Upper Middle Petrol Head:

UMPH's coverage of the June, 2018, monthly car enthusiasts' drive and lunch opens with this amazing Packard, seen here at the beginning of the event at the 3C - standing for Christian City Church - cafe in Anglesea Street, South Hobart.  It's a lovely car and one that illustrates very well the diversity and depth of Tasmania's classic car scene. It was easily the oldest, and arguably the the most elegant, car in a fleet that covered everything from American and German vehicles through to Japanese, Italian and British marques.  Other manufacturers represented included Porsche, VW, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Maserati,  Austin Healey, Daimler, and  a host of classic and more contemporary MGs, each and every car beautiful in its own way.    The UMPH 1975 Galant hardtop in full Japanese spec, with a 2 litre motor and a 5 speed 'box. This rather special Beetle features again towards the end of this post. This month's route saw ...

The King Island Correspondent has done it again!  This time he's spotted a gorgeous EK Holden - more bars in the radiator grille and no swooping chrome accents and  contrasting duco  on the sides compared to the otherwise almost identical FB - at South Australia's Kingston Park Coastal Reserve, south of Adelaide's CBD.  The car looks fabulous for its absolute simplicity:  Dragway style mags, stark white paint and a meaty-looking chromed exhaust tip are its only ostensible modifications.  It may have been lowered a smidgen, too, giving it nice stance, but it's hard to tell if this is so or not.  Either way, it's a great looking machine! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

The King Island Correspondent has come through with the first ever car from South Australia  to feature on UMPH  - a Valiant VE sedan ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Valiant_(VE) ).  Spotted in the McLaren Vale wine region ( https://mclarenvale.info/ ), it looks to be a very tidy example, with fantastic panels, paint and chrome.  Just the chariot for a spot of wine tasting!   U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

This 390 cubic inch (roughly 6.4 litre) V8 behemoth has only just returned to the road, having been subjected to a comprehensive rebuild by its long-term owner.  It now has a brand-new rust-free floor, several refurbished panels, a replacement rear window - sourced new from the USA - now hard to obtain original chromed '12 slot' wheels, and a gleaming paint job.  The ball room sized interior was left largely untouched, however, as it was already in really good nick.  It's a whole lotta car running on not very big drum brakes all round, so a disc brake front end is under consideration.  Nice!     U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

This immaculate Lotus Europa is the stuff of fantasies for petrol-heads born in the 1960s and '70s!  Whilst UMPH can remember them from car mags of the time and the Superwheels (or Corgi , perhaps?) toys of that era, it was a long, long time before he ever saw one for real. The car shown here - a Series 2 (abbreviated to S2 ) - is one of at least two in southern Tasmania, the other being an equally superb Special in black and gold livery that arrived in the state a few years ago.  There's also an Elan, Excel and Eclat known to UMPH, a couple of Esprits, plus several newer Lotuses gracing our roads, too.  Fans of the the Lotus marque - or of almost any manufacturer, for that matter - can find further examples elsewhere on this 'blog.  Just use the search facility in the top right of screen to find them. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au). All iPhone images