Upper Middle Petrol Head:

The mythical 'one little old lady owner, only ever driven to church ' car is no myth, as the following photos show.  This particular example - a 1974 GB Galant fitted with a 1600 Saturn motor and three-speed auto 'box - had approximately 40,000 miles on the clock and still had its original cheese-cutter cross-ply tyres. It previously belonged to the aunt of Gavin and Ian, brothers who now reside in the Albury-Wodonga region on the Victoria / New South Wales border, who were in Hobart to collect the car and take it home.  Ian hopes to have it running again in time for a local Chrysler owners' get together within the next month or so.  The car was as near to mint as could possibly be imagined, with its only modification being a raised driver's seat - a necessity, according to Ian, to allow his diminutive aunt to see properly over the dash.  It was otherwise exactly as it left the local Chrysler dealership, DJ Motors, In Campbell Street, Hobart.  Any...

No proper Aussie boy can resist a bit of AC/DC!  (Just admit it ;  there's some bogan in all of us.)  No real Aussie man under 80 years of age could fail to be impressed with any of the performance Toranas, either!  And, in the interests of gender equality, UMPH is willing to accept that there might also be more than a few female AC/DC and / or Torana fans in this great country of ours. This particular car, spotted on its trailer and en route to the Baskerville Historics ( https://www.motorsportstas.com.au/event/baskerville-historics ) , was attracting plenty of attention from male and female admirers alike.  Imagine the reaction had it been fired up! For those that missed out on the action at the Historics, there's a whole UMPH post devoted to Day 2.  Just search Baskerville in the top right hand corner of the UMPH front page. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

This rugged old Valiant Safari was absolutely the duck's guts, featuring wide rims, a sports steering wheel, aftermarket bucket seats and a floor change manual 'box.  About the only things missing were an eight-ball or scorpion / red-back spider in resin gear knob and maybe some fluffy dice. Everything about it said indestructible.  It would have to be at least 50 years old and looks like it's ready for a good few more years' solid service yet to come!     U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

This very tidy, apparently original Series 2 Fiat X1/9 is currently for sale, with an asking price of $13,000, or nearest offer.  UMPH is neither a panel-beater beater nor a  mechanic but, from a fairly cursory road -side examination, it would appear to be straight and rust free, with no signs of major repairs having been undertaken.  The paint is glossy and of even colour and the tyres are all newish.  Of course, he wouldn't even dare to comment on the mechanical side of things but it wouldn't be hard to have it checked out by one of the local Italian car specialists (who probably know of, and work on, the car anyway - that's Hobart for you!).   UMPH isn't a car salesman, either.  If, however, you happened to look through all the attached photos, you might well see a phone number of a bloke that's dabbling as one - at least in respect to the car we see here.  And, if it's as good as it looks, it could well turn out to be an astute buy. ...

Tasmania has a number of top-notch annual car shows, the Post Vintage Car Club of Tasmania's Picnic at Ross ( http://www.postvintage.org.au/ ) and Shannons' Take Your Tops Off breast cancer awareness-booster and fundraiser not least amongst them ( www.facebook.com/events/725377600952980/ ).  A number of local car clubs and service organisations - Rotary and The Lions, for example - run great events, too, and Club Motori Italia's Parliament lawns display - scheduled this year for Saturday the 28th of October - is always a ripper.   Twelve months between major events is a long time for classic car junkies.  Fortunately for those of us in the south of the state, there's a more regular fix in the form Classics by the Bay, an informal get-together that occurs on the first Sunday of each month at the middle car park of Sandy Bay's Long Beach.  Don't let the notion that informality equals second rate ; there's nothing ersatz about the cars that gath...