Upper Middle Petrol Head:

The Alfa Male attends to the practicalities while I faff about taking photos. I'm not generally given to impulse buying.  No last-minute check-out queue choccies or copies of celebrity gossip rags for me!  But send me an auction link, like my mate Nick did a few weeks back, and it seems I'll buy nearly any old thing, sight unseen. A rusty late 70s' Fiat 128 3P coupe?  Why not?!  The photos on the Tullochs' Auctions webpage looked OK, the car seemed straight and one pic even hinted that it might actually run.  And with classic car prices clearly on the up, it looked to be worth the gamble.  My "winning" bid fell short of the reserve and the car was passed in.  Noting that there only seemed to be two other bidders and their lacklustre interest in the car (I had made two of the total four bids), I flicked Tullochs' a cheeky email with a counter offer, still below the reserve, and left it at that. The following Friday, I received a call from the auction ho...

  I do not know the owner of this rather striking Mk II Triumph Spitfire - photographed in Sandy Bay, just south of Hobart, Tasmania, in early Spring, 2021 - nor do I know anything about his or her car.  However, I can say that it certainly looked the duck's guts, with a really nice paint job, straight panels, shiny chrome and a very tidy interior.   The observant amongst you will note that it's for sale.  The really, really observant might just make out a mobile number that sort of approximates something vaguely like 040X 99X 81X*.  Not that I'm endorsing the quality of the car or the sagacity of buying it or otherwise!       *  I’ll remove this number in a month or so, just in case the seller keeps receiving random “Is that Spitfire still for sale?” calls.  I’ll delete it if s/he asks me to, too, but I figure if they’re happy to have it on a sign on a car parked on a public street, a brief airing on an obscure ‘blog...

Is this one of the very best American car profiles ever?  Long, low, sleek and muscular.  A design so timeless that every time Ford tried to update, improve or even emulate it, they failed.  Except the fastback of the same era.  The fastback was even better.   But, other than that, it's pretty much unsurpassed.   This particular example - a 1960s' version packing a 302 cu V8 coupled to a floor-mount auto - was photographed just south of Tasmania's capital city, Hobart, on an early spring morning.  It was straight, rust-free and tidy-as, looking like a car that was enjoyed rather than being for its admittedly very good looks alone.  Just how classic cars should be!   Also recently featured on uppermiddlepetrolhead:  September, 2021's, Classics by the Beach; a trio of early model Holdens - two HKs, one being a rare panel van - and a lovely FC wagon; plus coverage of Club Motori Italia's recent Lufra Hillclimb.  Why not ...

It's a well known fact that Fathers' Day* marks the official opening of the classic car season in Tasmania, in the same way that yachties launch their social and competition sailing calendars.  However, it has been noted that the salty set have somewhat crashed the recreational motorists' party of late, the former having moved their traditional October season opener to September.   One trusts that Her Excellency the Governor's diary is able to accommodate both events next year, as the sail- and drive-bys are highlights of each group's respective seasons!  It would be a shame if HE were again unavailable, the tooting of the klaxons and the appearance of the Vice-Regal Daimler having become quite the ocassion! The opening of the Hobart-based CCS festivities traditionally culminates in a car show at Sandy Bay beach, approximately ten minutes' drive from the capital city's central business district.  This year, the car park adjacent to the beach was quite ...