or van? The response at the time wasn't overwhelming, so I did a bit of Googling and ferreting through my photos and came up with my own rough guide to EJ and EH identification. Sedans and wagons are easy to tell apart ; the EH's vertical rectangular tail lights are a dead give-away. However, the workhorse versions of both models share the rear-end treatment of the earlier EJ, making it harder to identify one from the other. No super obvious hints here. Or here ... . It turns out that the main clues are in the placement of the front H O L D E N lettering and GMH lion emblems, the style of the radiator grille and the width of the vents in front of the windscreen, with all EJs - sedans, wagons, utes and vans - having one combination and the EH line-up having their own . So what exactly are those diffe

Vick Auto Prima Fiat X1/9 Brakes: An Owner’s Assessment

At the end of 2022, I fitted a set of Vick Autosport Prima front brakes to my mildly worked 1.5 litre Series 1 Fiat X1/9 . I was fortunate, having picked them up at a very, very reasonable price, brand new but surplus to the needs of a fellow X1/9 Australia member who had imported them from the US. The kit included: New single pot callipers , new vented rotors (standard X1/9 front rotors are smaller, non-vented items), DOT approved stainless steel brake hoses, and all the necessary mounting hardware. They are a value proposition, being particularly well priced compared to other manufacturers’ packages - even at RRP - with everyone I’ve spoken to saying they’re made to a high standard, too. Here's a link to a piece that I wrote about them at that time, including some costings: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-x19-gets-prima-brake-upgrade.html . Initial Assessment: I was a little underwhelmed by the brakes' performance, finding that although they had a tiny

Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart. It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard. Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. And a hubcap went missing. And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it. And a mudguard got dented. And rust set in. I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla. Somebody please save it before it's too late. Nanna needs you to do it. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by GlamRock.

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