Don Mario's: November, 2023

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It's taken far too long to finally get one of the Upper Middle Petrol Head team up to George Town, in Tasmania's north, to cover a Don Mario's cars 'n' coffee event.  It's not just the distance from UMPH HQ in Hobart that had held us back; the extremely popular northern show is always held on the same day as Sandy Bay's Classics by the Beach - the first Sunday of each month - creating a bit of a dilemma for our staff who are all a bit keen on sleeping in of a weekend. 



Until now, that is.  Our newest recruit - he prefers the term intern whereas we call him Work Experience Kid - has no life and was, therefore, not too hard to cajole into a very early start and a sortie to the other end of the state.  As a sweetener, we paid for his petrol and coughed up extra coin for a pie and Coke along the way!


WEK tells us that, unlike Classics, Don Mario's is almost exclusively Aussie and American muscle and classic chrome bumper territory.  None of ya poncey Italian jobs and high-end German machinery at this festival of old school cool!

Mind you, there was a bit of Pommie stuff - a Hillman, a Lotus Cortina replica, a Lotus Elan, a Morgan, a rat-rodded Humber and a Royale Sabre roadster that we'll discuss in a while;  one solitary French car, a Renault 12 wagon, which is what out-doorsy people used to drive before Subarus became their kayak carriers of choice; a Datsun 1600 and a Kei truck from Japan; as well as a very tidy Kombi ute.  But mainly GT Falcons, early Mustangs, Monaros, Toranas, a Trans Am and Valiants, just like WEK said!  































This is the Royale Sabre mentioned earlier.  According to a handy plaque provided by the car's owner, it is a "... two-seat roadster built in ... Bamber Bridge ... .  [It's] not a replica, but is an original design by John Barlow of Royale Motors Ltd [and is] one of approximately 250 built to date."  The plaque goes on to say that the Sabre's construction is based on a " ... 100 mm box section ladder frame ..." with all fibreglass body panels, other than the bonnet, which is made of aluminium.  Safety features include side impact anti-intrusion bars, the suspension is fully independent with coil-overs all 'round, there are four-wheel ABS disc brakes and it weighs in at approximately 1300 kg.  Mechanicals are courtesy of a 1995 Ford Granada, including a twin cam 2.0 litre EFI engine and five speed 'box from the same source.












































WEK took these photos of a Daihatsu kei-truck, not realising that the Editor in Chief had already covered the car when it used to live down south and was a semi-regular at Classics (please see: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/08/classics-by-beach-august-2022.html).  The images do, however, serve to showcase the owner's latest project - a stripped back, Deus ex Machina-inspired Yamaha 250 - strapped to the diminutive load-hauler's tray.   











Did you enjoy this article?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There are loads and loads of classic, sports and performance vehicles featured, as well as stacks of car shows and motorsports events.  Even better, you can follow either the 'blog itself or do so via Upper Middle Petrol Head's Facebook page.  And please do like and share!





U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

Words by the Editor-in-Chief.

Photos by the Work Experience Kid.


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