Spotter's Log: Harpenden Classics On The Common

[STUNO]

A little bit of info re the unidentified AussiesTop red car PW500 is a Ford Falcon from the 70,sDown a couple NRR362 is a red Falcon from about 1987. ( I owned a 1987 one until a few years ago, but the 4L six was too thirsty)Green car HKC922 is a Holden Special from 1960White car is a Holden Monaro from late 70'sGold car UTU? 302 is a late 60's Ford FalconAnd the Hillman marks its rear as being Aust built!I also stand to be corrected by someone who knows more

[r.welfare]

^^^ WHS. The white "GTS" is a Holden HZ I reckon, "Radial Tuned Suspension" and all that nonsense.Now are those later pics Fitzroy, or North Fitzroy? Looks suspiciously like the latter...

[Electric Leyland]

^^^ WHS. The white "GTS" is a Holden HZ I reckon, "Radial Tuned Suspension" and all that nonsense.Now are those later pics Fitzroy, or North Fitzroy? Looks suspiciously like the latter...

You'll be right, my Melbourne geography is quite weak at the moment.

How do you live in London and get a woman in Melbourne preggo??

Dim the lights, pop open some wine, and stick an Astrud Gilberto CD on..... actually she lives with me in London but decides to give birth back home in Oz near her family, Medicare treatment, etc... means more foreign spotting opportunities so no complaints from me!

[michiel]

Ah, I was having visions of a ship-a-sperm service or something like that...

[r.welfare]

Now are those later pics Fitzroy, or North Fitzroy? Looks suspiciously like the latter...

You'll be right, my Melbourne geography is quite weak at the moment.

Thought I recognised it. My mate lives on Rae St (just behind Brunswick St), I snapped some GR8 spots there over Christmas 2006.

[Electric Leyland]

Gotcha, that area is really good for spotting innit?

 

Morning all. No baby yet, so more spotting prevails.

 

Reading back through my thread I'm deeply embarrassed at how often I wrongly identify the cars I post up, in my eagerness to get all the right pics up in the right order, e.g. referring to Audi 200s as 100s, Honda City's as Jazz's, and other such idiotic crap. In fact being here in Oz makes me realise how little I remember about standard 70s Japanese tin, something I hope to rectify in full given time. So please feel free to correct me during these updates. I fully encourage you to be pedantic!

 

Another one of these to get the ball rolling, its another old Mitsubishi Sigma I think??

 

A Toyota Corolla? So many different Corollas everywhere..

 

What is it? Suzuki maybe?

 

Shabby old Mk II Jag, or rather its Daimler equivalent, one of two in the same street (missed the other)

 

Loved this van...

 

Heyy! Lot of "old money" around here, so it's common to see an oldie going for a spin in a classic Roller or Bentley. Not Autoshite, but I blumming love em..

 

It'll be an S3, equivalent of RR Silver Cloud III

 

WOOOW! If RR ever did Autoshite, this is it. Probably the only time I've ever seen a Camargue on the road.

 

 

 

More to follow...

[Electric Leyland]

Its another Toyota Corolla, can anyone identify which model is which mark wise?

 

A Nissan Pulsar. This to me has Alfa Romeo Arna written all over it, but I suppose it's just a rebadged Cherry?

 

 

Still in the same carpark, it's a Nissan Cedric CIMA

 

Gorgeous, and the lovely lady driving it seemed very flattered at my photography. She was just off down the shops with the kids.

 

 

Got this one last visit and glad to see its still there.

 

Another old Corolla, but a coupe this time. I'd love one of these

 

Second Renault 20 of the trip, well happy with that.

 

 

More coming...

[Electric Leyland]

Next day wasnt as dull as the previous, sun's out, so is camera. Brekkie at fave cafe The Galleon, and came out to see this lovely little item parked outside, Fiat 850 Coupe

 

 

More Italian chic with this Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV

 

And yessss! An Alfasud. With a trio of miner birds keeping guard.

 

These massive Fords are well Autoshite, I think its a Fairmont. Must get a shot of the front of one, looks like a facelift end of line or top of range version, kind of have a chintzy VDP feel about them

 

Another Jag Mk II / Daimer, tidy one this time

 

Quick spin down the Melbourne F1 track, which is a normal street the rest of the year round

 

Rain again, but in the district of Elsternwick has loads of old chod milling around. Nissan Prairie?

 

This Mitsubishi is badged a Nimbus over here

 

Yay! Citroen GS daily

 

And a Mini Clubman/1275GT by the looks of it

 

More coming,..

[Electric Leyland]

It's badged a Ford, but looks rather Japanese to me. Is it a Mazda 323 saloon in real life?

 

Snapped on the move, Triumph 2000

 

And a Datsun Sunny

 

Yet another Alfa, its a 60's Giulia and was for sale at $30,000AUD (£15k approx), only 24k on the clock but seems a little steep

 

 

 

Two cars you never see at home anymore but are everywhere over here. Toyota Tercel

 

And Subaru 4WD

 

Another old Bentley, and a very tatty one. I love the first of the line T1 / Silver Shadows, much nicer than the more common Mk II facelift version.

 

Old money running out in this tatty old household, shagged old Merc Pagoda up the driveway. Very Autoshite.

 

More follows...

[Electric Leyland]

This is an old one, a Datsun pick up.

 

Old Ford Cortina workhorse, with a 4.1 badge on the side. A 4.1 Litre engine in that??

 

DATSUN STANZA!

 

Woah stop the car, what is that? Fiat 124 Sport, beautiful!!

 

Yesss, a real one. Rolls Royce Corniche, just like the corgi toy car.

 

Old BMW 316

 

You see the odd BX and XM around too

 

And I adore this thing, never seen one before. This is very very Aussie Autoshite. A Rambler.

 

More coming....

[Electric Leyland]

Down the botanical gardens, it's not all trees. This Holden Commodore looked like it was posing for a 70s brochure.

 

Looked interesting, cant remember what it was tho

 

Later model Honda Prelude, not seen one for so long

 

Nothing interesting about this new Vauxhall Astra looking Holden thing....

 

..until I saw the badge!

 

Another Ford Laser i.e. Mazda 323, and in lovely golden brown

 

Alfa GTV

 

Holy moly two in the same day! Fiat 124 Sport, looking very different to the one from earlier, but just as nice

 

And then christ almighty in the same street, a Fiat 128 3P. I just couldnt believe it.

 

Hope there's something you've enjoyed in this installment.

 

Over and out again.

[retrogeezer]

Nice photos - Fiat coupes are gorgeous..

 

There's another later Ford laser in this photo too:

 

[michiel]

Wow, too much... yellow Corollas (saloon and wagon) are Coronas actually, the white saloon is a KE30 Corolla. Pizza thing is (over here) a Daihatsu Charade.

[fiatdaft]

excellent spots,yer 128 3p is actually a 128 sl,even rarer,well done

[CortinaDave]

great pics some serious shite there... is oz awash with crap cars then? 4.1 litre cortina quite common over there back in the day.. they even came with factory aircon!

[Electric Leyland]

Thanks for the corrections. Yes Melbourne is heaving with autoshite, every street has something good on it, be it a proper classic or a piece of rare chod. I have to say it probably beats Amsterdam, Bangkok, or London for sheer quantity and quality of kit. Theres loads more I've seen but not yet had a chance to snap including Datsun 120Y, old Pugs, and even tonight a forgotten E Type Jag series 1 convertible! I've got photos of that to upload eventually, it was in the town centre clearly visible from the road. OK not abandoned as such, it's in a car parking space undercover, but its covered in an inch of dust with its tyres deflated. A shocking sight!

[r.welfare]

I get the impression that the climate is relatively kind to the cars, and the secondhand prices stay bouyant - my friends have a 1989 Corolla with about 150k on the clock, dents in every panel, and it still cost AUD$2,500, or about 10 times what you'd give for it here!I saw a beautiful Cortina estate in yellow in the Melbourne CBD while I was there - which unfortunately seems to have been lost in the "Great Autoshite Board Purge". I'm pretty sure that one was a 2-litre badged as a "Cortina 4" - you could also get a 3.3 litre six which has a "Cortina 6" badge on the back but not the "4.1" badges on the wings.Most surprisingly I saw about half-a-dozen Volvo 360GLTs during my trip - 2 in Perth and 4 in Melbourne!

[Electric Leyland]

And I've seen half a dozen Volvo P1800S's parked on the streets this week around here, nearly all of them white, some quite dented.It's true about 2nd hand car prices, they are astronomically expensive, especially European cars. Went past a dealers yesterday and the amount of crap on the forecourt with $3,999 in the windows (about £2k) was staggering, the kind of stuff you'd bag for under £500 on ebay in the UK. I think folks here keep old cars on the road cos theyre worth so much! Plus its so hard to replace them financially. Absolutely no new car snobbery here, if it goes then there's no problem with it. I think they'd laugh at our pathetic car scrappage scheme.

[Volksy]

We found the same in NZ, most old shitters had prices way over what you would pay for them here, Although JDM imports were becoming quite prolific and bringing prices down a little. Although you did pay a premium for 'NZ New' cars.Myself and the missus were into our VW's at the time, but we were pleased to find that scene tax hadn't really caught on over there.I remember enquiring about a white '67 VW type 3 parked on the lakeside road halfway between Rotarua and Whakatane. The guy who owned it was an artist who lived in the hills by the lake. It's probably still sat there.. Maybe STUNO knows of it, or remembers it!

[keef]

Had this feasible reply from a chap in Australia. :-"NZ was a little more "suitable " for the English exports to survive though , Small country , most towns almost within walking distance of each other, as in the UK, No real need for Air conditioning And generally roads in better condition. In Australia once you get away from the main centres of population , the distances between even small towns tends to be a days horse ride or more, and away from the major roads, it's predominantly dirt roads and a four wheel drive is pretty much required. ( Or the above mentioned horse !!)Combine that with a local car industry ( Holden and Ford ) producing relatively cheap cars designed for Australian conditions, small cheap Japanese cars coming with Air conditioning as standard, reasonable import duties and you can see why a lot of the older cars were taken off the road, even when they were still running perfecty well "

[Split_Pin]

Super spots, I like the Rambler!

[Electric Leyland]

What-ho again from Down Under.

 

In a rush here (but no baby yet still), so quickly bunging these up for your Monday morning start, bugger doing any work, grab a coffee and enjoy this lot. Off we go!

 

That E Type.....

 

 

 

 

 

Fiat X-1/9

 

Morris 1100

 

Toyota Corona

 

Massive Mazda

 

Peugeot 505

[Electric Leyland]

Datsun 120Y

 

Porsche 914

 

with Merc!

 

Toyota Celica

 

Toyota Corona fastback

 

Holden van, lovely

 

Mitsubishi Sigma, right?

 

Wrong! Chrysler Sigma

 

BMW 323i

 

Fiat 131 Supermirafiori, although I think it's the one I bagged on the last trip here

[Electric Leyland]

Lining up to take this Datsun Bluebird, and a Rover SD1 glides past

 

At last one that's not white, Volvo P1800S

 

Peugeot 504 with twin round headlamps

 

Thwack! Nissan Skyline

 

How many of these in the last month? Cit CX

 

And my fave of the day...

 

DATSUN VIOLET!

 

With white vinyl roof as well

 

I've never photographed one I dont think

 

Merc stagecoach

 

Honda Prelude. I'd love to own one, what are they like to drive?

[Electric Leyland]

Three spots in one shot!

 

Exhibit 1: TR7

 

Exhibit 2: Benz 68. Winner of crustiest car so far

 

Exhibit 3: Renault 20 again!

 

Fab retro Capri Mk 1 off the lights

 

Opel-esque Holden

 

Bigtrak lights Porsche 928

 

Nissan Skyline

 

Citroen CX

 

Toyota Cressida

 

Honda Accords

 

Granada, looks great lowered with alloys

 

Oh dear, get out of the way will you...

 

... I was trying to photograph this, another Corolla

[Electric Leyland]

The rest of these pics are taken around Brunswick St in Fitzroy, Mr Welfare may recognise it?

 

Theres an old Valiant on every street, some are really Aussie Autoshite

 

One for Ms Transit. Aren't there meant to be 2 wheels each side on the back?

 

Swoosh! Cit DS Safari

 

At last, a Rover Quintet!

 

Cooool! It's a Mitsubishi Galant isn't it?

 

Apparently not! Chrysler again. Valiant.

 

Eh??

 

Great patina

 

Double spot! Alto and VW Type 3

 

Lovely 2tone colour scheme in white and beige on this Ford Falcon

[Electric Leyland]

4 for the price of 1! Thats a Subaru 4WD right at the back

 

Two Alfa 33's, great find.

 

Liked this Holden Torana, very 70s

 

 

Older Subaru

 

Datsun Pulsar no less!

 

Datsun Bluebird Estate

 

Gorgeous '57 Chevy

 

BMW 2002 Touring

[Electric Leyland]

Another Honda Prelude

 

Wolseley 1500?

 

Nope!

 

My 2nd fave spot of the day - how rare is this Mitsubishi Cordia!

 

The light fades on the day once again. Pug 505

 

Thumbs up from these guys in their Type 4 squareback

 

!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Jaffa orangey Honda Civic

 

Thwack!

[keef]

That E Type.....

How could anyone leave that to get *that* dusty?

 

Be great to have that over on http://www.flickr.com/groups/ad016/

[keef]

Wolseley 1500?

Morris Major with Wolseley 1500 side trim or Wolseley 1500 with Morris Major front on?

 

Edit - Looks although it is correct for an early (mk1) Major :-

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Morri ... and_II.jpg