Upper Middle Petrol Head:

All-wheel steering never really caught on in Australia.  Other than the all-wheel drive Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 , the Peugeot 306 GTi and possibly a late model Honda Prelude , this Mazda MX6 is one of the few cars to have featured the innovation in this country.   Being fairly uncommon, there aren't too many people that can comment on the system's performance.  However, UMPH has spoken to the owner of an  MX6  not dissimilar to the one featured here ;  he was a big fan, stating that it really enhanced the car's cornering  abilities.   There doesn't seem to be any explanation as to why manufacturers stopped fitting AWS to their cars, although there are reports that maintenance and undue wear was an issue.  It may also be that the advent of all-wheel drive - especially from the likes of Subaru and Mitsubishi - provided greater benefits and fewer problems than the addition of steerable rear wheels. The Mazda 626-based car shown here - photographed in North

There are still plenty of Beetles getting about Hobart, as several other posts on this site show.  However, there are certainly fewer of these earlier versions than there are of the smaller headlight editions from the 1970s.     This one, photographed in North Hobart, was particularly nice, featuring glossy paint, straight, shiny chrome and a tidy interior.  The rear window was adorned with several stickers, suggesting that the car's owner was well into the local Vee-Dub scene.  In the 1970s, Beetles were very popular rally cars in Tasmania.  It wasn't so much their speed ( what speed? , you ask inrcedulously!) that made them a common sight on the rallying scene ;  their rear-engined, all-independent suspension set-up gave them quite amazing off-road  capability and that's why they were so successful.     All that was required was a set of 'winter-tread' tyres (on the rear only, if the budget was tight), up-graded shocks, a skid plate under the fr

Is the Peugeot 205 GTI *  the   original hot-hatch?  There are those that would argue that honour belongs to the Series I Golf GTi .  They're both great cars and each has its own cult-following.   So, what's your take on it: the quirkily styled French offering or the iconic Teutonic Volksie?  Please feel free to leave your contribution to the debate in the comments section.     U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images. *  Yes, it is acknowledged that this particular 205 is not actually a GTI.

UMPH ran into Norm this morning, happily drinking coffee at his Elizabeth Street outdoor office.  He said that since the last Classics by the Beach post (4th of October this year), Club Motori Italia had reinstated its annual Parliament House lawns display. Therefore, the info provided in that last Classics post is now incorrect, although it was accurate at the time of going to press (it was taken from CMI's own Facebook page).  So, please be advised that the event is going ahead on the morning of Saturday the 28th of October, 2017. Not only is the Parliament House lawns display back on, it's going to be combined with a showing of Lancias that will be touring the state and, possibly, a number of Triumph sports cars, too.  That's a real bonus!  So if you were ever thinking of attending, UMPH reckons this should be more than enough to seal the deal! Hope to see you there!  It's going to be i  testicoli del cane !!   U M P H

Like the Glimmer Man's Fargo (http://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/random-127-glimar-mans-fargo-truck.html), this very cool Chev truck has been around Hobart for many, many years and is still a fairly common sight in and around the city.  It's no toy, either ,  clearly still being used to do what it was originally built to do :   lug big, heavy stuff. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

Readers may remember the saga that Parts I, II and III of The Dashboard Doctor Challenge recounted as UMPH tried, in vain, to replace the vinyl dash-pad of his 1975 Galant hardtop.  Part III ended with a perfectly restored dash-pad sitting, unused, as it had shrunk and, no matter what he tried, it simply couldn't be made to fit.  Steve's handiwork.  Note the outermost black bands with contrasting red stitching. A plan was hatched to cut the dash-pad in half, which would permit it to be fitted over the left and right sides of the metal base, and to cover the resultant central gap with a vinyl cover with a twin  GT stripe motif.  UMPH drew up a template, took it to Steve Davey of Classic Automotive and Marine Trimming (33 St Aubyn Square, Moonah - Ph: 6273 3043 / 0417 535 035), chose two nicely textured marine-grade vinyls - one red and one black - and specified contrast stitching to complete the look. The result, seen in the images above and below, was exactly what U