Upper Middle Petrol Head:

I begin 2022's first Classics by the Beach post with a personal Alzheimer's test, trying desperately to remember what the owner of this amazing O'Neill hot rod told me about the car and its very, very interesting history.  It's an infinitely more enjoyable diagnostic than a swab up the nose, I can tell you! The vehicle started out as a 1941 Ford army truck that was rolled and effectively written off in a crash at the Bandiana army camp in Victoria, Australia, after which it was purchased by the current owner's father.  Its first iteration - circa 1946/7 - was as a racing car that competed at Phillip Island and a number of other mainland Australian circuits. Its svelte hot rod body was hand-made in the early 1960s by one of the last coach builders to have ever worked for Rolls Royce in Australia and was fashioned from steel with a hammer and dolly.  Believe me when I say that it's a true work of art, as well as a testament to the very highest levels of craftsmans