Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Winter in Tasmania can get quite nippy.  However, that rarely prevents a reasonable turn-out for the car enthusiasts' drive and lunch that departs from the 3C Church in Anglesea Street, South Hobart, around 11:00 am on of the third Wednesday of each month.  July's event was no exception, with many attendees and their beautiful cars gathering for coffee in the 3C cafe before they all headed south into the Channel area for lunch at Oyster Cove.  Making the event even better was the addition of several cars that haven't participated before.     The lovely Triumph Herald featured above and below was one such vehicle.  According to its owner, the car was a gift from a farmer to the Dover District High School where it was restored by students.  There was quite a bit of chat about the origins of the car's front end ; the owner says it's off a Vitesse (in effect, a six-cylinder Herald ) but one chap said he'd been given to understand there was ...

This is Rob the Victorian's magnificent 1924 Vauxhall tourer, chassis number OE066.  It's fitted with a 4.5 litre overhead valve six cylinder engine, an electric starter motor and four-wheel drum brakes which, at first mention, mightn't sound like such a big deal.  However, four brakes is twice as many as earlier editions of the car had, making for a huge improvement in anyone's language! Rob and his partner (apologies for not remembering your name) were on a lightning trip to Tasmania, having only landed in Devonport earlier on the morning their car was photographed in Hobart, some 300-odd kilometers south of their arrival point.  Adding to the impressive nature of their feat was the fact they'd taken time out of their trip to drive through the snow-covered Central Highlands! The car was the epitome of British elegance, with all the style of the 1920s.  It sounded lovely at idle, too, burbling quietly and without rattles or any roughness at al...

Once upon a time, way back many, many decades ago when Australia's automotive manufacturing future seemed to be assured, UMPH's aunt and uncle's engineering and production stamping company in Croydon, Victoria, was contracted to produce exhaust brackets for Datsun 120Ys.  And, in what might be an example of trickle-down economics, the teen-aged UMPH was briefly employed with his cousins to dip said exhaust brackets in some sort of tarry black paint as part of the finishing / rust-proofing process. So, there you have it:  UMPH's place in the history of the once ubiquitous Datsun 120Y.  Nothing startling, mind you, but a little factoid with which he amuses himself on the odd occasion he sees one, wondering if he might have contributed to its manufacture in a very small way. According to the owner of the 120Y shown here, it's been in his family since new, having been originally bought by his mother.  He still uses it regularly, often driving it from Burni...

Guilty as charged!  UMPH admits that he's cynically used these three gorgeous sports cars -  a contemporary Porsche 911  Carrera,  a lovely late 1960s' Lotus Europa , and, lurking in the background, a classic Austin Healey 100   - as unashamed 'click-bait' to draw in readers. Is this fair?   Absolutely!  It's cars like these - and many, many more, it must be said - that make the monthly Classics by the Beach gathering at Hobart's Sandy Bay beach so very special.  Read on and see if you disagree!     There are plenty of people who would assert that the Peugeot 205 GTi, like the one shown above and below, is the original 'hot-hatch'.  Of course, those people aren't Golf GTi aficionados but you wouldn't expect much consensus between French and German car fans, would you?  Either way, it's an interesting debate.  John's 1968 Jaguar XJ6 is a highly sought after, and quite rare, 4....