Upper Middle Petrol Head:

UMPH ran into Norm this morning, happily drinking coffee at his Elizabeth Street outdoor office.  He said that since the last Classics by the Beach post (4th of October this year), Club Motori Italia had reinstated its annual Parliament House lawns display. Therefore, the info provided in that last Classics post is now incorrect, although it was accurate at the time of going to press (it was taken from CMI's own Facebook page).  So, please be advised that the event is going ahead on the morning of Saturday the 28th of October, 2017. Not only is the Parliament House lawns display back on, it's going to be combined with a showing of Lancias that will be touring the state and, possibly, a number of Triumph sports cars, too.  That's a real bonus!  So if you were ever thinking of attending, UMPH reckons this should be more than enough to seal the deal! Hope to see you there!  It's going to be i  testicoli del cane !!...

Like the Glimmer Man's Fargo (http://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/random-127-glimar-mans-fargo-truck.html), this very cool Chev truck has been around Hobart for many, many years and is still a fairly common sight in and around the city.  It's no toy, either ,  clearly still being used to do what it was originally built to do :   lug big, heavy stuff. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

Readers may remember the saga that Parts I, II and III of The Dashboard Doctor Challenge recounted as UMPH tried, in vain, to replace the vinyl dash-pad of his 1975 Galant hardtop.  Part III ended with a perfectly restored dash-pad sitting, unused, as it had shrunk and, no matter what he tried, it simply couldn't be made to fit.  Steve's handiwork.  Note the outermost black bands with contrasting red stitching. A plan was hatched to cut the dash-pad in half, which would permit it to be fitted over the left and right sides of the metal base, and to cover the resultant central gap with a vinyl cover with a twin  GT stripe motif.  UMPH drew up a template, took it to Steve Davey of Classic Automotive and Marine Trimming (33 St Aubyn Square, Moonah - Ph: 6273 3043 / 0417 535 035), chose two nicely textured marine-grade vinyls - one red and one black - and specified contrast stitching to complete the look. The result, seen in the images above and below, wa...

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.