Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Questa Serie X 1/9 del 1978, completamente priva di ruggine e completamente priva di ruggine, è uno dei quattro articoli Work in Progress contemporanei che includono o saranno presenti su UMPH al minuto, unendo Alfa GTV di Todd, Alfa 33 maschile e ancora pezzo da pubblicare su un ex Ed Ordynski Suzuki Sierra che sta subendo una ricostruzione completa del telaio. È anche di particolare interesse personale per l'autore, come potresti presto riconoscere. Il proprietario originale dell'auto non è noto. Tuttavia, il compianto Peter Prestage - il visionario ex capo della Tasmania Police Forensic Services - lo comprò intorno al 1980, prima di venderlo a Iain Watson nei primi anni '90. Iain (aka John) ha avuto un lungo amore per tutto ciò che riguarda l'industria automobilistica e il coinvolgimento negli sport motoristici, avendo posseduto tutto da MG della serie T, una GT Cortina, una vettura da rally Beetle VW e numerose Fiat, oltre ad essere un membro fondato...

You win some, you lose some!  That's just how it is sometimes.   The debit side of the ledger first:  The earlier "totally rust-free" status has had a big asterisk placed against it, pending further investigations of the cooling system.  In its defence, the car's not overheating, nor is there any evidence of weeping from the radiator or the cooling pipes, which is cause for some optimism.   The fluid - or "liquid metallic orange" - arrived on the concrete  via the overflow tank, suggesting that the system's robust enough to cope with a bit of internal pressure without popping anything.  A good flush-out's jumped up the priority list and joins an urgent tune-up and service as a must-do. Some ying to the yang (or is it yang to ying?):  Beneath the seat covers were these slightly grotty but relatively unfaded and very unworn original seats.  Definitely nothing that a good steam clean won't sort and, giv...

This dead-straight, totally rust free 1978 Series 1 Fiat X1/9 is one of four concurrent Work in Progress articles featuring or to be featured on UMPH at the minute, joining Todd's Alfa GTV, the Alfa Male's 33 and a yet-to-be-published piece on an ex-Ed Ordynski Suzuki Sierra that's undergoing a full chassis-up rebuild .  It's also of particular personal interest to the author, as you might soon recognise.   The car's original owner is not known.  However, the late Peter Prestage - the visionary former head of Tasmania Police Forensic  Services - bought it around 1980, before selling it to Iain Watson in the early 1990s.  Iain (aka John) has had a long love of all things automotive and involvement in motorsports, having owned everything from T-series MGs, a GT Cortina, a VW Beetle rally car and numerous Fiats, as well as being a founding member of the Light Car Club of Canberra and Targa Tasmania competitor.  He also raced m...

Mr McBeardie has excelled again, bringing us this lovely Swiss-registered BMW 1600 cabriolet that he snapped in Fort Augustus, Loch Ness, Scotland.  He tells me that its owners were touring the UK to celebrate the car's 50th birthday.  I could drink to that.  Happy birthday, Beamer! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

I once saw an Austin Healey Sprite bearing the rego "NOTNMG", which makes me wonder if the owner of this Daimler is ever tempted to go with "NONJAG" or something similar, given that he or she's almost certainly forever explaining that this car is not a Mk II Jaguar.  To the untrained eye - i.e. mine - the only ostensible difference between the Daimler V8 250 and its less-posh sibling, the Mk II Jag, are the curvey winged D bonnet emblem, fluted grille surround and rear rego plate light, Daimler lettering on that light's lens ,  plus a bit of badging here and there. However, Wikipedia alludes to, but doesn't actually describe what it refers to as, " distinctive exterior and luxury interior fittings" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_Mark_2 ) that also set it apart from the Mk II . Everyone's favourite font of all knowledge further explains that rather than being fitted with the Jaguar's 2.4, 3.4 or 3.8 litre XK ...

It seems that discontinuing the classic Landie line has only boosted the marque's appeal, as this pimped-up ripper photographed in the UK demonstrates.  And it's not just newer models that've been snapped up and given the treatment ; Land Rover itself has a division specially dedicated to restoring even the earliest of the legendary machines back to their full glory (please see  https://www.landrover.com/explore-land-rover/reborn.html ).  D'ya reckon it might've been a good plan to just keep building them ... ? U M P H Photos by Mr Mc Beardie.   

Continuing the recent UMPH grey-motor theme is this exceptional EJ Special.  It has to be said that the car was spot-on in every regard, from its flawless - possibly original, by the looks of it - duco, right through to all the accessories that make Holden Specials , well ... special! I'm no expert but it looks to me like the car's been kitted out with every period accessory ever available for the EJ.  It's got bumper over-riders, mesh headlight protectors (not sure if they were a Holden option, though), white-wall tyres, paint protectors behind the exterior door handles, chrome door strips, a sun visor and last, but by no means least importantly, some classic spats!   It looks like the interior got the full treatment, too ;  the door cards and seats look particularly trick and there's even an ashtray in the back of the front pew.  I'm not sure there was much more you could've asked for way back in 1962!   ...