Upper Middle Petrol Head:

  Is the XA, XB and XC Falcon hardtop, in GT or Cobra guise, the ultimate expression of the classic Aussie muscle car?  At the risk of alienating our GMH and Chrysler loving readers, I'm going with a big yes!   Why?  It's a two door.  No more needs to be said on that account.  And just look at it!  Monaros are magnificent, as are Chargers, but they simply don't have the menacing presence of the big Ford.  Discuss ... . U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by GlamRock.

Small things amuse small minds.  And I don't mind admitting that this small spring-loaded bonnet prop amuses my small mind, not the least because I wasn't confident that I'd  ever  find one after exhausting all my regular local and international suppliers of slightly obscure Italian car parts.   A quick tart-up with some fish oil and black paint brought this up a treat! As-was in the donor car. But then I visited The Cache, where, as the photo above shows, I was able to secure this simple but very, very welcome piece of hitherto unobtainium (possibly the same as fitted to the 131?).  It's hard to appreciate just how much a basic item like this can transform a car ; now that it's been fitted, I can work on the engine without fear of knocking out the broom handle that had served as a bonnet prop and copping a slab of sheetmetal on my head.  It also means that I can refit the grille without fear of recracking it should the bonnet accidentally tilt too far forward.   B

I had imagined - naively, it seems - that October, 2021's, faecal weather was unlikely to be rivalled.  But then November followed up with even more cold, wet conditions, none of which were ideal for P3P and its dilapidated, leaky door seals and other vulnerabilities.   However, the many unseasonable downpours and sub-teen temperatures that Tasmania has endured so far this so-called spring has at least provided the opportunity - as unwelcome as it might be - to showcase some of the car's resilience and dogged refusal to behave in a stereotypically Italian automotive fashion.  Exhibit 1:  the fully functional rear demister!   Yes, readers, that beacon-like glow beneath the choke (left) and hand-throttle (right) indicates that the rear screen's defogger has been switched on and, forty five years after my now scabrous 128 emerged shiny and new from its birthplace in Rivalta, Italy, the defrost function still works!  I'd call that a win! Lake Rivalta Parking P3P nose down o

It wasn't my intention to make a feature of Ford hardtops and coupes but, somehow - perhaps subconsciously -  that's what I seem to have done at November 2021's installment of Classics by the Beach.  First I succumbed to this Queensland registered Galaxy's gravitational pull, and soon found myself similarly drawn into two magnificent classic Capris' orbits, too.  After that, it was an easy segue to a very, very imposing Mustang that rounded out the theme.   It wasn't just Ford's two door offerings that had me in their thrall, though; save a couple of Jags - an  S -Type and a Mk I, I've been reliably informed - and an HZ Holden, I seem to have continued to focus almost exclusively on two door cars, be they coupes, roadsters or utes.  Again, probably a subconscious thing that's also reflected in the makeup of the combined UMPH collection, with only one of our five vehicles featuring direct rear passenger access. This Fiat 124 BC was particularly tidy.