Classics by the Beach: January, 2025

 

Where to begin?  I've opened UMPH's coverage of the first Classics by the Beach for 2025 with this ballsy little Datsun 120Y (obviously!), but there's also an original-as-you-could-hope-for 260Z and a Kenmeri Skyline / 240K, either of which would've also made great entree shots.  That's just from the Datsun stable!  Then there's the gorgeous Giugiaro-designed Alfa Tipo 116 GT (I think the lack of a V - as in GTV - means it's the 1.6 litre version), a pristine XD Fairmont Ghia, a big as a whale Chrysler Imperial, a couple of Galants and an X1/9, to mention but a few of the excellent cars on display.  

This 260Z’s been on my radar for many, many years, having cropped up in what might've been the early 2000s, if not earlier, down Huonville way.  Even then, it was a special car; Zs hadn't attained quite the cult status that they have now but, even then, I could tell that it was in extraordinarily good nick for its age.  A decade or two residing in a shed hasn't done it any harm at all!

This sliding sunroof is peak-1980s and I love it!

In Australia, the second generation Datsun Skyline was marketed as the 240K.  I'm unsure if this particularly immaculate example - an ostensibly stock T-bar auto - is technically a Kenmeri or not, as that hallowed moniker more likely belongs to the awesome GT-R performance variant of the Skyline nameplate and not two-door versions in general.

Either way, it's a gorgeous example with really tidy duco and chrome, as well as a lovely interior.  I was super pleased to finally see it up close, as I've been hoping to view the car stationary ever since I first spied it driving by in North Hobart a month or so back.  

XDs don't get much better than this sparkling Fairmont Ghia!  According to its owner of the last ten or so years, the car was resprayed before he bought it but has had no restorative work since.  It's now lovingly garaged and has every chance of looking as amazing as it does now for at least another decade. 

It's a 302 cu V8 coupled to a T-bar auto, and runs four wheel disc brakes.  The velour interior is in first rate condition with the only departure from standard being a Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel.  The engine bay's similarly pristine, although it does now feature chrome rocker covers and air filter, plus extractors, but is otherwise factory.  The Bathurst Globe wheels aren't original, either, but like all the other enhancements described here, the original items have been carefully stored so that the car could be put back to showroom spec, if desired.  

When it comes to out-there styling, you'd be hard pressed to beat the Americans during the '50s and '60s.  And then there's this, a 1962 Chrysler Imperial, which really is unique in so many ways that I'll take the lazy way out and let the photos provide the commentary for me!

"I got me a Chrysler, it seats about twenty,
so hurry up and bring your jukebox money."

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U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)