Not living in the British Isles, pictures of your own area.

[AndyID]

9 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

But do vauxhalls and opels of the 70s pull these sort of prices though!

 

 

Maybe if you could find one that had not crumbled to rust

 

In the early 70's my friend Ian from Woolongong brought his Toyota Corolla station-wagon to Glasgow while he was doing research there for a few years. I think he actually to it back to Oz but by then the road salt must have done a number on it.

[faulcon1]

Here's what Peter Wherrett thought about the then new HJ V8 Premier

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

Our neighbour bought a new HJ, I was very impressed with its heated back window and intermittent wipers but  I was only 11 and my dad still drove some pommy Wolseley or something from the 60s. 

[SRman]

2 hours ago, faulcon1 said:

back in the early days the ABC had a program called "Torque" and it's presenter was Peter Wherrett and he was not complimentary on the HJ Holden He basically said it was a 1950's chassis with a whole new set of cloths. He must have been a Ford man because he liked the 5.8 Litre XC Fairmont even though he said the 5.8 litre motor was only useful if you were towing a caravan 40 feet in length.

Without wishing to provoke a Holden vs Ford argument, the HQ/HJ Holdens had a soft, wallowy ride, and weren't that well tied down on the road. Ford Falcons at the time had a better ride, eventhough the rear axle still used cart springs. The Fords were not so good on corrugated dirt roads though, with the rear end trying to wander all over the place, or even trying to overtake the front end! Yes, I've driven both types. HJ Holdens also had the dire emission controls that caused overheating, but by the time they got to the HZ, things were much better, both for the engine reliability and for the "radial tuned" suspension set up.

Going to later model Holdens, the suspension was really well tied down, but my VR wagon really didn't like cross-ridges , where my XB Falcon would sail over those very smoothly. Get a lump like a tree root on a curve, though (there's one on our main road about a kilometre down from us), the Holden would jiggle but maintain its line, where the cart sprung hardtop would soak up the vertical movement but the back end would skip sideways.

You can't win, either way! There were no perfect setups or combinations, and each had their strengths and weakneses.

I only sold the XB Falcon hardtop in 2019, to a friend who has the skills and energy to restore it as it deserves to be.

[monkeysarefun]

 

That has a real "last of the V8 interceptors!" vibe to it.

[Ozexpatriate]

Death traps all of them.

 

After 'inheriting' the family 1974 Kingswood HQ wagon* when dad upgraded to a Commodore, my youngest brother mangled his leg in a minor accident. He still wears compression stockings to this day.

 

* Two tone metallic silver with a white roof and brown vinyl upholstery. The silver paint disintegrated in the bayside / seaside air. Bare legs sticking to the hot vinyl is something you don't forget, along with the superheated metal seat belt buckles. It had the ancient straight six. No V8 or air-conditioning. Or power windows.

 

It all reminds me of "You're not taking the Kingswood!"

[faulcon1]

2 hours ago, SRman said:

Without wishing to provoke a Holden vs Ford argument, the HQ/HJ Holdens had a soft, wallowy ride, and weren't that well tied down on the road. Ford Falcons at the time had a better ride, eventhough the rear axle still used cart springs. The Fords were not so good on corrugated dirt roads though, with the rear end trying to wander all over the place, or even trying to overtake the front end! Yes, I've driven both types. HJ Holdens also had the dire emission controls that caused overheating, but by the time they got to the HZ, things were much better, both for the engine reliability and for the "radial tuned" suspension set up.

Going to later model Holdens, the suspension was really well tied down, but my VR wagon really didn't like cross-ridges , where my XB Falcon would sail over those very smoothly. Get a lump like a tree root on a curve, though (there's one on our main road about a kilometre down from us), the Holden would jiggle but maintain its line, where the cart sprung hardtop would soak up the vertical movement but the back end would skip sideways.

You can't win, either way! There were no perfect setups or combinations, and each had their strengths and weakneses.

I only sold the XB Falcon hardtop in 2019, to a friend who has the skills and energy to restore it as it deserves to be.

Boy I hope you got a good price for the XB as you can pay many thousands just for a plain rusty body shell. One of the very rare XA GTHO Phase Four sold at auction of over two million dollars. If someone told Ford Australia back in the seventies that these cars would sell for a king's ransom in the 21st century they would have had them sent straight to the local mental asylum. Even the most hated Falcon ever the AU often gets 54,000 hits on Google and I'll bet Ford wished when it was released that many people could have been interested in it. 

I used to have an EF Futura with a solid beam rear axle and cart springs and on dirt roads the rear end would do a merry dance all over the place until I fixed it by putting two 25 kilo bags of cement in the boot. With those in there is kept the rear end on the road and if you took a corner a bit fast the rear didn't try to overtake the front. I sold it and bought the FG I currently have. 

We  were a Ford family with dad having Fords and even when he was working and he had to go into the country areas of NSW he'd always get a Fairmont Ghia from a car hire company. His boss didn't like going away from his family so he got his underlings to do it instead but they always got a top of the line car to drive either a Fairmont Ghia or Calais and he put them up in the best motels in country towns. Once when dad went down to Melbourne on business he took mum and his boss paid for a suite in the Hyatt Regency hotel. The taxi from the airport pulled up out the front and dad said to mum wait here this is a mistake and went in only to find that yes there was a reservation for mum and dad there and a rental Fairmont Ghia would be waiting for him in the morning. 

[SRman]

20 minutes ago, faulcon1 said:

Boy I hope you got a good price for the XB as you can pay many thousands just for a plain rusty body shell. One of the very rare XA GTHO Phase Four sold at auction of over two million dollars.

 

I had several interested parties "bidding" for it. I got a good price considering the mechanical work needed to bring it back up to scratch. Body-wise it was sound with only a few bits of rust in non-structural places. It was still roadworthy. As a base 500 model, it wasn't worth the huge prices genuine GTs are fetching.

[faulcon1]

Here's another Peter Wherrett car that he tested, the XD Falcon with the now very rare 3.3 litre straight six and you can see on Ford's own proving ground on the corrugation section just how rear ends on Falcons used to dance around.

Peter would always put cars he tested through extreme driving tests. Not to break the cars but to see if the car could take an extreme maneuver when a less experienced mum and dad driver had to take evasive actions.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by faulcon1

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 hours ago, SRman said:

Without wishing to provoke a Holden vs Ford argument, the HQ/HJ Holdens had a soft, wallowy ride, and weren't that well tied down on the road. Ford Falcons at the time had a better ride, eventhough the rear axle still used cart springs. The Fords were not so good on corrugated dirt roads though, with the rear end trying to wander all over the place, or even trying to overtake the front end! Yes, I've driven both types. HJ Holdens also had the dire emission controls that caused overheating, but by the time they got to the HZ, things were much better, both for the engine reliability and for the "radial tuned" suspension set up.

Going to later model Holdens, the suspension was really well tied down, but my VR wagon really didn't like cross-ridges , where my XB Falcon would sail over those very smoothly. Get a lump like a tree root on a curve, though (there's one on our main road about a kilometre down from us), the Holden would jiggle but maintain its line, where the cart sprung hardtop would soak up the vertical movement but the back end would skip sideways.

You can't win, either way! There were no perfect setups or combinations, and each had their strengths and weakneses.

I only sold the XB Falcon hardtop in 2019, to a friend who has the skills and energy to restore it as it deserves to be.

 

Hints of the Ford Capri in some places.

 

Mike.

[J. S. Bach]

That string of postings reminds me of the two Chevy Vegas that I had. Actually, neither were bad, just not long-lived. I knew someone when I was in the Navy who stuffed a 454 bigblock into one ; that thing would gittyupandgo!

[Allegheny1600]

18 hours ago, SRman said:

Without wishing to provoke a Holden vs Ford argument, the HQ/HJ Holdens had a soft, wallowy ride, and weren't that well tied down on the road. Ford Falcons at the time had a better ride, eventhough the rear axle still used cart springs. The Fords were not so good on corrugated dirt roads though, with the rear end trying to wander all over the place, or even trying to overtake the front end! Yes, I've driven both types. HJ Holdens also had the dire emission controls that caused overheating, but by the time they got to the HZ, things were much better, both for the engine reliability and for the "radial tuned" suspension set up.


 

Phwoar!

That looks like something out of “Mad Max” and yes, I do mean the genuine Aussie version!

Forgive this Pom if that’s exactly what it is, I know almost nothing about cars from down under. Well, I know what an ‘Ute’ is, I think!

[AndyID]

I bought one of these for peanuts when we arrived in the US in 82.

 

Not exactly quick but extremely practical. You could slide 8 x 4 foot sheets of plywood in the back and close the electric clam-shell tailgate. If I was a bit younger I'd restore one just for the halibut.

[SRman]

5 hours ago, Allegheny1600 said:

Phwoar!

That looks like something out of “Mad Max” and yes, I do mean the genuine Aussie version!

Forgive this Pom if that’s exactly what it is, I know almost nothing about cars from down under. Well, I know what an ‘Ute’ is, I think!

 

It was the exact model that they used as the basis for the Mad Max Interceptor, but they did add a few bits to the movie version, like rear wheel arch flares and jacked up suspension, plus the fancy nose cone and headlight treatment.

I owned that hardtop for 34 years - I bought it originally for parts, at $AUS150 in 1985, when it was already 12 years old. I think I got my money's worth! In the early years I took it bush-bashing and into all sorts of out of the way areas. For a few years the under-dashboard area played host to a rather large huntsman spider that would pop out at rather inopportune moments to give me a scare. :-D

[Dbr1295]

I've always loved old Aussie cars. Owned several in my time, Falcons and Holdens, but not a Valiant. Many years ago I had a HQ Premier with the 253, certainly not a performance car by any means but lovely to drive. Even had a vinyl roof. Loved that car, really regret selling it now, especially seeing what they fetch these days. Later had a XD Falcon as well, ex traffic cop car with a 302. Went well but really sucked the gas and was difficult to stop.

Still drive a Falcon now, but a FG.

 

Cheers, Les

[monkeysarefun]

43 minutes ago, Dbr1295 said:

Many years ago I had a HQ Premier with the 253, certainly not a performance car by any means but lovely to drive

Lacking a commercial  HO scale version (that I know of) I've been painstakingly creating a 3D model of an  HQ  in Sketchup/Blender.

 

Nearly there, just got to clean it up and make it 3D printable. This is the SS Monaro version based on the Belmont but I'll plough on and do the Premier (different tail lights mainly, and no side fins.)   Then maybe the  ute, the  station wagon and the panel van. 

 

 

And to bring the thread back into  line, here's a picture taken this morning on the way to work but the rainbow came out disappointingly faint - it looked very resurrection-y  in real life!.

[faulcon1]

7 hours ago, Allegheny1600 said:

Phwoar!

That looks like something out of “Mad Max” and yes, I do mean the genuine Aussie version!

Forgive this Pom if that’s exactly what it is, I know almost nothing about cars from down under. Well, I know what an ‘Ute’ is, I think!

I remember everyone getting turned on by the supercharged Falcon but in the movie where the police mechanic is explaining to Max about the car nobody noticed the yellow plastic bucket in the engine bay. That bucket covered the electric motor that ran the supercharger for no supercharger can be turned on and off at will. The sounds of the supercharger were added in post production and the one on the car didn't do anything for performance as it wasn't connected to the engine. Of course fans of the movie have fitted proper supercharged 5.8 litre V8s to XB Falcons which were the pick of the XA, XB and XC Falcon models. The XB was an improvement on the XA and the XC although supposed to be an improvement, because of extra pollution gear actually lessened performance of the 5.8 litre or 351 V8. The XC Cobra is another iconic car from that era but other than it's unique paint job it's just a XC hardtop (never a coupe) .

 

As for the Ute or Utility vehicle, that's an Australian invention. The story behind it was that a farmers wife wrote to Ford Australia and asked would it be possible to have a work vehicle with car like qualities so that her husband farmer could carry sheep around in the back during the week but it would still be smart enough to drive to church on a Sunday morning and that was way back before 1934. Utes were used by tradesmen for years usually overloaded to the hilt hence the use of a live rear axle and cart springs. Later they became part of the "look cool and go fast set" but they had a drawback in that in the rain with such a light rear end breaking traction with the wet bitumen was very easy and would often see the car doing pirouettes down the road. For the inexperienced they can prove to be a real handful on wet roads.     

[faulcon1]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

Lacking a commercial  HO scale version (that I know of) I've been painstakingly creating a 3D model of an  HQ  in Sketchup/Blender.

 

Nearly there, just got to clean it up and make it 3D printable. This is the SS Monaro version based on the Belmont but I'll plough on and do the Premier (different tail lights mainly, and no side fins.)   Then maybe the  ute, the  station wagon and the panel van. 

 

 

And to bring the thread back into  line, here's a picture taken this morning on the way to work but the rainbow came out disappointingly faint - it looked very resurrection-y  in real life!.

I like the painstaking work you've put in models a real professional and the rainbow looks pretty good over the cemetery too. Working for a local council I was once asked by a lady in one of the councils cemeteries if I worked there. I told her nobody works here for it's a cemetery. I also told her that she could talk to those who lay here although I'd doubt she'd get much out of them and you'll find the conversation a bit one sided. 

[Ozexpatriate]

The solstice has brought wildfires and a red sunset and grey haze.

Like the rainbow, the sunset colours were more vibrant than the image.

 

 

[Iain.d]

Perth has just gone into a four day lock down which has restricted travel in our metro area.  I was very lucky last week to get a few days away in the south west of Western Australia. I was blessed with some beautiful weather, did a bit of coastal walking and took a few photographs along the way. Its about 2 1/2 hours away from home, so close enough to my own area.

 

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[pH]

Burrard Inlet from Port Moody pier at about 9.15 this evening:

 

[SRman]

SWMBO and I went on another excursion a few days ago to the Yarra Valley, so getting around 50 km from Melbourne's centre, or around 30 km from our home in the eastern suburbs. I plotted a slightly less direct route to take in Skyline Road for sonme views over Sugarloaf Reservoir. The car's dashcam didn't capture the total spectacle of the view, unfortunately. By eye, we could see the city in the distance, but the bright sunny sky washed the image out on the camera view.

Our destination was the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie, which is, itself, set in some beautiful scenery. Anyway, here are some of the photos, including a couple from the dashcam.

[Iain.d]

1 hour ago, SRman said:

SWMBO and I went on another excursion a few days ago to the Yarra Valley, so getting around 50 km from Melbourne's centre, or around 30 km from our home in the eastern suburbs. I plotted a slightly less direct route to take in Skyline Road for sonme views over Sugarloaf Reservoir. The car's dashcam didn't capture the total spectacle of the view, unfortunately. By eye, we could see the city in the distance, but the bright sunny sky washed the image out on the camera view.

Our destination was the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie, which is, itself, set in some beautiful scenery. Anyway, here are some of the photos, including a couple from the dashcam.

Beautiful! I do like the Yarra Valley. Before moving to Perth, we lived in SE Melbourne and used to take day trips up to the Yarra Valley.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[Iain.d]

I haven't been out much with my camera over the last few weeks - Perth has (I think) had its wettest July for about 25 years. I like being out early but that seems to have coincided with some pretty heavy rain and stormy weather.  This morning though, I decided to pop down to Fremantle port and see what was happening. Its an easy way to spend an hour watching the ships, cranes, ferries to and from Rottnest Island and the local fishermen - but there were none of those braving the rain this morning!! In between the showers I took this:

 

 

We also have two ships in port at the moment that are vessels in quarantine, as a number of the crew are COVID-19 positive; this is one:

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[pH]

Another sunset over Burrard Inlet: