Let’s continue our wander around Winton with a couple of fast Fords, then some (slightly) more modern stuff, some (very) oddments and even some steam!
The white Mark 1 Escort has been built as a Mexico replica. These were developed for the 1970 World Cup Rally, with a 1600cc pushrod engine chosen as a more durable engine than the Twin Cams used in the factory Ford rally teams. Afterwards they went on sale to the public, but not in Australia. The Sierra Cosworth RS is a proper homologation special for Group A racing and rallying, with a Cosworth YB 2L turbo engine. Road car performance with 204-224 hp was strong but not amazing, but in race trim power was more than doubled. Sierras weren’t sold in Australia either, so it is a treat to see one.
In front of the Gazelle is a 1952-54 Ford Customline – is it possible to tell from the rear? Unlike a lot of Customlines, this one has been restored faithfully to its original specification. To follow on from earlier discussions, I don’t think full-size 2-door sedans were not a consideration for Ford Australia after WW2.
Here is its right-hand drive interior. You can’t really see it in this photo, but the dashboard and door tops are finished in a hand-painted woodgrain finish.
Next up is another airflow Cortina and a resto-modded EH Holden. I refer a little more sidewall on cars of this era myself, not just for aesthetic reasons – comparatively large amounts of camber change with suspension travel (including from live axles) and a stiff, square tread face don’t always mix well.
Another S-Type Jaguar – I think there were more of these on the day than the more popular Mark 2 for some reason.
Here is the Austin 1800 Mk2 glimpsed in the earlier photo, wearing a sporty set of Cosmic alloy wheels and low profile tyres and a non-sporty sun visor – guess which of these were more popular when the car was new?
Here is a better view of the Leyland Moke Californian we saw earlier next to the Porsche 912. These originally came with a styled steel spoked 13” wheels, and had the 1275cc engine. The decals on the bonnet (hood) are original, and I suspect the striping may be too but I am not sure. Note the flared wheel arches and the angled panel at the rear added to make room for the 13” wheels. I’ve driven a couple of Mokes and with virtually no bodywork next to you, and being so low to the ground I’m not sure what they could be comparable to.
Here is something that makes the Studebaker Scotsman featured recently look luxurious – no fancy rubber floor mats here! There are the holes left where the original roll bar has been removed, and I think they originally had lap-sash (3 point) seat belts. The wiper blades must be stored in the boot for a rainy day, or perhaps the side pannier compartments since it doesn’t have a trunk.
Here is another normal Mini, with the 998cc engine that was the base offering in Australia after 1975. Production here finished in October 1978 with 176,284 built.
Here is the rear of a VG model Chrysler Valiant Regal, can you count the ways in which this is different from US Valiants?
Here is the Regal interior, with bucket seats but surprisingly three pedals on the floor. For what was an upper trim level I’m sure that is a radio blank panel underneath the minimalistic ventilation controls – things were different then.
No slant six under the hood! The air cleaner proudly announces the 245 ci ‘Hemi’ six. In basic, single carb form it made 165 hp or 185 hp with a 2-barrel, a good 20 hp increase over the 225 slant. The Pacer we saw earlier could have had either 195 hp with a 2-barrel carb or 235 hp with a 4-barrel.
To jump back a couple of decades, this 1947-51 Ford Pilot V8 is a car very much of its time. The post-war market was so hungry for cars that some were imported complete and some were assembled here. As is clear, not much of the car was post-war in origin, and they weren’t that good of a car especially if you drove them outside the capital cities. For one, the grille was prone to shaking to pieces on rough (normal) roads. They had the 221 flathead engine.
Something I’m not sure I’d seen before is this 1954 Singer Hunter, a facelift of the previous SM1500 with much more conventional styling on the front.
I did say ‘more’ conventional – there are quite a few details that aren’t conventional, from the wheelbase being unusually long for the roofline or body in general for an English car, rear-hinged rear doors, to minor things like the tacked-on registration plate mount.
Here is the interior, with timber aplenty.
This 1971-74 HQ model Holden is one of about 485,000 built, so you occasionally see an original car like this (save for chromed wheels with much wider rims on the rear). There has been a dedicated racing series for these cars that is very tightly controlled to contain costs – the race cars have to have the 202ci 6-cylinder engine and even the column shift for the 3-speed gearbox.
Here is what I am going to say is a modern-build Ford T speedster. Quite a few details don’t seem authentically ‘period’, such as the mudguards or fuel tank.
Something I’ve seen on a few T’s are this rear disc brake setup – not a bad idea when most drivers won’t have any idea on leaving space for vintage cars to stop.
But the really interesting thing here are these Rajo overhead valve cylinder heads, that reportedly have double the power potential of the stock heads.
I have been trying to work out when GM-H stopped selling 2-door Chevrolets, and until I spotted the steering wheel on the left I thought this car might have helped answer that. Oh well.
I also spotted the twin air cleaners under the bonnet, and a closer look revealed the magical Offenhauser name on the valve cover.
This unusual-looking sportscar called the Caversham has a fibreglass body on an Austin A40 chassis, and was built in Western Australia at Gosnells, not far from the WW2 Caversham airfield that was transformed into a motor racing circuit after the war, and hosted the Australian Grand Prix in 1957 and 62.
Another US import is this sharp looking 1965 Ford Galaxie convertible.
Would you believe there are 20 years between these two cars? 1934 Ford and 1954 Riley.
Turning to the rear of another Riley, it is definitely not a 1930’s car, but shouldn’t have made it into the second half of the 1950s – and didn’t. 1954 was the last year of production.
Here is a late-70s Ford F100 Custom XLT, aka a hamburger with the lot. The bull bar is fairly typical.
Here is the right-hand drive interior, the steering wheel is aftermarket as is the seat cover I think.
From the ‘something different’ file, we have a 1930s Willys hot rod. Right hand drive shows it was built here, into a hot rod at least although there were on average 1200 a year built here before WW2.
From the same era is this 1936 Ford pickup, although it is not from the same customisation style.
The last Shelby Mustang GT500 made a real impact, and inspired a few owners here in Australia to pay some pretty exorbitant prices for converted cars; I’d estimate in the order of AUD$150k – more if you wanted a Super Snake! This is a 2008 model.
And again, the interior. The dash looks easy to convert to RHD, at least the fascia – I’m sure the components behind it offered some more challenges.
Another varied group – ‘Harry Potter’ spec Ford Anglia, ‘squashed Golf’ VW Scirocco R, and something I would be astonished if anyone recognises.
This is an Allison sports car, which is an Australian-built sports car from the mid-2000s. It is a more modern take on a clubman sports car – think Lotus 7 for the original. Today’s drivetrain donor is going to be a transverse fwd car, which works nicely as a mid-engined sports car.
Information is hard to find on these, but I think they were built in Albury-Wodonga, twin towns on the Vic/NSW border an hour up the road from Winton.
The instrument cluster will give a clue to the origin of the mechanicals – can anyone recognise it?
Next we have a 1976 HX Holden Kingswood 50th Anniversary model. They were only available in gold, brown or Deville Blue, all with a gold roof, and all with the 202ci six and Trimatic auto.
The 50th anniversary edition interior had a full-length centre console to house the T-bar shifter, and a special badge on the glove box.
The 50th anniversary in question was the establishment of General Motors in Australia in 1926.
Here is another unique Australian car, the Elfin MS8 Streamliner that was first shown at the 2004 Melbourne Motor Show and went into production in 2006. Elfin was bought by Tom Walkinshaw who had grand plans of exports, but I’m not sure that it came to much and it seems that production ceased in 2012 if not during the GFC.
The narrowness of the interior reflects the sibling MS8 Clubman that had a narrower body and cycle guards over its wheels. The plaque behind the gear stick states that this was the first production MS8 Streamliner, and built for Bryan Thomson who was a famous racing car driver from nearby Shepparton.
The car was styled by current head of GM design Mike Simcoe, when he was with Holden. These Elfins were the product of close cooperation with Holden, and also had a 5.7L GenIII engine and other Commodore-sourced mechanicals. Kerb weight was listed at just 950kg!
Next to the Elfin was this 1972 LJ Holden Torana GTR XU-1, which was the ultimate version of this generation and famously took the win in the wet 1972 Bathurst 500 race in the hands of the famous Peter Brock. I think this is the Lone O’ranger colour.
An opportune shot – the Ford Special we saw earlier on the Oval driving past. They really did a great job in building this car!
Another Falcon GT, this time an XW model in Candy Apple Red. The gold stripes are reflective, and at the front there is the Superroo, in the vein of the Road Runner and Super Bee. Ironically Chrysler Australia didn’t do the cartoon character thing, and I don’t think Ford did in the US either. This car is from the first year of production when they had a 290 hp 351W.
Next to the Falcon was this 1965-72 Maserati Mexico, one of just 250 built. It was far more a Quattroporte Coupe than a sleek grand tourer like most Maseratis.
There was a display of model steam traction engines, which remarkably were all built by the one man! Some were from kits, others built from scratch.
In addition, there was a replica of an 1899 Locomobile steam car, also built from a kit with a few of the builder’s own enhancements. Has anyone seen one?
Here is the engine room, not entirely period-authentic but getting something like this to work without spending a fortune is not a bad priority.
I’ll finish coverage of the car park with this 2010 FPV GT. FPV or Ford Performance Vehicles was the Blue Oval’s answer to Holden Special Vehicles, in partnership with Prodrive out of the UK. The FG Mk2 model swapped out the old 315kW (422 hp) 5.4L DOHC 32-valve V8 for a supercharged version of the 5.0 V8 rated at 335kW (449 hp) on just 5.8 psi boost. That sounds low, but it actually makes an unspecified amount more on overboost (~10%) that operates for 10 seconds – and since the Northern Territory dropped open speed limits a couple of years ago I’m not sure where you could hold full throttle for that long.
Further Reading from the Winton Historics:
Car Show Classics: 2018 Historic Winton Car Park, Part One
Car Show Classics: The Oval At 2018 Historic Winton, Part Three
Car Show Classics: The Oval At 2018 Historic Winton, Part Two
Car Show Classics: The Oval At 2018 Historic Winton, Part One
Those Mk 1 Ford Escorts are surprisingly expensive in the UK now, far more than I would be prepared to pay but they have a strong following, especially the Mexico rally models , I just remember them as everyday cars, the early Capri and Granada were the desirable Fords for me.
Anything with word Cosworth raises heads here
Of the US cars, I would take that lovely 65 galaxy over that Shelby any day
Lee Turner:
From what I read in a few British vintage car magazines, even the FWD models of the Escort (provided they ARE NOT run of the mill 1.1-1.3 liter models) are picking up in value. Not too far behind them are select models of the Fiesta.
I have to say that I agree with the choice of the 65 Galaxie convertible. Kind of funny that the current Euro Ford lineup still includes a Galaxie (Galaxy?), though the new one is a large van.
Hi Howard
The Escort XR3i has been collectable for quite a while, they had something of a hooligan reputation about them when they came out .
When I first rode in one I thought there was something wrong with it, I could not believe anyone would sell a car with such crashy suspension , but it did go round corners like a rat up a drainpipe which was the point
and any Cosworth Ford is highly collectable
And I will bet you never rode in or drove an American Escort? You can probably pay 10 times the ask of an American XR2 or 3 (though you would be hard pressed to find one) compared to the European example. I don’t remember the Escorts that I ever drove as having a crashy ride, but the engines sure sounded unrefined compared to contemporary Japanese sedans.
It was just the XR3i, a completely different beast to the standard Escort, they made the suspension rock hard to go around corners, it was a hot hatch after all.
I was comparing it to the mk2 Golf GTI I had at the time, the XR3i seemed a more extreme makeover of the standard Escort that the GTI was over the standard Golf
The standard Escort had a very normal saloon car ride
The launch XR3 also really bollocksed the spring/damping relationship in a way even Ford soon enough admitted.
It comes down to the difference between the UK market versus the US. An Escort XR3 was the equivalent of a Mustang GT to young Brits. The Capri was still around of course but much more expensive.
By contrast I would think the US Escort GT (was the XR3 name used?) had a much lower profile and therefore much fewer people would be after them today. Fox Mustangs are going up in value.
The U.S. did not use the XR3 or XR3i names. We got a turbocharged Sierra as the Merkur XR4Ti and of course the Cougar XR7.
The Capri was more expensive but not prohibitively so as a used buy, but it was seen as a middle aged man’s car by the 80s. In a car culture that prizes sharp handling, “nippy” cars,t he Capri was too flabby to be seen as all that sporty by younger drivers. It also looked like an updated 60s car, whereas the XR2 and especially XR3 were fashionably boxy and plasticky. You had to have money to drive an XR3 as they were incredibly expensive to insure – due to hoon owners and how frequently they were stolen. Then again, the XR3 driver of cliche had no insurance.
High XR3 values come as a surprise to me, given the degree to which their drivers were denigrated in popular culture by the end. I would suspect part of the appeal is how “80s” they are.
Yes that Capri image is what I was trying to get at with the Thunderbird comparison; I can’t imagine a 2.8i would be cheap to insure for a young driver either.
I remember seeing insurance quotes (not mine!) that were half the value of the car or more, of course the value of the proverbial Rolls Royce you are now statistically more likely to run into doesn’t change.
Another nice array, Sierras were sold in NZ and several crossed the Tasman to Australia, My brother has a FG FPV XR8 but without the supercharger hes a bit of a Aussie Ford nut or a lot of one depending how you look at that disease, Love the T, I saw a similar one done as a pickup recently being driven in the rain not slowly either, the driver was well rugged up I didnt get close enough to see if the braking system had decent improvements but he was in traffic so I guess it had.
The Caversham looks like someone tried to improve on the TR3.
Great bunch of pictures. First of all, I prefer the styling of the Jaguar S-type to the Mark II – I think the longer tail balances out the design. Also, the styling of the Singer SM was said to have been influenced by the 1946 Kaiser. However, something was lost in the translation, especially in original form.
I think it is fair to say that applies to nearly all British cars that applied American-inspired styling to a much smaller scale! Some turned out better than others.
Perhaps the worst is the 1957 Vauxhall Victor. It was a GM effort, too.
Another baddie – the bloated 1948 Standard Vanguard.
Those horrors sold well here. There’s an even worse version with a trunk.
The truth is that while the Kaiser was a pontoon pioneer, its proportions were actually not very good at all. I don’t blame anyone trying to copy it and not have it come out bad too. They should have hired Pininfarina instead of Dutch Darrin.
Take a good look at it: Awkward.
I see what you mean, there is quite a bit of room for improvement, things were still evolving.
Gerald Palmer’s Riley Pathfinder handled the Pontoon shape much better. Very plain sided but the proportions between the roof and window area, along with the higher waist and open wheel arch take away that ‘heavy’ look at the back, but it’s seven years after the Kaiser, not two like the Singer. Unfortunately the Singer seems to take the bad points and added in extra awkwardness of its own with its more upright angles and excessively rounded window corners. On the other hand it could be said that it looked more modern than its contemporaries from Austin (A40 Devon) and Morris (MO Oxford).
Darrin had intended a sleeker design with a dipping beltline, thinner metal window frames, and a grille integrated with the ribbed bumper. The powers at be at Kaiser modified Darrin’s proposal and turned it into the loaf of bread it became.
Darrin was none too pleased with the compromises that were made to productionize his design. But, expediency was the order of the day and in truth, styling quality was unnecessary to sell cars.
One assumes the English looked to U.S. carmakers as leaders since the American industry was still dominant throughout the world. Rarely did scaled-down American-type styling produce an attractive result on smaller cars.
The model still doesn’t have the flatter hood it needs to remove visual bulk and I assume the basic relationship between roof and windows is the same too. Making the windows taller and roof flatter would help too; but that wasn’t how things were done at the time, I’m sure it would have given the engineers a fit structurally.
Of course to get the car out so quickly I’m sure they didn’t spend that long in contemplation and refining details.
The Willys has a Graham Sharknose hood, and a Willys does not have the second/rear side windows, so it is maybe a Graham coupe instead? It’s a custom, so really, it does not matter, but it just does not look like a Willys to me.
Edit, silly American, I did not realize the Australian market version was so different. It does look like Graham hood, but the body style is all Australian 5 window coupe. My apologies!
Holden built bodies for Willys as well as a dozen or so other makes before WW2 – I will have to check if Graham was among them. There is every chance you are correct because the imported chassis usually came with the hood, cowl and mudguards. The Willys hot rod is such an icon, and Grahams unfamiliar enough that I must admit I didn’t consider them.
They built some Grahams up to 1937, none in 1938-39, and sedans only.
Holdens built bodies for Willys cars and actually used the same bodies as some Vauxhalls, confusing much.
Yes, sharing the same body across different chassis was the secret to Holden’s success.
My dad had a ’37 Willys with that nose, the rest of the car looking like many Holden-bodied cars of the era. Huge tariffs on complete cars meant that local body builders such as Holden (not then a full manufacturer) made a tidy sum bodying most cars that came here.
I should add, I’m only fairly sure the car here is a Willys, judging from old family photos, but being unable to send the old man this picture to ask.
And I should also add the inability to send the picture is the fault of the son, not the father, who, at 84 – and to the embarassment of the son – knows more than the son about such stuff, but I digress.
Edit! It is a Graham front, albeit fiddled with (those headlights). So much for memory….
Yes the forward slope of the nose should have been the giveaway.
It looks like it is a 1938-39 Willys after all, or Willys Overland, perhaps with customised headlight inserts to take a round light instead of the rather unique originals. They built them in sedan, sports and business coupes and ute versions!
I’m perplexed why you say that the gas tank and mud guards on that Model T speedster are “not authentically period”. It looks extremely period authentic to me. Can you explain?
That Rajo head is wonderful; gives the T engine overhead valves.
I just meant that it looked like it was built recently not 90 years ago. It’s hard to explain, but using modern tools that would have been unlikely to have been available to a Speedster builder then.
I see. Yes, many/most Ford speedsters have been built in more recent years. I suspect very few originals survived, as they were commonly raced.
The 998 Mini (after the Moke) doesn’t appear to be the Australian version: no external hinges, original style door handles, plain wind-down window and enlarged rear screen. Presumably an import.
I hadn’t noticed those details! How long would Minis have worn the BL badging in the UK?
There are quite a few later model cars here, often ex-Japan for nineties era cars.
It doesn’t have reversing lights*, so it’s more likely a ’70s than ’90s one, despite the wheel arch extensions. There were many variations in badging over the years, though another key update was the adoption of 12″ in place of the original 10″ wheels in 1984 (though the 1275GT had them in 1974).
* first appeared in 1977, but took a long time to become standard.
Another great tour, thanks john.
I would agree its surprising to see a Valiant Regal without an automatic.
Such was the great reputation of the TorqueFlite that even a high proportion of basic models were autos as well. Unfortunately with the VG, Chrysler started using the locally built Borg Warner unit on six cylinder engines to increase local content.
That is a radio block off plate, but has been painted to match the dash color, it should be black with a chrome outline to match the heater controls
This car has a wonderfully preserved engine bay, with only the color of the plug wires standing out as different to how they looked back in the day.
I wonder if it may be a retrofit to replace a dead original radio?
Most likely original,car doesn’t seem to have an aerial.
My Dad would never have a radio in his cars back when they weren’t standard, Far too dangerous and distracting doncha know ? 🙂
This car would have been bought by a very conservative buyer with its manual transmission and no radio..
It’s probably not true, but I read in a British magazine that Colin Chapman rejected Elfin as a potential Lotus model name as it means “the end” in Spanish.
Based on this and previous CC articles, Aussie sportscar manufacturers are really good at making terrible looking cars.
The MS8 Streamliner is fairly heavily compromised because it’s Clubman twin dictated the chassis layout. I’m sure that given another go Mr Simcoe would be able to do a less gimmicky design.
It is also restricted by the size, just 3.50 m (137.8 in) which is 18″ shorter than a Miata.
Now look ‘ere, tonito, go and Google the Bolwell Nagari coupe. It doesn’t have a cross-eyed face or a name like the local and slightly dodgy councillor such as Gordon Keeble, and it’s downright pretty.
Otherwise, yeah, you’re about right.
Honestly the Bolwell Nagari was one I had in mind. It’s pretty, but it looks a bit of a kit car compared to a Gordon-Keeble. (All in the hyphen don’t you know)
But the name! Bolwell Nagari? Mavis Lollobrigida?
BAHAHA! I’ll pay that.
The 1952-54 Ford is definitely a 1954 and yes you can tell and it is not that hard. The steering wheel is 1954 but the dashboard is 1952-53. No doubt they decided to not spend the money on a one year RHD version.
Is it the tail lights that are different? It was basically standard operating procedure to carry the dashboards through once the rhd conversion was done.
Wow John you’ve captured an encyclopaedia at Winton. I worked with a Holden dealer when he had a new Elfin sitting on the showroom floor. The thing never moved, nor did it seem to bring the punters flocking.
Amber Mexico for me. One of my fave Maserati shapes, can’t-miss colour.
I thought you meant Escort Mexico for a moment!
hehehe. that would work in the same colour.
I don’t think they sold many. There were exports planned but the first car got a fairly horrific review by Autocar that I read.
Well, are we going to get an answer – or at least a hint – about the source of the Allison’s drivetrain, or is this intended as a CC clue? I know I can always go to Wikipedia but I’d expect at least some of the CC crew to have knowledgeable answers at their fingertips. Waiting breathlessly …
Good luck with Wikipedia, there is essentially no information online that I have been able to find.
I think I saw some information about them at another race meeting display which would have been in the early 2000s when they were new. Honda would probably be most logical due to the highly tuned Type R engines, but unfortunately I don’t know.
The only U.S. Ford I can think of that used a cartoon like the Super Roo would have been the Cobra used on the 70 Torino.
Cheers Sean, some significant similarities there.
The 1976 Holden’s Chevy Nova Concours hubcaps and Buick steering wheel jumped right out at me. And is that a gold *painted* roof?
Yes, painted in Antelope Metallic apparently.
Never seen that anniversary Holden, I worked for a guy in Gympie QLD who had a silver anniversary 73 HQ Premier all silver inside and out vinyl top the lot trimatic with a heavy duty 202 motor, they must have done a special model nearly every year.
Well you can find many anniversaries if you try! The saddest one I think was the FPV 5th anniversary GT, talking about setting the bar low.
Nice broad selection, truly something for everyone
I was just talking about the mini Moke the other day, an awesome example of basic transportation.
Here’s a pic of my FG XR6 turbo, they’re a sweet ride that’s for sure. 300+ kw with a leaf sprung rear end good times.
Good dual purpose vehicle, to revise the original ute brief, haul the work gear on Monday and haul arse on Sunday
Enormous horsepowers and 1900’s finest rear suspension always offended my sensibilities, but I overlooked that it was a working ute, and as that, it worked just fine. And I’ve a memory of racing driver Allan Grice being dryly amused by racing driver Peter Brock’s claim that his lesser-powered Peugeot Mi16 would be way faster than Grice’s V8 Commodore ute over the top of the mountain at Bathurst raceway. It wasn’t, and the solid-axle coil rear on those Commodores was such a damn crude job it made a well-thought-out leaf arrangement on the Falcs look reasonable. Perhaps meaning either that good driving accounts for a lot, and/or that suspension systems for racing requirements are so much removed from daily driving concerns that the relativity of each to each is nearly meaningless.
Race tracks are smooth, assuming you stay off the curbs, so independent suspension is not the same advantage there.
Many commercial vehicles have had independent suspension, but a basic leaf spring is cheaper!
Interesting range. I’ll go for the Singer, the Torana and the Ford Customline for the hand painted wood grain (!)
Is the Caversham based on a Fiat Punto?
Sorry you’re going to have to explain that one to me Roger
Great stuff, John, and thankyou for your efforts.
Really hard to get my head around the idea that the (admittedly nice-looking) HX Holden is something to present in a carpark, or that it would be worth $20K+ today in that condition. I mean, they were utterly horrid cars, absolutely malaise central. 0-60 in about 16 seconds, 85mph flat-stick, maybe 14mpg if the bastard would even start, poorly built, indirect yet lead-heavy steering and understeer so bad it’d send you into the neighbours trying to get out of your driveway at 5mph. Just no!
But that orange Torana XU-1 (for the majority US audience here, current value about $60K+ USD) is a really good looker that could also perform, its Holden 202 C.I. six with triple carbs putting out more than 170 bhp in a 2200lb car. (I would add that the cooking models weren’t much nicer to drive than the HX Holden, but that’d be churlish).
I have never rated the red motor, and it amazes me that guys get 400 hp plus from a 202 in racing now. Not sure if they are using an aftermarket head or not.