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Showing posts from May 7, 2017

Random # 124: Datsun 260Z

Sadly, there aren't as many Datsun  240Z s - and 260Z s, like the one shown above - getting around anymore.  And those that are about are attracting big bucks on the rare occasions that they come up for sale.    There are now only a few  240Zs  in Targa Tasmania when once there were heaps of them.  However, those that are entered tend to do extremely well, with a 1970 edition driven by Jon and Gina Siddins having taken out an amazing ninth place overall in the 2017 event, beating a huge field of newer, more technically advanced vehicles from some of the world's greatest car makers (please see http://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/targa-tasmania-2017-nichols-rivulet.html  for details). The 260Z shown here, photographed in Hobart, was in very nice original condition and was wearing Special Interest rego plates.  It featured standard alloy wheels, and a period nudge bar and front spoiler.  Only the exterior rear view mirrors weren't really of the er

Readers' Photos # 12: 2017 Targa Tasmania Alfa

This ball-tearer Alfa photo comes from Scott Kregor and was taken on Nichols Rivulet stage of Targa Tasmania, 2017. For more images from that event, please go to http://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/targa-tasmania-2017-nichols-rivulet.html . U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au) 

Random # 123: CL Valiant Charger

Hey, Charger!   This late model Valiant Charger -  photographed in New Norfolk in Tasmania's Derwent Valley, some 45 minutes north west of Hobart - was magnificent. The panels, paint and chrome were all ostensibly original and in excellent nick, as were the vinyl accents below the side windows and on the  C  pillar.  However, someone has taken a little artistic licence with the car's decals ;  the  HEMI 6 PACK  logos near the rear corners are from an earlier edition Charger and UMPH isn't so sure about the stripes running down its sides, a small badge on the boot and a sticker proclaiming the the features of the engine, either. None of that doesn't really matters, though.  Who wouldn't want to celebrate the Charger name and history in all its glory?  None of the embellishments detract from the car and, in the case of the after-market five-spoke alloy wheels, actually enhance it.    Even the car's rego plate

Random # 122: Humber Super Snipe

UMPH thought he had a rough idea about Humber Super Snipes .  Turns out he was wrong ; for a start, he didn't realise they were first manufactured way back in 1938 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humber_Super_Snipe ). The version shown here - possibly a Series II or III - was photographed in historic Oatlands, a sandstone village approximately one hour's drive north of Hobart, Tasmania, on the Midlands Highway.  It's more in keeping with the cars that UMPH remembers bearing the Super Snipe badge. Late 1950s / early 1960s Super Snipes were still popular when UMPH was a boy living in Tasmania's second city of Launceston, in the north of the state, in the 1960s and early 1970s.  They were considered to be a luxury car back then but they were  probably more likely to belong to a bank manager or a school headmaster than anyone particularly cool. This particular example was in pretty good condition for its age (57 years, according to its helpful rego p