Upper Middle Petrol Head:

This immaculate Lotus Europa is the stuff of fantasies for petrol-heads born in the 1960s and '70s!  Whilst UMPH can remember them from car mags of the time and the Superwheels (or Corgi , perhaps?) toys of that era, it was a long, long time before he ever saw one for real. The car shown here - a Series 2 (abbreviated to S2 ) - is one of at least two in southern Tasmania, the other being an equally superb Special in black and gold livery that arrived in the state a few years ago.  There's also an Elan, Excel and Eclat known to UMPH, a couple of Esprits, plus several newer Lotuses gracing our roads, too.  Fans of the the Lotus marque - or of almost any manufacturer, for that matter - can find further examples elsewhere on this 'blog.  Just use the search facility in the top right of screen to find them. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au). All iPhone images

A low sun, weak on warming but nonetheless very bright, greeted attendees at the first winter Classics by the Beach gathering at Hobart's Sandy Bay for 2018, creating long shadows, lots of contrast and bright ( specular for the photographers amongst you) highlights.  Ask any pro-photographer and they'll tell you they'd rather have clouds any day!      Not that this matters, of course!  Rugged-up car aficionados don't care how cold it gets (they might prefer it didn't rain, though) ; they attend to show, admire, and discuss beautiful classic cars and, UMPH's curmudgeonly dislike of bright winter sun aside, it was a gorgeous day for doing exactly that! This magnificent Daimler Dart (SP250 in the USA) is exactly why car-lovers flock to the bay each and every first Sunday of the month, almost irrespective of the weather.  It truly was fabulous, with a 1950s' style all of its own.  To think that the Americans - of all people! - had the temerity