The Top End

Despite first impressions, not every single vehicle in the Northern Territory is a white Toyota four wheel drive.  Some residents of the Top End have dared to choose Toyota four wheels drives of other hues (gun metal grey seems to be a popular choice).  

A brave few, if you can believe it, have even chosen four wheel drives that are not Toyotas (Nissans, Mitsubishis, Ford Rangers and even the odd Land Rover)!  One should never forget the back-packer / hippy trail head full o' zombies flotilla of clapped out wanna-be Kombis, either (usually badly dented ex-delivery vans that waft incense like Upper Middle Petrol Hound emits dog-farts).  There is even a handful of cars - belonging to blow-ins, probably - that aren't actually four wheel drives or mobile bong-hovels (yes, Hyundai's reach is vast). 

And then there's the classic car fraternity ...  You can only imagine UMPH's delight when he discovered that his Darwinian excursion coincided with the Top End's annual Shannons' Classic Car Extravaganza.        

This year's display was billed as an all-American affair.  However, the Panty shown above is clearly Italian, even if the car was designed in the States and its engine was also sourced from there.  It was good to see such a great car way up north.  Interestingly, Tasmania has at least four examples of the model, surely making it the biggest per-capita concentration of such vehicles in Australia.     

Claims that the Delorean is an American car are spurious, too.  They were built in Ireland and featured French-built Peugeot V6 engines and gearboxes.  Either way, UMPH was pretty pleased to get up and personal with such an iconic vehicle.  

UMPH knows absolutely nothing about American cars.  However, he thinks he can see shades of HQ coupe in the 1970 Chevrolet featured above.  He sure as hell doesn't know what 'Cowl Induction' is, either, but it sounds cool in a school-boy kinda way.

There were Mustangs, of course.  There are always Mustangs.

This is obviously an impressive display of some 4-WD attribute or other.  And not from a Toyota, either!

This very nice 1942 Willys (pronounced Willis) Jeep appears to have been completely re-fabricated in stainless steel.  Even the chassis seems to have been manufactured from that same material.

When it comes to fabrication, nothing beats the ingenuity of hot-rodders.  The examples that follow are truly works of art!

Look at the attention to detail.  Even the air-cleaner top and rocker covers are colour coded.

Love 'em or hate 'em, there is something about Yank tanks!  The examples above and below oozed 50s and early 60s American style.  

Thelma?  Louise!

The F series truck must be one of the USA's most iconic vehicles.  Maybe a little more prosaic than their ever-popular Mustang, but very much a classic in its own right. 

This white F truck was running some sort of contemporary Ford V8.

This one had what was presumably the engine of its era (a side valve?).

It was impossible not to admire this early Ford.  The windscreen must have been an unimaginable luxury ... in its day. 

So this is where the Mitsubishi stylists got their inspiration for the Magna!

Is that a dagger I see?

At the risk of offending the following cars' owners and besmirching the reputations of Pontiac Firebirds and Chevrolet Comaros, it would appear that they're essentially the same thing.  Sort of like early Ford Lasers and Mazda 323s.  (Was that going too far ...?)

Maybe it was going too far.  Maybe it wasn't.  What UMPH does know, however, is that the Pontiac wasn't parked too close to the Camaros.  Some sort of rivalry, perhaps?

Well, that's good bye, Top End, and hello to Classics by The Beach for UMPH.  It's been a while and he's looking forward to it.  

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au).