Upper Middle Petrol Head:

  Tasmania's sunny North East Coast isn't a real bad place to be in April, and not only for its weather and stunning scenery!   This gorgeous CM Regal was one of several of the area's other attractions, along with a Valiant SV1 ( https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2023/04/random-333-circa-1962-valiant-sv1.html ) and a nifty Hillman Imp that, unfortunately, I wasn't able to photograph. It was in great nick , featuring really nice paint and chrome, as well as a glossy black vinyl roof - which, in concert with its rear Venetians - was bang-on for era. Mrs UMPH also spied a lovely Mk3 Cortina - possibly an up-spec XLE - that's piqued my interest and added yet another reason to revisit St Helens and its surrounds reasonably soon. Today’s car isn’t this site’s only range-topping Valiant; if you bung the word “Regal” into the search facility (top right hand side of the screen), you’ll soon find several examples, including another pristine CM and an earlier hardtop.

This magnificent Valiant SV1 - photographed recently on Tasmania's North East Coast - is an early-ish example of the now ubiquitous restomod phenomenon, having been given a sizeable engine, transmission and brakes upgrade approximately 15 years ago. Gone is the original 225 cu "slant six" engine in favour of a large Chrysler V8 (did I really hear 7 litre?!), the "three on the tree" manual tranny's been swapped out for a floor-mounted auto, and it boasts big ventilated discs front and rear, with a booster. The duco still looks fresh and the interior - skilfully re-trimmed in white with later model seats - is lovely. The whole car retains its original character and remains faithful to the Chrysler marque - this is no LS-swapped, new parts bin Frankenstein - although the rear brakes are ex-Fairlaine. And, to top it all off, Wikipedia reckons it's one of only 10,009 SV1s built in Australia!  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Valiant ). What a gem! U M