Upper Middle Petrol Head:

I'm pretty sure this pristine  Sandman  ute is an HX, based on its grille and side stripes.  HQ Sandmans are easy to spot, being the most distinctive of the HQ to HZ lineup, as they don't share the same basic 'nose' of the subsequent three models (they had entirely different dashboards, too). HQ and HJ Sandmans do, however, both feature matching arch-style side stripes, whereas HXs and HZs only differ stylistically in terms of their grilles, as their side stripes are identical to those shown here. I was surprised to  learn whilst researching this post that only the HJ Sandman featured the HJ - HZ Monaro / GTS vents on the front mudguards, the absence of same adding weight to this being an HX.  The HQ did feature the longer vents also seen on their concurrent Monaro and SS models, but GMH deleted any form of vents from both the HX and HZ Sandman's features lists.   I'm not sure why GMH did this ;  their Sandman line-up otherwi...

Today's photos - courtesy of Gor - were taken in Tasmania's north and show an interesting but largely forgotten mid- to late-80s Subaru coupe.  The styling might not be everybody's cup of tea.  However, the Vortex - or as it was known in other markets, Alcyone SVX - was very much of its era, with a design wasn't a million miles off that of the Leones  of the same period, albeit a little less restrained.  There's also a fair hint of the WRX's spiritual predecessor, the brutal all-wheel-drive  Leone RX Turbo, evident in the Vortex's angular front end.  U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by Gor.

This circa 1980  two-door Escort is right out of my misspent youth, with a number of my mates having had very similar cars.  Four of us had Escort vans, including the man who captured today's offering.   The car shown here is bang-on for its era, with exactly the sort of mag-wheels you'd expect for its age.  A black plastic louvre would've set it off nicely.  Remember them?.   It mightn't be an RS2000 or even the lesser-specced RallyPac edition, but as a 2.0 'Pinto'-powered car, it'd still have got along at a fair clip.  The 2.0s certainly had a lot more get up and go than my underwhelming 1.6! U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au) Photo supplied by GlamRock

Today's car - a mint-condition XL Falcon wagon - comes courtesy of the Alfa Male and was spotted down the Channel area, south of Hobart.  The sunshade, Venetians and chrome Dragway- style wheels set it off beautifully.    U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos supplied.

Regular UMPH correspondent Mikey snapped this quintessentially American classic in Blenheim, New Zealand, on one of his not infrequent overseas jaunts.  I suspect that GMH Australia were influenced just a tiny bit by their State-side cousins and this car when they penned the design of their own EK / FB Holdens. As a local aside, ex-Whitlam Labour Government minister and former leader of the Tasmanian Opposition Ken Wriedt used to drive a cary very, very similar to the one shown here.  However, from memory (he and his family lived in the same eastern shore suburb of Hobart as me), Ken's was mainly light blue.  It wasn't uncommon to see him or his wife dropping their two daughters off at my school in what we then described as their "Yank tank." Amusingly, my father was convinced that Mr Wriedt was a Communist and therefore not to be trusted!  I suspect this was total bollocks but I suppose his car wouldn't have looked out of place in Havana and m...

It just occurred to me that today's Classics by the Beach isn't just the last for the year, but for the decade, too.  That makes this striking alpine green XD Falcon a fitting car to feature as the lead photo, given that it's likely to have just had - or is about to celebrate - its 40th birthday.  If it's a 1979 model - XDs having been made from '79 - '81 - it's actually entering its sixth decade, its fifth if it hails from '80 or '81. According to a blurb provided by the owners, it's an ex-NSW police car, believed to have once been on personal issue to Australia's most bent cop - now long term  guest of the NSW Prison Service - Detective Sergeant Roger Rogerson.  A letter from Ford Australia accompanying the car's CV certainly points to this being true, as the VIN matches one of two such cars sold to the NSW constabulary. It was one of only 24 XDs finished in this colour out of 50,000 made.  As an ex-cop car, it has all the hea...