Continuing on from the previous post from the 2009 Pakenham Picnic, let’s pick up with this Dodge fire truck. This show was held at the Pakenham racecourse (horse racing that is), which was not much more than 400 metres or a quarter of a mile from the town’s main street!
Pakenham is 60 km from the centre of Melbourne, but is now almost continuously connected to the Melbourne suburbs; give it a few more years and the remaining farm paddocks will be subsumed by housing. The race course is also being converted to housing, and has relocated 10 km further east in a new facility. Anyway, here we have a Jowett Javelin with the grille removed to expose the flat-four engine.
A Kougar Jaguar special, inspired by a mid-50s HWM-Jaguar open wheel race car and featuring readily available (eg XJ6) Jaguar sedan running gear. Not exactly good looking to my eyes, but surely a lot of fun.
FJ Holden panel van in Royal Automobile Club of Victoria patrol van form. The automobile club gained the Royal endorsement after members provided transport home for returning soldiers during and after WW1.
Rover sedan – perhaps a 14 from either just before or after WW2?
1970-72 Pontiac Firebird; apart from making the observation it has a 400 ci V8 and Ram Air hood, I can’t tell you much.
A pair of Singer 9 roadsters. They look like they are from the mid 1930s but were actually built from 1948-1955. With 1.1-1.5 litre engines the performance is as much a factor as modernity, but you don’t have to be driving like your hair is on fire to have fun.
A Chrysler roadster from about 1930. Chryslers were pretty impressive cars in this era.
A very well-restored 1946 GMC truck that was done around 12 years earlier, judging by the registration number.
Very well-preserved 1981 Lancia Beta coupe.
1978 Ford LTD and 1955 Rolls Royce Silver Dawn. This model LTD was known as the “Rolls-Royce front” LTD, but the comparison was probably more to the 1970s Silver Spirit rather than the much more upright Dawn.
1933 (I think) Hupmobile in a correct but surprisingly vibrant colour combination. Perhaps it is because we are used to seeing black & white or sepia-toned photos of old cars that we expect them in dull colours?
1955 International-Harvester KB3, that would have been built just up the road at I-H’s factory in Dandenong!
One of a pair of Amilcars, the second one can be seen behind.
A fairly large Ford truck – an F700? The standard F-series pickup cab has a much higher roof line than normal, which might be unique to this generation?
Diamond T truck.
Late 1960s International-Harvester C1500 Acco truck
Can anyone identify this pre-WW1 car? What look like shock absorbers hanging from the rear spring shackles might help; unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of the front of it.
A trio of Triumphs, two 2500s and a Vitesse convertible. Could purple paint be a factory colour? I think it is more likely custom.
I’m assuming that this B-body is an Oldsmobile given there is a 1938 Olds sedan beside it.
For something different, this is a Furphy water cart. They came to prominence during WW1 to the point that Furphy became slang for a rumour, often untrue, due to the “water cooler” talk that would happen when soldiers congregated. They are also famous for the verse “Good better, best. Never let it rest, Till your good is better, And your better best.” cast into the tank ends.
The cart was hitched to the rear of this Chevrolet pickup. Note the water bag hanging on the front, which uses evaporation to keep the water inside cool.
I imagine that someone can identify these cars, the radiator shape on the left might be a Dodge while the wheels of the right-hand car look distinctive but I can’t place them.
1939 Cadillac and 1948-on MG YA sedans
Early 1960s Chrysler Royal, an Australia-only evolution of the early-50s Mopar.
A 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint convertible, a US import. Ford Australia were building hardtops at this time, but never produced a convertible.
1946 Chevrolet truck
1967 Imperial Crown convertible, dwarfing a Hyundai Getz.
Ford Model A sedan. Do you think that having a toolbox mounted on the front of the car would mean that you would or wouldn’t need the tools?
1938 Hudson
1970 Fiat Nuova 500, presumably a replica of the tuned Giannini 650 Modena, or could it be real? Either way, a genuine 35 horsepower should propel this tiny car more than adequately.
Early Morris Mini Cooper, as signified by the sliding windows and corner bumper ‘loops’. This will have a 997 or 998cc twin-carb engine giving 55 bhp – enough to give some fairly decent performance to the tiny original Mini.
Mid to late 1950s Ford Prefect
Ford Popular, which was the previous model Prefect built alongside the Prefect above as a cheaper alternative.
And a Ford Escort wagon version of the Prefect.
1953 Ford 2-door sedan. I imagine that this probably has a name ending in –line. The car is RHD, but I don’t think would have been built in Australia, I think they were 4-door only over here although I stand to be corrected. Quite a few US variants of these cars have been converted over the years.
A very original looking FJ model Holden – also with a water bag. Note the black rubber stone guard on the rear door, to stop the worst of the stone chips on unsealed roads that many if not most of these cars saw.
1967 Chevrolet station wagon, that seems to have been an Australian CKD production car with its original registration plate. I wonder if this might even be a 6-cylinder car? (Edit – No, a V8, and it also makes sense that the lower volume station wagon would have been imported fully-built rather than set up for body assembly – refer to the comments)
Ford Anglia aka the Harry Potter car.
1973 Humber Sceptre Mark III aka a fancy Hillman Hunter, that wasn’t officially sold in Australia but some dealers would import them to order.
1969 Ford XW Falcon GT, powered by a 290 hp 351 Windsor V8 and wearing its original registration number. These and the XY model that followed were the most iconic muscle car in Australia, overshowing the Monaro coupe that was more often seen in wheezy 6-cylinder base model form, originally at least.
1946 Packard.
1962 Chrysler Valiant, with original registration number. The significance of this is that it indicates the car has likely been continuously registered from new, which is an impressive feat for 50+ year old cars. Another Model A sedan next door, too.
International D-series truck from the 1960s, perhaps the lightest duty version available. The cab of these trucks was also shared with Dodge.
You might have seen yet another Packard peeking into the last photo; yes it is the infamous 1958 Packardbaker, and yet another car with an original registration plate. I wouldn’t wonder if this car may still have its original owner! Consider the convertible seen earlier; how the mighty have fallen…
When I posted the Daihatsu Compagno recently a few commenters observed that the Vignale involvement made sense; and here is a Standard Vanguard Vignale wagon. The styling similarity is there.
Again I can’t read the radiator badges, but perhaps Buicks? People say cars today all look the same; ’twas ever thus!
This is a Wolesley 4/44, which was a badge–engineered version of the MG Magnette. (Thanks Bernard for the correction here)
Finally, what was taking all the attention away from a Packard convertible? Here is a (incredibly obvious) clue… I will do a larger article on this in the near future.
Great selection of cars for sure! Packardbakers are rare in the US so its must triple-rare in Australia!
I think that Chrysler Royal is late 50s vintage and not 1954.
Heh. That 1978 Ford LTD reminds me more of a Chrysler Cordoba than a Rolls-Royce.
Guess what weren’t sold in Australia? Chrysler had a similar grille to that on the Valiant Regals though, but it was more integrated and less of a formal or upright arrangement like the Cordoba.
Wow! The Hudson and Hupmobile are extremely rare. Hudson had a major British presence and seemed to have more prestige in the Anglo world. So I wonder if more RHD than LHD Hudsons are still around now?
That’s a mix all right.
Tool box on the Model A would be insurance that you would NOT need them. Actually I’m hoping that box contains a can of brewster green and painting supplies, that colour scheme is not my favourite.
No, sir, it’s a ’62—an SV-1 or “S-Series”, that is based on the US ’62 model. 10,009 of them were sold in Australia in after the original 1,008 RV-1 “R-Series” (based on the US ’61) were sold—all in ’62, though the last new S-models were sold in early ’63.
With the exception of one or two test cars brought over for Chrysler’s own evaluation purposes, there were no ’60 or ’61 Valiants in Australia. Well, except for the R-models, which were ’61s sold as ’62s. Are we confuzzed yet?
Wait…what? It was?
Yes Daniel. In our strange parallel universe down here, International and Dodge shared cabs during the sixties.
Well, that explains the “Huh? That doesn’t quite look like a Dodge; where’d they get that metal?” reaction I’ve had whenever I’ve looked upon Australian Dodge trucks of the era.
Thanks Daniel, it is hard to remember everything!
Here are a couple of Dodge trucks for comparison.
Yeah! Those are the ones I’ve seen and not quite figured out. Now I know. 🙂
When IH retired the 61 cab and fenders in the US in 1969 they did this wild front end makeover down under and shared it with Dodge which then outlasted its US replacement by several years making until at least 1978 as here is the line up from that year. https://goo.gl/images/w46xDB
They didn’t share just the cabs, but the dash, most of the front end sheet metal and I think beds and frames too. Pretty much the only things unique to the Dodge version was the grill and the use of the local 245 Hemi 6 and Chrysler V8s. Interesting how they tried and give it some of the then current (or recent?) US truck vibe. https://hiveminer.com/Tags/114%2Cdodge
I bought a sales brochure of that car many years ago. Something was different about it. Turned out, It was the 14” wheels rather than the 13” standard in the States.
The yellow 1930 Chrysler roadster looks more like what would have been sold as a DeSoto here in the US. I believe Chryslers for 1930 all used the “ribbon” radiator shell which was mostly concealed under the hood with only a little bit of the chrome trim exposed – like on the car in the third picture from the end (which looks to be next to a 1926-27 Buick)
The navy blue Oldsmobile (that is next to the cream 1938 Olds) is a 1980 (first year of this generation) Ninety Eight (top model).
Very nice variety.
Might it be a 1928 or 29? De Sotos were sold here too, and I think in that era the models came through without change ahead of the cowl (where it wasn’t affected by local bodies)
I do enjoy the variety at these Australian events; thanks for the long report. Might that big crimson coloured pre-WW1 car be a Sunbeam? They were pretty big machines.
I think you’ll find that last Wolseley is the smaller 4/44, with just a 1.25L four, related to the MG Magnette. The 6/90 doesn’t have the separate rear wheel wing shape, sharing the simpler straight through line of the Riley Pathfinder.
Thanks Bernard, I should have picked that shape. I’m going to blame rushing or doing it late at night…
Wow, all these comments and no one enlighten you about the Firebird? It’s a Firebird Formula 400. In the Firebird hierarchy it was the model that was 1 rung from the top, the Trans Am.
The years 1970-72 the Formula would outsell the T/A by 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1, or thereabouts. Then, in 73 the T/A started to close the gap and by 75 nearly passed the Formula.
Lots of interesting cars and trucks pictured, aside from a few (questionable) color combinations on the 2 tone models there isn’t a car pictured I wouldn’t mind owning.
Nice mix of cars that Wolseley 6/90 shared bodies with the Riley Pathfinder and is definitely a unibody car, the two tone Prefect looks to be a 107E which finally had a OHV engine and four speed gearbox they went ok and were a revelation after years of completely gutless sidevalve small Fords, same powertrain as the later Harry Potter Anglebox.
It’s quite possible the 67 Chevy wagon is a six cylinder.
CKD kits were sent from here in Canada and it was suprising the number of Chev’s built in that time period with a six under the hood.
The V/crossed flags emblem on the front fenders (guards) indicates V8 power. Unless Chevy struck metric ones for export markets, it’ll have the engine size in cubic inches on it.
It’s a 327, if the crossed flags are original. The 283 in ’67 did not have a size call out above the flags.
Almost certain that the only Chevrolet CKD kits sent to Australia were 4 door sedans. No 2 doors or station wagons. And no 6’s either. The first V8 Chevy built here was the 1960 model. Certainly by 1967 the 6 would have been long discontinued.
We got four door hardtops as well, IIRC from ’61 on, but definitely by ’64. When Uncle Ted bought his ’66, it was a Bel Air sedan – to get the Impala level trim meant a four-door hardtop body, but he wanted the pillar for safety.
Yes that does vaguely ring a bell – as the prices rose for the North American cars they did go upmarket and a V8 would have been part of the reason for buying one.
Great stuff, John. Feels like a jaunt through cars connected to my life. My aunt had the Popular convertible (not in my time, I hasten!), the Inters and Dodges were everywhere in childhood, the FJ was our family car, a local oldie got round in a Royal (which sounds like a biscuit slogan), the local fruit shop delivered in a ’46 or so Ford truck, Mrs Goff nextdoor had a Cooper, every hairy-arsed local hoon had variations on the GTHO Falcon theme for their rust-pitted versions, and that ’46 Packard is the car I wanted. And rather remarkably, I’m fairly sure I knew the owner of the green Valiant (now not with us so I can’t check exactly).
As someone said, not really a car there I wouldn’t take home.
Well, except the Popular, which by reputation could fall over sideways even at standstill in a decent wind….
Great selection at what looks like a great show. Thanks.
That purple triumph is almost certainly custom – yes, the early 70s did produce some colours but i don’t remember that one on these cars, and the bumpers are painted too, which is custom