Upper Middle Petrol Head:

What used to be Derek C’s awesome two-door as click-bait!  Apologies for the subterfuge.   Readers might remember that Part 17 of P3P ended with a blown head gasket and a whole lot of ill-temper on my behalf.   They’d also be excused for thinking that the entire project had been killed off in a fit of pique, given that the last update was way back in March of this year.   Not so!  Admittedly, things have slowed down considerably but - despite a combination of parts unavailability, my mechanic’s calendar being chockers, Family Petrol Head deciding that the worst of Tasmania’s winter was to be escaped rather than endured and, to no minor degree, a residual degree of pissed-offness - there has been some progress.   Not the head gasket, though!  That’s the part we’re waiting for.   Header plates above and 128 manifold gaskets, used as templates, below. It’s not new news but the custom-built four-into-two-into-one - or “tri-Y” - extractors have been f...

  This gorgeous Fiat 124 CC is a real Alfa 105 beater!  Like its more fancied Italian cousin, Fabbrica Italiana Automobilo Torino’s sporty coupe came equipped, as standard, with a rorty twin cam four cylinder engine, five speed ‘box, fully coil-sprung suspension and disc brakes all round.  They also featured a performance orientated interior, including a sports steering wheel, comprehensive instrumentation, a centre console and bucket seats.  124 Sport Coupe engine capacities varied, starting with a 1438 cc version of the Lampredi designed power plant fitted to 1967’s first series, or AC , a 1438 or 1608 cc in the BC that followed in 1970, and a 1592, 1608 or 1756 cc for the final CC iteration of the model that ran from 1973 until its demise in 1975.  This is also not dissimilar to the engine offerings available in the 105; they could be had with 1300, 1600, 1750 and 2000 cc variants of Alfa’s famed four pot DOHC.      Being a CC, today’s example ...

  If we’re talking friends of classic cars, I’d happily vouch that visionaries like Ken Macken are very, very electric indeed!   Or electric-minded, at least.  Ken’s company, Future Past EV ( http://www.futurepastev.com/ ), is based in the laid-back resort town of Noosa, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, and is responsible for transforming this immaculate Datto 1200 ute - or Dasla, as it’s now known - from an anaemic fossil wheezer into the fabulous EV that you see here. Or perhaps you don’t see?   The conversion is extremely subtle, after all; it took me a while to sus it and, had Ken - who was loitering nearby, enjoying the late arvo Noosa River sun - not volunteered the info, I’d still be a little unsure. There aren’t any real clues to the Dasla’s electrification; it turns out that the charger plug’s in the grille (I missed that one, thinking it was behind the petrol flap) and - the grille badge and Future Past EV sticker in the rear window aside - it appears comple...

July, 2022’s, Classics by the Beach comes to you courtesy of Upper Middle Petrol Head correspondents Mr McB, and GlamRock and the charming Mary, the latter neither hailing from Canoga Park, being in possession of a lamb - little or otherwise - or known to be contrary.   It’s late because the regular contributor was away pitting his 1975 Galant hardtop against the Great Ocean Road, Southern Ocean Drive and South Australia’s Kangaroo Island.  But that’s for another post …   We’ll leave just which photos were taken by whom as a mystery.   However, it might be fun to canvass readers as to which correspondent’s work is better.   Are those above or below the “oOo” divider best?   Just for fun, mind you ; only pride’s at stake! o O o U M P H (Uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Images from the UMPH Team.