Classic Tat from WA

[whiskeyonesix]

Right, this is a round-up of the various car shows and museums I've been to over the past couple of months. Tried to avoid the obvious classics to focus on the rarities

I suppose I should have uploaded pics from individual shows, but to be honest - there's only so many classic cars out here, and you do get the same old ones appearing over and over again..... MG owners I'm talking to you!!!

 

Straight-6 Marina

 

 

 

P76

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why did BL cancel this? Mad fools...........

 

 

 

Nissan President? Lovely thing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toyota?

 

 

 

Still working for a living!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No idea what was under the bonnet of this, I think it was a Turbo Jap Twin-cam effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WANT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Found in a field. No idea what it is/was....... Buick?

 

 

 

Answers on a postcard

[michiel]

Excellent work, love the Publica!

[whiskeyonesix]

Is that what it was? Cheers for that, It looked rather out of place there - but that's not a bad thing

[morris_ital_lover]

I would say the car found in the field is a standard flying 8? Judging by the badge!m0rris

[fotorabia]

The blue P76 is a Targa Florio which was the fat ltd edition version..same as what was at our local show just recently..

[Guest]

Those P76s are a right handsome old beast, I'd love one!

[GJR 11L]

The white Sprint does indeed have a Japanese engine, can't remember which car he said it belonged, but whatever the donkey came from it's a bloody quick car as it weighs around â…†as much as the engine donor, itself no slouch.

 

The fella's a Dolomite Club regular, Sprints are popping up all over Australia though most are still yellow (only one colour choice was offered to the Australian market, even though post-'73 UK Sprints were offered in other colours too) and have the stock, SOHC 16V motor.

 

I wish it were easier to find P76s over here.

[seth]

'm rather taken with a couple of the background cars, the Chysler Airflow in the museum beind the President and the Super Snipe estate next to the Capri.

[Minimad5]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing them with us.That Dolomite looks interesting, bet that shifts !

[pogweasel]

Straight-6 Marina must be spectacularly unpleasant to drive!

[boobydoo]

There was an article on those P76's in a recent Classic Car Weekly. I like 'em a lot!! How many are left do you know? It said they were a Tagora-esque flop!?

[whiskeyonesix]

I'm not sure there are many P76's left in WA these days - they were fairly common - until someone found out that the 4.4 V8 in the top-end models was a veritable stormer of a unit, and could quite easily be shoehorned into Range-Rovers, Kit-Cars etc. Then they pretty much disappeared overnight..... I don't actually think i've seen any on the roads... Although thriving Owners Club over the Eastern States, hundred left there. Yup, they were a flop, crying shame really. I've heard rumours of whilst they were being built, Ford and Holden putting the squeeze onto BL's parts suppliers to stop them from supplying BL... I'm sure someone knows more about this than I do though, it was a great car that the market simply wasn't ready to accept. Don't get me started on the Force 7 coupe debacle either, talk about weeping tears of bitter regret

[Betaphile]

Straight-6 Marina must be spectacularly unpleasant to drive!

Correct, particularly as, aside from some utterly token revisions to the damper rates, there was practically no concession made for either the extra power or weight - they literally dumped it in and hoped for the best. See also: Cortina 3.3 and 4.1 with the engine from the Falcon dumped in, in an attempt to take them 'upmarket'; Torana six (same deal, same result).

I'm not sure there are many P76's left in WA these days - they were fairly common - until someone found out that the 4.4 V8 in the top-end models was a veritable stormer of a unit, and could quite easily be shoehorned into Range-Rovers, Kit-Cars etc. Then they pretty much disappeared overnight..... I don't actually think i've seen any on the roads... Although thriving Owners Club over the Eastern States, hundred left there. Yup, they were a flop, crying shame really. I've heard rumours of whilst they were being built, Ford and Holden putting the squeeze onto BL's parts suppliers to stop them from supplying BL... I'm sure someone knows more about this than I do though, it was a great car that the market simply wasn't ready to accept. Don't get me started on the Force 7 coupe debacle either, talk about weeping tears of bitter regret

The P76 is one thing (the squeeze on suppliers bit is true, amongst various other issues), but the Force 7 was really never going to work. For one thing, it would've been launched just as the market for big coupes was collapsing; for another, more than one engineer on the program has subsequently admitted the car had BIG structural rigidity problems (it's a large hatchback). To be honest I have long believed that Leyland's fate in Australia was sealed before the P76 was even born, but if they did have a future, it was with the P76 sedan and to an even greater extent, P82, a locally-developed replacement for the Marina. Incidentally, the 4.4 V8 was definitely one of the best things about the P76 - considering its contemporaries, definitely one of the best local engines ever produced in this country.

[STUNO]

Found in a field. No idea what it is/was....... Buick?

 

 

 

Answers on a postcard

The grille is Morris 8, the rest is not. The drivers seat may be the newest feature (Accessory?).