Australia Day Pt 1

If you don't like photos of cars, then be elsewhere. It was quite warm, so I put upon my head my Surfers Paradise bought straw hat in a way too late attempt to protect my scalp from the sun. It was only a three stops on the tram, but we were conserving our energy to visit the annual Australia Day Royal Automobile Club of Victoria car display. It has grown heaps since the last time we visited, about ten years ago.

A nice looking EJ or EH Holden made by General Motors Holden, GMH. Pity it is spoilt by silly wheels.

An MG.

Not sure but clearly an American car and very flashy. The number on the side says 442, which I assume is the cubic inch capacity of the engine. That's a pretty big motor. Later, I have checked and I believe it is an Oldsmobile and the 442 means four barrel carburettor, four speed manual gear box and 2 exhaust pipes. Its engine capacity was 330 cubic inches.

Japan Inc was not as sophisticated as it now is when several decades ago it launched the Nissan Cedric in Australia. It was quite a refined car compared to our models back then but Nissan missed the nuances of the name Cedric, which is perhaps the easiest name in the world to say with a lisp. That it is a classic collectible is no surprise to me.

While my heart was hopeful of seeing this sort of car everywhere on the streets of New York last year, my head was not and my head was right.

This Anglia has very nice lines.

Want to see under the bonnet? The engine is tiny. In contrast to the American car above at 330 cubic inches, this might be about 50.

Did they really paint Ford Roadsters in this colour?

I think once before we had a conversation about a name for this seat. I'll take the name Mother uses for it, a dickie seat but rumble seat is also familiar to me.

What is the fine upright beast?

A Talbot Doctor's Coupe! Does that mean only a doctor could own it? Was a medical kit built into somewhere? A hook on which to hang as stethoscope?

The slightly chunky daddy seems very interested in the stilt walkers.

I am not sure who the band is, but they were playing very loud Australian themed rock music. A Cold Chisel song and an ACDC song were to be heard, at least.

This one I don't have to google. Along with Rover and Wolesley, Humbers are one of my favourite cars. This one is a Series 2 Super Snipe and she is in fine condition.

A two tone Vanguard. Even looking at the original photo, I can't work out the model.

Just as we arrived at a small critter display, including snakes in aquarium tanks, a 21 gun salute began at Government House and the formerly sleepy Barking Owl was wide awake and I think a little alarmed. There were some dingoes in a cage nearby and they too suddenly came to life.

A DeSoto (sic) Suburban. The parents of a childhood friend owned a slightly older one and I remember it had an electric heating element mounted with suction cups at the bottom of the windscreen for demisting and to turn the tail lights on, you had to operated a push pull switch at the back on the outside of the car. This one is a bit of a don't mess with me look about it.

A Studebaker. Odd name for a car really. I remember the Lark model. This may well be the Hawk.

Pity this is out of focus. It is a brave two tone colour combination but I think it works. Oh yes, I think it is a Nash.

The steering wheel centre says Nash, anyway. It is a nice dash, but whose idea was the ugly tachometer? You don't need to know how many revolutions the engine is making and the cigarette lighter is clearly not original. Maybe the original was victim to a Monsieur Hulot act, where after unsuccessfully trying to light his pipe with matches, he used the car lighter and just like he had with the dead matches, threw it out the window.

The first car we owned that I can remember as a child, an FJ Holden Special. Special meant that it had carpet, heating of sorts, and strap handles. It also had vacuum operated windscreen wipers which were quite perverse because the faster you went, the slower the wipers went. The would wipe very fast at idling.

It did not come with indicators and only one centrally mounted tail/stop light. Note the sun visor, the venetian shades and the rubber stone protector on the rear mudguard.

Thunderbird!

I wasn't watching but R said a man was in the car and from that centrally mounted box, he removed a 45 speed record from what must be a record player. If my memory of record players is correct, it must be difficult for the stylus to stay on the record when the car is in motion.

Another FJ Holden, this one in the colours of our family car. I was about to take a photo of the front when I realised  I would be capturing an old lady in the passenger seat munching on sandwiches.

We took a break from cars for a cold drink as those leading the Australia Day Parade returned to wherever.

Almost at the end of the parade now. Have I ever mentioned I find Sikh men intriguing and mysterious.

This was the second group of bagpipe players, heard long before they arrived.

A Dodge with a huge engine bay but probably doesn't go any faster than a current VW Golf, but maybe it has the same fuel consumption as a VW Golf. We'll never know.

The name Cadillac speaks luxury to me.

A Ford Mercury. I  know because I took a close up photo below.

Interesting supplementary lights.

Another Cadillac, black and menacing.

A Rambler Classic. I can remember these being on the street.

A gorgeous Austin 7 with the ever so suitable name, Clementine.

I remember this model too, a Chrysler Royal.

Part 2 will be a bit more varied with fewer cars.