Mort's Australasian Excursion

[MiniMort]

So I thought I might as well do a thread for the holiday I'm on and what I've done seen!

I'm currently on a cruise in Oz which started in Sydney and ends up in Hong Kong. It's my first time in this part of the world, and I'm pleased to see so much shite about.

As said, the first stop was Sydney where we had a couple of days to explore things like the Opera House and Bondi Beach. 

My first photographed find (I saw a few things on the taxi to the hotel when it was still dark) was this 1988 Corolla 4WD Wagon. It's seemingly a Tercel with a new front end.

It was close to a really nice poverty spec 1994 BMW 316i. But neither of these are really Australian are they?

Ah that's better, a Holden Commodore Ute! 90s Commodores and Falcons in all shapes and sizes are still pretty common it seems.

And here's an 80s one, taken through a vent looking into an underground car park at night (ideal conditions!). I'm digging the vinyl roof on a car made between 1981 and 1984. Surely that was a bit of a dated detail by then?

And just to prove I didn't just look at cars the whole time, here's Sydney at night. Strewth etc.

[MiniMort]

This was on the same street as the hotel, a final generation Ford Laser. It's more or less a Mazda 323 but they have some terrible rear lights (not seen here). 

On the way to the bus which took us to Bondi I found a BMW 2002 languishing on a driveway. It's a TILux, whatever that means. Some life goes on, though, because the white Holden had vanished when I returned later that day.

It was nice to know we haven't quite claimed all of these in the UK.

The coastal areas had plenty of tat in them. Take this 1987 Mercedes G-Class, which I have to say looks far classier than one of today.

But the best find of that trip had to be the 1993 Daihatsu Charade Blanc. Interesting that Aussie special editions didn't all come with sunroofs like they did here. I feel like having one would be more of a negative when it's always so hot out.

[chaseracer]

Nice spots.  Can you bring back some Mitsubishi headlights for @Six-cylinder...? 😉

[Six-cylinder]

32 minutes ago, chaseracer said:

Nice spots.  Can you bring back some Mitsubishi headlights for @Six-cylinder...? 😉

This Forum is GREAT!

[MorrisItalSLX]

2 hours ago, chaseracer said:

Nice spots.  Can you bring back some Mitsubishi headlights for @Six-cylinder...? 😉

[MorrisItalSLX]

3 hours ago, MiniMort said:

My first photographed find (I saw a few things on the taxi to the hotel when it was still dark) was this 1988 Corolla 4WD Wagon. It's seemingly a Tercel with a new front end.

😍😍😍

It was on of these I was looking for when I bought my lift back.

[MiniMort]

Right then, shirt tails of Sydney before getting on the cruise ship.

I'm not sure what it is but I'm still finding it strange seeing any European car here, even though they sell Skodas, Renaults, Citroens etc just like they do anywhere else. This 1970 DSpecial took me by surprise, though.

And here's a really crappy late night phone photo of another thing that excited me - a 1978 Holden Kingswood Wagon. In case you're not clued up on your Aussie cars, the Kingswood was more or less the Commodore's more executive brother. This HZ generation would have had 'radial tuned suspension', of which Modern Motor magazine wrote 'great handler spoiled by the car'.

Please excuse the 'picture pictures' here, I've been taking photos on my camera and uploading them to my laptop... only I no longer have Wifi on their, just my phone. Anyway, with that in mind here's something that's very Autoshite - a 1998 Daewoo Lanos, that was parked over the road from the cruise terminal.

It was joined with this lovely 2003 Pulsar, which is actually very common here. These ones were Japanese-made, but the liftback version (Almera to us) came all the way from the UK. 

[MiniMort]

Brisbane was a fun place, even if we did have to go through a massive industrial estate before getting to the city from the cruise terminal! 

Bull bars on cars are much more common here, and not just to make your 1993 Tarago (yes, it's not a Previa!) more rugged apparently. Drivers here have a real problem with kangaroos darting out in front of vehicles at night. I know someone that had £1,500 of damage caused by one.

Late 90s Camrys are really popular too. Wagons like this Conquest are a little harder to come by mind. 

Here's a high performance Falcon XR6. Whilst the fast Commodores used V6s, these Falcons have in-line sixes which are apparently really reliable.

As for something a little more useful, this 1997 Commodore Wagon was pretty neat. Note how some of the plates have burgundy text and others are dark green. Well, buyers here can choose the style of their plates. I've seen white text on a pink background on some!

Another one of those Pulsars, this time with the classier 'slatty' chrome grille!

And a wonderfully shite Hyundai Accent Coupe. 

[MorrisItalSLX]

5 hours ago, MiniMort said:

Note how some of the plates have burgundy text and others are dark green. Well, buyers here can choose the style of their plates. I've seen white text on a pink background on some!

In Queensland the standard colours was white on black (1920-1977), green on white (1978-2001) and burgundy on white (2002-Present). Any other colour would be special ordered.

New South Wales had white on black until 1949 and black on yellow from 1950 to present, with black on white becoming a premium option in 1990. All other colours would be special ordered.

[MiniMort]

Airlie Beach and it's surrounding area has been best so far for finding old rubbish. We met up with a friend there so were able to go to the more off the beaten track towns.

This looks like a Dollywobbler-spec Falcon, only it isn't. It's actually the classier Fairmont. Little more than a trim level, but I like the snazzier grille.

Something a little lower end is this Ford Laser Sedan. I think it works better in booted form, compared to the hatch we saw earlier.

Getting shiter. A 2009 Proton Jumbuck. Interestingly it's the third I've seen during my stay in Australia. I guess it was cheaper than most utes on the market.

But not as popular as one of these, a 1974 Toyota Hilux that seemingly spent its days driving up and down the high street of Proserpine because I saw it loads of times.

I feel like this has been the most Autoshite spot of the holiday so far, though. It's a 1983 Daihatsu Scat (or Wildcat, or T.A.F.T if you will). I like how the bull-bar is taller than the bonnet.

Finally, something that has stumped me for a few days. What is this 60s wagon? Initially I thought it was a Falcon but they all had round tail lights (to my knowledge). Doesn't seem to be a Holden either. Any help would be appreciated! 

[MorrisItalSLX]

7 hours ago, MiniMort said:

Finally, something that has stumped me for a few days. What is this 60s wagon? Initially I thought it was a Falcon but they all had round tail lights (to my knowledge). Doesn't seem to be a Holden either. Any help would be appreciated! 

Chrysler VC Valiant Safari Wagon

[Noel Tidybeard]

7 hours ago, MiniMort said:

 

This looks like a Dollywobbler-spec Falcon, only it isn't. It's actually the classier Fairmont. Little more than a trim level, but I like the snazzier grille.

.

ermm the wobblemobile is a fairmont

[quicksilver]

7 hours ago, MiniMort said:

Airlie Beach and it's surrounding area has been best so far for finding old rubbish. We met up with a friend there so were able to go to the more off the beaten track towns.

This looks like a Dollywobbler-spec Falcon, only it isn't. It's actually the classier Fairmont. Little more than a trim level, but I like the snazzier grille.

 

Whoa, Black Betty, Bam-ba-lam!

[Datsuncog]

7 hours ago, MiniMort said:

What is this 60s wagon? Initially I thought it was a Falcon but they all had round tail lights (to my knowledge). Doesn't seem to be a Holden either. Any help would be appreciated! 

 

 

43 minutes ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Chrysler VC Valiant Safari Wagon

Yup, as above - and like most Australian full-size sedans which received near-annual styling updates in line with their similar US siblings, it was a fairly short-lived model; the VC Valiant was in production for just over a year, from spring 1966 to the autumn of 1967.

Yours looks to be a fairly boggo 225 model with a straight-six engine - the V8 and higher-trim Regal models came with extra chrome doo-dahs. But of course, the wheels indicate it's had some upgrades, which may well have included  an engine swap...

Here's what the front end looks like:

A neighbour in Sydney drove a later VG Valiant sedan, which I was very fond of.

Fun fact: a former MissDC's grandmother worked in Chrysler's Tonsley Park plant in Adelaide back in the sixties. While we were visiting them, back in the early 2000s, we found a load of vintage promotional T-shirts from Chrysler and various tyre companies, still unworn... they were a bit too small for my ample frame, sadly!

[MiniMort]

34 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

ermm the wobblemobile is a fairmont

Well well well, everyday's a school day. Must rewatch some of his trip to Aus and New Zealand clearly!

[dollywobbler]

Nice pics. Four years since I went down that way. Which is frankly terrifying.

[MiniMort]

10 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Nice pics. Four years since I went down that way. Which is frankly terrifying.

Blimey so it is! I remember it was right before Covid. And thanks, in Darwin tomorrow - the last of Australia for the time being.

[MiniMort]

28 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

 

Yup, as above - and like most Australian full-size sedans which received near-annual styling updates in line with their similar US siblings, it was a fairly short-lived model; the VC Valiant was in production for just over a year, from spring 1966 to the autumn of 1967.

Yours looks to be a fairly boggo 225 model with a straight-six engine - the V8 and higher-trim Regal models came with extra chrome doo-dahs. But of course, the wheels indicate it's had some upgrades, which may well have included  an engine swap...

Here's what the front end looks like:

A neighbour in Sydney drove a later VG Valiant sedan, which I was very fond of.

Fun fact: a former MissDC's grandmother worked in Chrysler's Tonsley Park plant in Adelaide back in the sixties. While we were visiting them, back in the early 2000s, we found a load of vintage promotional T-shirts from Chrysler and various tyre companies, still unworn... they were a bit too small for my ample frame, sadly!

Wow thanks for all the info, and shame about the t-shirts! The Valiant completely escaped my mind! 

[GR8 PL8 M8]

On 25/10/2023 at 01:30, MiniMort said:

Here's a high performance Falcon XR6. Whilst the fast Commodores used V6s, these Falcons have in-line sixes which are apparently really reliable.

...and the really fast Commodores used V8s!

[dollywobbler]

2 hours ago, GR8 PL8 M8 said:

...and the really fast Commodores used V8s!

LS V8 Vs Barra turbo - surprisingly little in it and both can take a lot of tuning...

[stuboy]

i thought there be million daewoo matiz's

[MiniMort]

10 hours ago, GR8 PL8 M8 said:

...and the really fast Commodores used V8s!

Can't say I've seen any of those, and I've left the last port in Australia.

Bugger.

[MiniMort]

6 hours ago, stuboy said:

i thought there be million daewoo matiz's

I can tell you I saw the grand total of one.

As far as South Korean cars go, you're tripping over thousands and thousands of Hyundai Getz's though. Saw a few early 00s Elantras and Accents too.

[GR8 PL8 M8]

19 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

LS V8 Vs Barra turbo - surprisingly little in it and both can take a lot of tuning...

I'll admit that I am biased (although my ute has an L98 V8 rather than an LS). I'd honestly love a Barra Turbo, it would certainly stand out at the Ace Café Australia Day meets among all the Vauxhalls and Holdens! Your AU Fairmont and an AU ute are the most modern Aussie Fords I've ever seen there...

[MiniMort]

Let me give you a little advice. If you want to spot cars, don't go into the Australian bush. We went to Litchfield National Park (about 120km south of Darwin) and, despite the beautiful views of waterfalls and massive termite mounds), there are just no cars on the roads.

You do see a few old off-roaders though, like this Pajero. Lots and lots of Land Cruisers too.

Everything gets bull bars here, god forbid you hit a stray kangaroo with your Echo.

Here's a lovely Ford Fairmont from the late 90s. Sadly I'm unsure if it was the really snazzy Concorde model with the 5.0 litre Mustang engine though!

And the last find of Australia is this Holden Commodore SV6 Ute. It was built in 2017 so one of the very last.

[MiniMort]

So, time for country two - Indonesia. Specifically we stayed in Bali for two days, and did a Land Rover tour on the first. I expected we'd be ferried around in a late-ish old-shape Defender, but we actually got this!

It was a very 70s Land Rover Series III Station Wagon WITH the optional Tropical Roof! 

These are fairly common around the island - Toyota Kijangs. They're not unique to Indonesia but were built locally. 

The Suzuki Carry seems to be the van of choice for the Balinese but all kei vans are common. Here's a 70s Daihatsu Hijet for instance.

And an even older Colt!

It's not all Japanese vans, though. Locals seem to like a 90s BMW. Bimmers Auto Garage was doing a roaring trade.

And if you saw the WTF is that thread lately you'll know that this little sportscar stumped me. Turns out its a Fiat-based Moretti Spider! Maybe not Pebble Beach spec but certainly rare!

[MiniMort]

Day two in Bali wasn't quite as fruitful for car spotting, but then again was a shorter trip overall - and sadly not in a Land Rover. 

Still, I was very surprised to see this Ford Laser. Being ignorant, I always thought they were only sold officially in Australia. How wrong I was - they built them from CKD kits in Jakarta!

Despite there being lots of Japanese vans from the 70s and 80s, cars are not so common. As such, I was pleased to see an old Corolla - complete with some aftermarket add ons.

This Starlet felt a little less loved. In fact you see quite a few old cars with expired number plates (they all feature a month and year at the bottom, a bit like our old tax discs did).

Here's another Toyota Kijang, this time in SUV flavour. I like the GRAND ACTION graphics - maybe a special edition?

Finally, is it a Chevrolet Blazer? No! It's actually an Opel Blazer, the Indonesian version - made between 1995 and 2005. 

[stuboy]

14 hours ago, MiniMort said:

....its for sale

[MiniMort]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

....its for sale

I mean they appear to be selling care...