62 replies to this topic

[lyntonh]

On Australia Day, last Sunday, the Strathalbyn Auto Collectors Club put on a show at Strath oval.

 

The theme was cars of Australia, with a few inoffensive ring-ins added for interest.

 

Here are some photos from the day, in the order I took them....so I don't lose my way!!

 

 

 

Vauxhall Velox ute

 

Valiant Charger

 

 

VW Beetle ....perhaps not original !!!

 

Holden 350 Monaro

 

EH Holden

 

EH Holden

 

Edited by lyntonh, 28 January 2014 - 22:05.

[D-Type]

Some interesting looking cars there.  Any chance of a few explanatory captions for us on the other side of the globe who don't know the Aussie motoring scene intimately? 

 

Please!

[lyntonh]

This isn't my field of interest normally, but I'll put on some names that I know.

 

Hopefully that will drag the usual suspects out of the shadows to correct me, & the captions will appear!!

 

I'll edit the original photos with labels as we go.

[Lee Nicolle]

Some interesting looking cars there.  Any chance of a few explanatory captions for us on the other side of the globe who don't know the Aussie motoring scene intimately? 
 
Please!

pic 2 Dodge? Pic 3E series Vauxhall ute pic4 VH Valiant 6 pack Charger. Pic 5Morris 8. Pic 6 Vobble Vagen. Pic7 Holden Monaro HT GTS 350. Pic8 EH Holden dash Pic9 EH Holden. Probably ex Govt in black.. Pic 10 57 Ford Customline Star model

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gary Davies]

Thanks Lynton. It wasn't bad for a first effort. 

 

I'm jolly glad your pics didn't include sound. The bumbler who read out bush ballads - seemingly without end at one point - just about did my head in. The brass band was a blessed relief.

 

I loved the Triumph 7 (?), the blue car in your first picture. I wish I'd taken a few pics of it.

[lyntonh]

[lyntonh]

FJ Holden

 

48/215 Holden

 

Ford......plus trailer

 

 

[Lee Nicolle]

I love that 48 ute.
The E series Vauxhall convert is just a sedan with the roof cut off. NOT a Vagabond!
And behind the Ford is the legendary Leyland P76.
The Hillman ute is cute, and a think quite rare. Most of them rusted out by about 1960 or just ground to a halt.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 29 January 2014 - 07:39.

[Ray Bell]

Why do you suggest the Vauxhall is a sedan with the roof cut off?

 

They were made like that, though they may not have been called 'Vagabonds'. But I think they were.

 

The green Valiant is an S-series ('62-'63) and the blue Falcon behind the Minor is an XM ('64) and the old green rig cut down to make the usual Australian 'bushie' utility is a Chrysler. Most Poms should know the Sunbeam Talbot (even if I'm not sure...) and the Whippet is self-explanatory. Oh, yeah, the black thing next to the '57-'58-'59 Customline is a '48 Buick.

[GMACKIE]

The Vauxhall looks like a Vagabond to me.

 

Who would go the all that trouble [including 2-door conversion] to do that to a Velox?

[wagons46]

The sill panel towards the rear and the badging look different to original Vagabonds. There is a rough colour difference where patching of the former rear door may have been. Could well be a sedan chopped.

[seldo]

The sill panel towards the rear and the badging look different to original Vagabonds. There is a rough colour difference where patching of the former rear door may have been. Could well be a sedan chopped.

I think that's drawing a long straw... Sure it's a poor paint patch, but having just compared it to a zillion on-line Vagabond photos, I think it's the real deal - just not a pristine version.

[Lee Nicolle]

Why do you suggest the Vauxhall is a sedan with the roof cut off?
 
They were made like that, though they may not have been called 'Vagabonds'. But I think they were.
 
The green Valiant is an S-series ('62-'63) and the blue Falcon behind the Minor is an XM ('64) and the old green rig cut down to make the usual Australian 'bushie' utility is a Chrysler. Most Poms should know the Sunbeam Talbot (even if I'm not sure...) and the Whippet is self-explanatory. Oh, yeah, the black thing next to the '57-'58-'59 Customline is a '48 Buick.

Ray, a I know the car, the bog is cracking where the back doors were filled b look at the doors, They are short sedan ones. Mr Mackie, put your glasses on!

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 29 January 2014 - 22:51.

[lyntonh]

P76s as mentioned earlier....in all colours, shapes and sizes.

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

It was a pity that this was the only real sports car.

 

[275 GTB-4]

P76s as mentioned earlier....in all colours, shapes and sizes.
 

Sadly, no sign of the Station Wagon that was known to exist in "Aderaide"

[Lee Nicolle]

P76s as mentioned earlier....in all colours, shapes and sizes.

 

 

 

Just what the world needs. A P38 stretch,,, in blue.

[Gary Davies]

Sadly, no sign of the Station Wagon that was known to exist in "Aderaide"

 

Well, there's one that can be see frequently around Stirling. Bit ruff, as I recall.

[Lee Nicolle]

There is/was a Force 7 at Birdwood.

[GMACKIE]

Ray, a I know the car, the bog is cracking where the back doors were filled b look at the doors, They are short sedan ones. Mr Mackie, put your glasses on!

A lot of work to put into a car that would have very little value.   I've found my glasses, and can see what you mean. Should've heeded the warnings about 'going blind'.

[Ray Bell]

As Lee says he knows that particular car, perhaps he should have said so in his first mention of it?

 

The Compact Fairlane looks nice, and for our British friends, the car above it is an XW Falcon GT. You should recognise the '53-'54 Dodge.

[275 GTB-4]

A lot of work to put into a car that would have very little value.   I've found my glasses, and can see what you mean. Should've heeded the warnings about 'going blind'.

Its probably from all those Pix magazines at the Barbers 

[Lee Nicolle]

As Lee says he knows that particular car, perhaps he should have said so in his first mention of it?
 
The Compact Fairlane looks nice, and for our British friends, the car above it is an XW Falcon GT. You should recognise the '53-'54 Dodge.

Ray, I did say it was a sedan with the roof cut off. Which is why this crap started!!!
Yes I agree the compact looks nice. That car is very original.

[Ray Bell]

But you said it with no authority, Lee...

 

If you had said, "I know that car, it's a sedan cut down to a convertible," or if you'd said, "You can see it's a sedan cut to a convertible because of the length of the door," then there'd have been no further discussion.

[Lee Nicolle]

Ray, I was making a simple comment about something reasonably obvious. The car does catch the eye, it did Lyntons. The doors give it away immediately.

[Ray Bell]

Whooosh!

[Doug Nye]

On the lamented Classic Adelaide Rally we used to adore the stops at Strathalbyn which coincided with the Duck Race on the river there.  On our very first visit back in '98 one lovely local elderly lady slowly confided to us in deadly earnest that "Most years they just race the white ducks, but what's REALLY exciting is when they race the yellow ducks too...".

 

When we stopped there when the Rally was run in the middle of a desperate fuel shortage caused by a tanker drivers' strike we had vouchers to fill up in a Strathalbyn filling station.  I was fuelling our car there when another local lady of considerable age strode up and stridently gave me the most terrific rollocking: "You a Pom?  You're a bloody Pom?  You bastards come down here, taking all our fuel!!!!..." and more, and more, and more.  There wasn't much I could say, even if I could have got a word in edgeways.

 

It was also at Strathalbyn that we escorted Win Percy in one year after he had just hit a tree head-on in his Cobra lookalike - and on a brow-top double-caution 90-right too. It was the same tree torpedoed by Sir Jack Brabham the previous year.  First person to come up to us when we stopped was Blackie himself, beaming ear to ear as he remarked quietly: "Good on yer Win - that's taken some of the heat off of ME".

 

And it was also in Strathalbyn one year that one of Australia's former colonial masters emerged from his Ferrari (no, this wasn't my mate Vestey) and bawled too loudly in cut-crystal toff tones: "I say chaps - where are all the fweebies?"

 

Stuff like this is what makes one proud to be British...   

 

But we really did love seeing Strathalbyn each year.

 

DCN

[GMACKIE]

Thanks Doug......for dragging this thread out of the mire.

[Ray Bell]

Further...

 

Strathalbyn was the place where Hoot Gibson made his motor sporting debut.

 

A motorcycle race meeting (or races, at least) was being held at the local horse track. Two riders were killed, if I recall what Hoot told me correctly, but he was undaunted when asked if he'd like to ride on the sidecar in one of the outfit races.

 

I think the year was 1928, it laid the foundation for a very long career as competitor, entrant (for his sons) and car preparer.

[Lee Nicolle]

On the lamented Classic Adelaide Rally we used to adore the stops at Strathalbyn which coincided with the Duck Race on the river there.  On our very first visit back in '98 one lovely local elderly lady slowly confided to us in deadly earnest that "Most years they just race the white ducks, but what's REALLY exciting is when they race the yellow ducks too...".
 
When we stopped there when the Rally was run in the middle of a desperate fuel shortage caused by a tanker drivers' strike we had vouchers to fill up in a Strathalbyn filling station.  I was fuelling our car there when another local lady of considerable age strode up and stridently gave me the most terrific rollocking: "You a Pom?  You're a bloody Pom?  You bastards come down here, taking all our fuel!!!!..." and more, and more, and more.  There wasn't much I could say, even if I could have got a word in edgeways.
 
It was also at Strathalbyn that we escorted Win Percy in one year after he had just hit a tree head-on in his Cobra lookalike - and on a brow-top double-caution 90-right too. It was the same tree torpedoed by Sir Jack Brabham the previous year.  First person to come up to us when we stopped was Blackie himself, beaming ear to ear as he remarked quietly: "Good on yer Win - that's taken some of the heat off of ME".
 
And it was also in Strathalbyn one year that one of Australia's former colonial masters emerged from his Ferrari (no, this wasn't my mate Vestey) and bawled too loudly in cut-crystal toff tones: "I say chaps - where are all the fweebies?"
 
Stuff like this is what makes one proud to be British...   
 
But we really did love seeing Strathalbyn each year.
 
DCN

I have been to Strath on dozens of occasions, both socially and work orientated. A g/f was a florist there. Plus swap meets, markets,car shows and events, the occasional lunch. Sit down or bakery. And I have never been on the river there. I must do it next time.
Oh,,, and I do avoid the trees on the roads in that area. And have driven most of them, at times quite quickly. As a semi local.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 31 January 2014 - 01:23.

[Gary Davies]

BTW, I trust you locals are going to the All British Day - www.allbritishday.com/ - at Echunga on February 9. At risk of looking too anoraky, I'll be wearing my TNF badge on my titfa.

 

I see the committee is warning that if there's a catastrophic fire warning covering the area or if the forecast is over 40 they'll cancel. Currently, the furthest out figure the BoM is giving for Mt Barker is 34C on the Friday before.

 

One thing for those who haven't visited at the new location, the parking in the cow paddock opposite the oval is strictly for those with armoured personnel carries or tanks. My MG has only just forgiven me for punishing it by parking there last year and it took some concentration to walk out and in to the parking area without putting one's ankle over.

 

This year, it's the modern car and a walk from Echunga for me.

[Ray Bell]

Sounds like bad news for all those Pommie cars with lever-type shocks...

 

Not to mention the knee-action Vauxhalls.

[Lee Nicolle]

BTW, I trust you locals are going to the All British Day - www.allbritishday.com/ - at Echunga on February 9. At risk of looking too anoraky, I'll be wearing my TNF badge on my titfa.
 
I see the committee is warning that if there's a catastrophic fire warning covering the area or if the forecast is over 40 they'll cancel. Currently, the furthest out figure the BoM is giving for Mt Barker is 34C on the Friday before.
 
One thing for those who haven't visited at the new location, the parking in the cow paddock opposite the oval is strictly for those with armoured personnel carries or tanks. My MG has only just forgiven me for punishing it by parking there last year and it took some concentration to walk out and in to the parking area without putting one's ankle over.
 
This year, it's the modern car and a walk from Echunga for me.

Why did they change the venue? Uraidla is a very nice venue.
The cow paddock you refer too is just that!! The oval itself is ok.

[Gary Davies]

Lee, I understand the change of venue has been coming for a while and for a number of reasons. I recall it was partly to do with space, especially for parking, and partly to do with the installation of an irrigation system at the oval irrigation leading to no pegs or spikes being allowed to be used in the ground. It is also possible that cost factors may be at play, something which may not completely surprise those who have lived in the Adelaide Hills for some time.

 

A side benefit of the new location for me is that The Three Brothers Arms at Macclesfield makes for a most pleasant stop on the way home to wet the whistle with a quick jar. 

[lyntonh]

Holdens....Back

 

Holdens....Front

FJ Holden

2 x FJ + one x 48/215

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

 

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lyntonh]

 

 

 

[Lee Nicolle]

 

 

 

The FJ is a piece of history. Owned by Dean Qualmann [deceased] and driven by Ivar Benneche it won a pre 64 national championship in the 80s when that really meant something. It was a regular placegetter and occasional winner even in the 90s at normal meetings. At various times powered by either Repco or Waggot twin cam headed grey motors. As it stands there it has 'mild' Repco in it. There is also a couple more from where that came from!
The little Bedford should be quick, powered by a Gen 3 Commodore Chev engine. And very nicely presented and put together. Color scheme does not grab me however.

The blue Moggy in the other batch of pics is one I mentioned in the Morris Minor thread. Powered by V6 commodore, just a modern variation on Holden powered Minors.
Lynton, could you possibly put those pics on that thread.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 04 February 2014 - 22:34.

[Gary Davies]

Re All British Day at Echunga on Sunday, here is the current BoM forecast for Mount Barker: 

 

 

Sunday 9 February

Summary Min 19 Max 28 Possible morning shower.

A possible shower and the chance of a thunderstorm during the morning. Mostly sunny afternoon. Winds southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending southerly during the day.

 

[2Bob]

 

Re All British Day at Echunga on Sunday, here is the current BoM forecast for Mount Barker: 

 

 

Sunday 9 February

Summary Min 19 Max 28 Possible morning shower.

A possible shower and the chance of a thunderstorm during the morning. Mostly sunny afternoon. Winds southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending southerly during the day.

 

Pity us poor people at Mallala the day before - forecats for 40 in Adelaide, g*d only knows at Mallala but you can be sure there will be some flies...

[Lee Nicolle]

Pity us poor people at Mallala the day before - forecats for 40 in Adelaide, g*d only knows at Mallala but you can be sure there will be some flies...

What are you complaining about Bob, At least you have an open car with plenty of fresh [warm] air. Pity the poor tintop drivers who may be winding down or pushing out a window or two.
And there is never any flies at Mallala when it is hot,,NOT.
I am staying home. Have fun.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 06 February 2014 - 04:16.

[2Bob]

"I am staying home. Have fun."

 

Top idea Lee - it was 42 and extreme fire danger day.  Just after we had unloaded cars and tools etc etc there was a call to a meeting for all competitors where we were told the meeting was postponed until a yet to be announced date.  Maybe in the future the first meeting of the year will be held in March, this February meeting is usually too damn hot for both cars and drivers let alone the flaggies and other officials.