Thread: If only i'd known.

Dick Johnson, Peter Brock, Alan Moffat and Colin Bond are all legends no matter the car they drove.

I remember the day someone rolled a rock onto the track at the top of the mountain taking Johnson out of the race.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Dick Johnson, Peter Brock, Alan Moffat and Colin Bond are all legends no matter the car they drove.

Indeed. From the days when Bahurst was an actual event and worth watching.

What a tragedy when Brock was killed.

Do you know when that ad is from? Looks to be circa. mid-1980's?

If it was selling for near $60k even then it would likely be a minimum of quadruple that by now (at least!).

Those one-off types are fascinating to me. I've been trying to track down info on a single VH Pacer that was made as an E49 optioned 6 pack vehicle. Hopefully that's still surviving out there somewhere also.

Incidentally this XY GT replica recently sold for $95,000:



And this XY GT Fairmont (i.e. the South African version) for $70,000:

Well we've already had people offer up a Mini and a Cortina as Muscle cars

because the plucky little minis never failed to hold their own against the big "muscle " cars so beloved of the single brain celled mullet wearing brigade.

less is more, when will you meatheads ever learn.

if you want to do doughnuts, make a noise and get backslapped by a hundred gormless blokes, get a muscle car.

if you want to enjoy one of the best handling small cars ever and get girls knickers wet, get a mini cooper.

S'funny, for all the arsing on about Mini in a thread about Aust classics you don't actually even own one do you.

There's some shitbox Mini's racing in this, and Cortina's too. They're good at clogging traffic in corners but as soon as there's anything resembling a straight the GTHO just rips past them like they're standing still. Which they basically are . Turn your speakers up and you'll understand why there's nothing quite like a V8.

That classic racing is awesome but I'd be too scared and worried about the car to do it personally.

exactly, so whats the point in having a muscle car, the full performance of which can rarely if ever be experienced unless you race it or go to expensive and boring track days.

you can of course tootle about the suburbs in it with the windows down listening to the exhaust note and basking in the supposed glory of having people pointing at you and going "ooooh" but whats the f*cking point in that unless of course you enjoy showing off.

in a smaller engined car, e.g. mini, cortina etc. one can enjoy the full experience. you can drive them to their full potential on the roads and not be worried about breaking speed limits, noise limits or looking like a total twat.

less really is more.

Point is I can drive my muscle car however I want, there’s no mandate or compulsory rule to thrash the shit out of it just ‘cos, and it handles, drives, and sounds x1,000 better than your ‘less is more’ Mini because you don’t actually have one. Or any classic car at all.

So less is just less in your case.

Point is I can drive my muscle car however I want, there’s no mandate or compulsory rule to thrash the shit out of it

aaah, so its for showing off then.

much like having 20" biceps so that you can tap on a keyboard.

Nope it’s for driving and enjoying. The latter part is what’s causing you confusion.

People can and do have motivations other than those you try to superimpose and project onto them, taxi.

Originally Posted by taxexile

less really is more.

Just get a Chery QQ3 then, it'll just go from A to B. More reliable and comfortable than either a mini or a cortina.

Originally Posted by taxexile

exactly, so whats the point in having a muscle car, the full performance of which can rarely if ever be experienced unless you race it or go to expensive and boring track days.

1st reason was they were so cheap, the 2nd hand markets were awash with them. But mainly because back in that era, there was almost no police presence compared to today. So you could be almost anywhere and if the coast was clear, you could sink your boot in. Industrial parks at night made for great meeting places for like-minded rev heads, drag racing ensued. No chance of doing this these days, you'd lose all you license points in a week, get fined thousands of dollars, and have your car impounded (and possibly crushed in a wrecking yard. Yes crushed), and be without a license for 6-12 months. But back then, if you wanted to hit 100mph each day or smoke the tyres up, you could. Head into the Outback a little and you could do whatever speeds you wanted to all day and night, when the nearest town is a hundred+ miles away there's not much chance of seeing cops.

Originally Posted by taxexile

you can of course tootle about the suburbs in it with the windows down listening to the exhaust note and basking in the supposed glory of having people pointing at you and going "ooooh" but whats the f*cking point in that unless of course you enjoy showing off.

One of the best things about having a seriously powerful car is knowing you've got a seriously powerful car and the sounds/theater of a volcanic eruption are under your right foot. I tend to drive powerful cars quite gently and thrash the absolute fuck out of gutless shit boxes, they both deserve it.

Originally Posted by taxexile

in a smaller engined car, e.g. mini, cortina etc. one can enjoy the full experience. you can drive them to their full potential on the roads and not be worried about breaking speed limits, noise limits or looking like a total twat.

Will never forget the first time I went to England and we had to go do a training course in Kent. Could not believe what I saw on the M? going both ways. In Australia at that time, everyone had a large car with at least a 6 cylinder engine (V8's were very common) and they'd all cruise along on highways at 60-65mph. In England, everyone had some 4 cylinder shit box (mostly with a sunroof ) and they'd all sit on 90-100mph revving their arses out and leaving a smoke trail.

Originally Posted by taxexile

less really is more.

Said no one who's owned V8's. Ever.

no, i've never had a v8 powered car, although i have driven a few.

and whilst i will admit to the enjoyment of hearing the v8 burble, these days what with roads being so crowded and heavily monitored, well at least in europe, i dont know about aus, there just arent that many opportunities to really use fast cars to their full potential.

........ and a couple of 30 second manic overtaking manoeuvres whilst on a 2 hour journey on speed limited roads doest really count does it.

In a follow up auction I came across this red Sports Car ...

titter ye not.

Shed of the Week: Fiat Panda 100HP

Tony Middlehurst posted on Friday, June 15, 2018 in Shed Of The Week.

Fiat's tall supermini is a hoot - and outrageous value at Shed money...






Thanks to the internet, everyone's an expert. The democratisation of data means that the days of picking up stupidly cheap cars from unsuspecting sellers are probably over.

Of course, nobody was ever going to pick up a barnfind Bugatti Royale for fifty quid, or a 250 GTO with a broken headlight at best offers around £295, but nowadays even mildly exciting bargains are about as common as a politician's apology. Everything is accurately priced now, based on a combination of widely-available knowledge and what everyone else is asking.

Today's Shed might be the exception that proves the rule. It's a Fiat Panda, but not just any old Fiat Panda: this is a 2007 Panda 100HP in apparently good nick with a reasonable mileage, long MOT - and an unfeasibly low price of £975. Even on eBay, the normal asking price for a similar example would be twice that. Knock a few miles off the odo and you could easily triple it.


The Sheffield garage selling this one says it will not be beaten on price, and for once that could be true if there are no skeletons rattling in this particular car's cupboard. There almost certainly will be a degree of actual rattling as these 100HPs are famous for their bone-crumblingly stiff suspension - 25 percent stiffer than the regular Panda. The upside of that rollerskate ride however is roller-derby rumbustiousness on the road.

For the full griff on what is good and what is not so good about the 100HP, we can do no better than to refer you to Al Suttie's comprehensive guide here. In short though, the 100HP is a metal version of Taz, the Tasmanian devil character in the Looney Tunes cartoons. For them as don't know, Taz was a fierce little creature capable of generating a dusty vortex by spinning on the spot before shooting off at high speed. To satisfy his insatiable appetite, he would devour anything in his path.

That pretty much sums up the 100HP, a rolling riot of a thing that is guaranteed to fill your heart with gladness and take away your sadness on the very glummest of glum days. It's built on a good base. The cooking Mk2 Panda was designed for the cut and thrust of Italian city life: European hire fleet managers will confirm its ability take all kinds of abuse all day long and still come up smelling of fettucine. The 100HP's um 100hp 1.4 engine moves the Panda up to the next level, wrapping a kernel of genuine performance snugly inside that tough little shell. Like Iron Man fresh off the mains.


100hp might not sound much, but in a 975kg car it's more than enough to move things along at what seems like a crazy rate. Statistically, the rate actually isn't that crazy, but you'll be too busy laughing and saying 'ow' as you go over another carelessly-discarded matchstick to worry about any of that.

You probably wouldn't be interested in a 100HP if most of your driving takes place on motorways and/or terrible roads, and you'll be battling with understeer if you insist on trackdaying it, but if it's a B-roads blaster you're after you could do an awful lot worse. Plus you can soften things up quite a bit by swapping out the too-long rear bumpstops for Fiat Coupé ones.

The MOT history suggests it's been correctly driven as per the manufacturer's brief, ie hard. Most of the testers' comments over the last five years have related to worn brakes, suspension and tyres. A leaky exhaust was sorted out at the end of last year. That's a common failure on these.


Both the engine and the 6-speed box are robust. You just need to keep your eye on oil levels, and don't stint on the changes. The ESP acronym doesn't appear anywhere in the ad's typical blizzard of garage-speak, suggesting that this £440 option box wasn't ticked at the ordering stage. That's not necessarily a bad thing as history indicates that 'reliable automotive electrics' and 'Italian' were rarely seen together in the same room. Shed used to potter around on an old Moto Guzzi motorbike that would quite literally bring the spark back into his life, especially in rainy weather.

A pleasant bonus that comes free with every Panda is practicality. You'll be surprised how much stuff you can get in one. As PHer Paraicj commented on the Suttie guide thread, a couple of mountain bikes will go in the back (admittedly, once the wheels are off). The flaky cabin materials aren't the best at standing up to this sort of rough treatment, so as an owner you'll have to dial in something of a 'fahgeddaboudit' mentality. That practicality is partly a function of the car's height, which is a negative when you're driving it like a sports car.


As it stands, you've got a good few months worth of summer madness in store here before you need to start concentrating on getting the 100HP through its next test in December. Then you will find that parts are not only cheap but also easy to come by and fit.

The vendor's Facebook site has lots of nice customer comments backing up its claim of a pressure-free sales environment. Cynical types will always cast a quizzical glance at FB comments like these, but Shed has a good feeling in his water about these ones.

Here's the ad. Read it fast and then get on the blower because Al's piece concludes with a 'price now' guide of '£2000 upwards'.

To satisfy the Holden fans ...





... and (below) a view many Fords saw @ Bathurst



All the images are here ... https://www.lloydsonline.com.au/LotD...25&lid=1459008

Description:
1977 Holden Torana LX
Year: 1977
Make: Holden
Model: Torana
Series: LX A9X
Body: 4-Door Sedan
Drive Type: Rear wheel drive
Odometer: Indicating 56,755 Kilometers
Engine: 8-Cylinder Petrol
Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
Colour: Jasmine yellow
Seats: 5

Description/extras: After finishing my apprenticeship with a couple of “petrol heads”, I got the addiction for cars.
Headed to the Summernats at the end of 1989.
As I was looking for a car to buy, I had heard from a friend that a bloke was selling an a9x.
Not knowing what an a9x was, and being early 1990, no internet, I went to the local newsagency to look up what it was.

Reading that the a9x was the Holden equivalent to the Phase 111 Falcons was interesting! I had already owned an XW when I was 17.
The Phase 111’s were going for about $30-$35K, a new base commodore was about $20K.

Looked at it by myself.
The owner had told me that he was sick of buying batteries for it and the money would finish off his house.
He worked away and his mother drove it, to do the shopping.
If it didn’t start, she didn’t take, and he had to fix it when he got home.
He had the car for 8 to 10 years.

Organised the loan and to pick the car up on the 18th of May 1990.
The two mates that went with me to Mackay to pick it up didn’t know I was buying it until we went to the
house to get the car.
Drove the car home, stopping for photos at the Eton pub.
Wanted to give the car a bit of a work out, but resisted. My parents didn’t like the idea of owning the car.

Entered into the Mackay car show 3 weeks later, after cleaning up the engine bay a little, new air cleaner and
registering it on the road. Went straight through the Roadworthy. Achieved an award and had someone offer
the same amount to buy the car as I had paid.

I went home with the car show bug!
The next two years I had the car repainted in two pack with a gloss black bonnet, engine rebuilt, and nearly chromed everything in the engine bay.
The car was still registered, and by the time I finished I didn’t want to drive it, and with rego costs rising, I decided to deregister at the end of 1992.
As they say, “life got in the way”.

The next car show that it went in was in 1998. By then I had come to my senses and had removed almost all the chrome and changed it back to original, removing the hotwire mags, sourcing GTS wheels, tyres and a set of brake cooling ducts (missing when the car was bought).
The car won “Top Muscle Car”.
The ID tags have never been removed!

The NSW Woy Woy, Peninsula Motors transfer to Max Tippet stamp duty receipt was in the driver’s door pocket when I bought the car! The Peninsula Motors sticker is still on the back window. The rear louvre has always been on the car, the whole time I have owned it. I believe it is a dealer option.
The car has not changed since the 1998 car show.
It was been on club rego since 2009 until 2017.

The odometer reading is original! I worked out yesterday that the car has done less than 9,000 kilometres since I bought it, almost 28 years to the day it is to be auctioned!
From memory it had 47,xxx km. I can name the people that drove this car while I have owned it. Less than 5 people.
Research: PSN J595838; ordered 15/9/77, sales date 10/11/77; 1 of 2 Dealer ordered a9xs, but 1 of 4 retailed by – (GMH Dealer Number 905) Leach Motors Southside 456 Logan Road, Brisbane QLD. 16th Jasmine Yellow sedan of 39 built.

Research is from Holden Torana Performance Handbook by Eric Blair.
How many are left? And how have been rebirthed? How many made it through the 80’s?
The decision to sell is complicated.

“Being the time to pass onto the next guardian”, “being able to use the money elsewhere”, “need space”, “need to finish off the house”, “the right time to sell”, “I don’t drive it enough”, “not getting any younger”, “blah, blah, blah”.

Any and all of them. 28 years and a lot of good memories! This is the first time this car has been for public sale in approximately 38 years. Bough privately by myself 28 years ago from the previous owner, who had it for 10 years.

The ironic part is that I bought this car so that I could go to car shows (including the Summernats), but I have never entered a car show any further away than 80 kilometres from where I have lived, and have not been back to the Summernats since 1989.

Current Bid: $60,500



---

Sorry Ant, no Chryslers and Tax, no Mini Coopers

A Walkenshaw (ugly thing they are, spelling?) and a late model Sandman though are here ... https://www.lloydsonline.com.au/Auct...5&pgn=1&pgs=10

---

ME?

My Dad walked for Ford, I first skinned my knuckles on Minis but my passion for cars are Alphas

A 1750 GTV ...

Originally Posted by taxexile

If you want to enjoy one of the best handling small cars ever and get girls knickers wet, get a mini cooper.

Better still get yourself a lotus Elan S2 Big Valve, no muscle car of the same era could keep up with one of these on a twisty B road, even in a straight line they were pretty quick.

cant argue with that

Originally Posted by taxexile

cant argue with that

Are you sure?

Because your shtick in this thread so far has been to mistake subjective opinion for objective fact and argue that cars you don't own are better than other cars you've never owned or driven.

I've owned far too many cars - an addiction I guess. Along the way Charger, XB GT, Holden/Torana's have come and gone. I still appreciate their muscle car persona, but don't miss them at all. They one's that got away, and I should have kept;
-Alfasud ti; proof that eager 1200cc and great chassis = raucous fun. But the body just dissolved!
-Alfa GTV: as above but more grown up.
-Porsche 944 turbo; just a sweet sweet car.
-Porsche 930 turbo; definitely not a sweetie! Armed and Dangerous. Loved it. I used to get [wanker!] grief driving past the boys at the pub. Same guys would give the SS ute a big thumbs up - if only they knew!!
Porsche 964 RS Replica. A scalpel to the 930's hammer. Oh no, sold it only two months ago. Error!
Toyota HZ75 Landcruiser. 'nuf said.

Originally Posted by bobfish

I've owned far too many cars

Me also, most of which were during the short period from 15 when I first got my license until about 24 or so.

Not going to list them because their were too many to remember and most were shitboxes anyway.