Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Sadly, Lancia Betas of this quality and condition are nearly as rare as angels’ poop today, many having succumbed to rust.  This is especially true of the model in the UK, where they corroded so badly that their engine subframes not uncommonly became loose, often when the cars were still quite new, resulting in Lancia buying them back and pretty much destroying the marque’s name in Britain.   Whilst rust is the worldwide scourge of Lancias of that era - and don’t go all “yes, we know - the Italians used Russian steel” (we’ll get to that in a minute) - the problem isn’t as bad Down Under, very probably because we don’t salt our roads.  In this respect, Australian vehicles are very much like the fabled “California cars” or those from South Africa, often being significantly sounder than examples from countries whose roads ice over or that are, at the opposite end of the spectrum, very humid.  It's likely that today's Beta coupe - brought to us by SEQC PeteR, as are the next two of

  Team UMPH will stop posting pics of EH Holdens only when we get tired of doing so or our readership tell us that they've had enough.  Fortunately, neither scenario seems to be particularly likely! Today's example - captured at a cider brewery (a "cidery"?) on Wilsons Promontory, Victoria - was right up there with the best of them.  It was simple and elegant, a great example of the model!  Did you enjoy this post?  Are you a bit of an EH or early Holden fan?  If so, why not check out the rest of the fairly extensive showing of EHs and other Holdens from 48-215s - aka FXs - through to HXs, WBs and early Commodores via the search facility on the top right-hand corner of the UMPH homepage? U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) iPhone images. And this is Rob.  He's not a dentist, which is why we can show his face.

We at UMPH aren't entirely sure where this crew-cab Kombi ute - captured by the CCC in suburban outer ACT - fits on the ride height continuum.  For example, is it lowered, dropped or slammed?  Is there even a difference between these terms? It doesn't really matter, though; it's a cool looking machine, either way.  The rats riding on the roof racks, gargoyle-style and wearing cable-tie seat belts, are a fun touch, too!  Very gothic! Geek Fact:  the classic jerry can - as seen in the tray of today's car - was invented for the German army during World War Two and was so good that the allies seized them from captured enemy vehicles whenever they could, before adopting their exact design and manufacturing identical versions themselves.  If self-confessed nerd Calum, maker of the attached video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUkbGHFAhs ) is to be believed, jerry cans made a very, very significant contribution to WW2.   It's certainly hard to argue jerry cans weren

  This immaculate circa 1970 Valiant Pacer is so stunning that it speaks for itself!  It really, really is perfect, with amazing duco, super-straight panels, glittering chrome and a spotless all original interior.  As best as I can tell, the only non-factory items are its Aunger Hustler wheels and they're bang-on for period, anyway.   Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything else about the car that you can't see for yourself.  The Wikipedia page for the Pacer is confusing, stating in one breath that there were "three different versions of the new 245 Hemi-6 engine," before seeming to list four: a standard donk rated at 185 BHP, the 195 BHP Option 31, Option 34 with 235 BHP and Option 35, for which no output is stated.  It might be that the engine  fitted to the Option 34 and Option 35 were the same but this isn't clear; the way the entry's written describes some of the go-faster mods listed differently.  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Valiant ).