Upper Middle Petrol Head:

You would be hard pressed to find a better example of a Leyland Mini Clubman than this ripper, photographed in Elizabeth Street, North Hobart, on a gorgeous Tasmanian Autumn morning. It was absolutely flawless, from its lustrous yellow duco, glittering chrome and Mini-lite wheels, through to its tasteful cloth-trimmed interior and four-spoke Formuling sports steering wheel.  The chromed exterior door and boot hinges, seen above and below, were somewhat unusual ; almost none of the Clubmans found on the internet featured exterior door hinges at all and they were all painted the same colour as the body. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

What's not to love about the Moke?  Simple styling, open-top, and mechanicals from the beloved Mini range.   This particular example, photographed in Bellerive, on the eastern shore of Hobart's  River  Derwent, was a in great nick with rich, glossy paint, straight panels and a lovely interior.  All its original Californian features - from the white front and rear tubular steel bumpers and roll-bar, high-back bucket seats, sports steering wheel and Sunraysia style wheels - were present, too. As a Californian , it was also fitted with the larger 1275 cc engine and front disk brakes.  It is a later Australian version - circa 1977 - having been made by the much maligned Leyland group who took over the production of the Mini range from BMC in the early 1970s. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

All in all, this Mini Traveller, photographed in Hobart's historic ship-building area and maritime hub, Battery Point, was in pretty good nick. Its duco, chrome and panels were all good and the interior was neat and tidy, too. However, the wooden trim that surrounded the rear-most part of the car was showing some signs of deterioration. I may have been newer than most Aussies would think, as it featured plastic front flares and a stick-on prismatic rear view mirror, none of which would have been fitted to the Minis that were available in this country. This suggests that the car may have been imported from Britain or some other market that continued to use the more traditional Mini front end in parallel to the later  Clubman  versions that wholly replaced the former style here in Australia (coinciding with Leyland's takeover of BMC).  If anyone can shed light on this matter, please feel free to do so in the Comments section of this ...

UMPH was thrilled to receive a tip-off that the Bugatti Club Australia's 2017 Victoria and Tasmania Tour was making its way down Tasmania's east coast, en route to the historic former convict station at Port Arthur, approximately one hour's drive south east of Hobart.  What else could he do but load Upper Middle Petrol Hound into the X1/9 and head down there to meet the participants, camera in hand? This first Bugatti is actually from New Zealand and was being driven by a friendly, and knowledgeable, fellow from Vanuatu.  He told UMPH that despite its looks, it's not the more famous Type 35 Grand Prix racer but is a two-seater that was always intended to be a road-going car. He further explained that the straight-eight engine, seen below, is actually two four cylinder blocks that are connected to, but aren't actually part of, each other.  At least that's what UMPH thinks our friend said (if anyone can better describe how the engine/s are configured,...