MuscleCarBoy

The Studebaker Car Clubs of Australia staged the 18th National Meet in a city called Ballarat this weekend. Ballarat is one hours drive north west of Melbourne and this weekend attracted car club members from across Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America to the city. There were some fabulous cars for all to see over the weekend. Link to pics: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/events_gallery.php?details=289

The P.A.C.A. (Packard Automobile Club of Australia) staged its 2009 Packard National Rally in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales (South of Sydney) from 22 - 28 March. Over 40 Packard cars attended with models from 1920's to 50's and about 100 Packard people, including a couple from the UK, a couple from New York, people from Texas and people from New Zealand. Over 150 Pics from the Rally have been posted in the Events Gallery section of CARSofAUSTRALIA.com.au Link to pics: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/events_gallery.php?details=282

Last weekend attracted well over 400 classic and vintage cars to the main street display at the annual Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival. There were some stunning cars there and a big crowd who walked up and down the main street enjoying the cars on display. The Kurri Kurri car show is one of a handful of car displays in Australia where the authorities are prepared to close off the main street area of their town in such a big way. The other one that I have been to is an event called WINTERSUN which is held in June at Tweed Heads which is just south of Brisbane in Queensland. that event attracted over 1,000 cars. Link to pics from Kurri Kurri: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/events_gallery.php?details=279

Neville Jones from the Model A Club of NSW Inc profiled a line-up of around 20 Model A Fords for the CARSofAUSTRALIA.com.au website during the 2008 All Ford Day held this month in Sydney. Link to 3 Video Clips: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downlo...p;Submit=Search

Went to the American Independent's Day Car Display in sydney today which was held in the grounds of Linnwood House which is an historic 2 storey house situated in the outer urban area of Sydney. The event attracted a good crowd of on-lookers and a cross-section of the vehicles representing the Independent American car manufacturers such as Hudson, Rambler-AMC, Studebaker, Packard, Willys, Essex and the rarely seen (in Australia anyways!!) Cord. Some really nice vehicles on display inlcuding a 1911 ??? Essex tourer and the Cord coupe which looks stunning !!! There are pics of the day on the carsofaustralia website. Link: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/events_gallery.php?details=164

There were two outstanding veteran Buicks on display at the All GM Day in Sydney yesterday and a video clip of both cars has been posted on the cars of australia website. Link: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downlo...p;Submit=Search The cars are a 1910 Buick Roadster and a 1912 Buick Model 36 Roadster. The Model 36 was awarded the CAR of the Show Award and was a most impressive restoration.

Hi Bob...........you will enjoy the clip with Vic and his 30-98 He also took me for ride at the car show last Sunday which I filmed. I will do the edit of this footage and get it up over the next few days....the Vauxhall was quite a beast and really motored along very nicely on the open road!!! Re your comments on the shipping......more and more Aussies are becoming more comfortable with using EBAY and other ways of buying internationally. We are such an isolated country that getting goods shipped does not concern most people so long as they know that the international carrier is reputable and that the shipper packs the goods really well....we are such a long way from your guys !!!! I would always recommend that overseas sellers take extra time and care with the packing and also provide the Aussie buyer with advice on the expected ETA once the shipment is sent to OZ. JEff

Hi Everyone, I am a long-time classic car enthusiast so when I launched my website www.carsofaustralia.com.au late last year I had a feeling that many fellow car enthusiasts in the USA would find the content on my site of some interest. There are lots of American cars in Australia and more and more American classic cars (Corvettes, Mustangs, especially) are being shipped into our country all the time from the USA to be driven or restored by Aussies. From the traffic data that I get for my website I am indeed getting a steady stream of web visitors from America which is great. Each week I am adding more and more pics of car club events from across Australia (Pics from over 100 events are now posted in my EVENTS GALLERY) and I am also busy filming various vintage, veteran, classic cars at a car club event most weekends which I then post in the VIDEOS and OWNER INTERVIEWS section. As the content on my website continues to grow I want to ensure that I provide images, videos and information that is also of interest to visitors from outside of Australia.....e.g. car enthusiasts in the USA !! So any feedback or suggestions on how I can make my CARSofAUSTRALIA website more interesting for your good people in the USA would be greatly appreciated. This is the link to my website: LINK: www.carsofaustralia.com.au Many thanks JEff

Itravelled down to a town some 2 hours from Sydney last weekend for the Robertson Historical Railways Classic Car Show. There were many classic and vintage cars on display and the stand-out vehicle for me on the day was a 1926 Vauxhall 30-98 Tourer owned by a gentleman called Vic. HE said that he had extensively re-built over many years after buying the vehicle in very poor condition in North Queensland in 1966. He had found the wreck of the 26 Vauxhall thru a friend and he had flown to Queensland and then shipped the vehicle back to Sydney on a large truck that he had hired. Vic accompanied the driver on the 3,000 mile 5 days journey. His restored car looks very impressive. Here's a link to a video interview that was filmed with Vic and his Vauxhall on Sunday. http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downlo...p;Submit=Search

Thanks for the responses everyone. In his post Rusty Otoole says that "Probably 90% of the cars raced at Indy in the 50s used Offenhauser DOHC 4 cylinder racing engines"......I would have thought that at a time when the 8 cylinder engines were very common in American passenger cars that the Indy cars would have also run with the more powerful 8 cylinder motors. Any comments on why the racers went with 4 cylinder motors over 8 cylinder motors......was it the cost of setting up race cars to handle the power of the bigger motors ??? MuscleCarBoy1957 Sydney, Australia

At the 2008 Wheels Car Show in Canberra last weekend one of the cars on display was a 1950 Samson Indy Car which is probably owned by someone in Canberra. It was a very impressive vehicle but only a 4 cylinder. Would anyone on this Forum know the history of this car or these types of cars. I'm assuming it was raced at the Indy 500 ???...are they highly sought after and therefore expensive to buy these days ?? If you want to have a look at the Samson car from Canberra it is posted in the VIDEOS section of the carsofaustralia website. Link: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=2 you may have to do a search under SAMSOn to find it in the VIDEOS area on this site as they have lots of video clips of cars Musclecarboy1957 (Sydney)

I travelled down to Canberra last weekend to attend the Wheels Car Show on the lawns of Parliament House. this event is the biggest classic, vintage and veteran car display in the city. One of the most impressive of the over 700 cars on display was a 1926 San Sebastian Salmson Roadster owned by a guy called Wayne from Canberra. He said that the car was purchased by his grandfather in the early 1930's in a small village called Gunning from a man who was attempting the speed record from Sydney to Melbourne. Apparently the car had broken down and the owner just sold it on the spot !!! Apparently the San Sebastian Salmson had set a speed record at the Brooklands track in the UK which stood until the track was closed. Wayne did an inteview at the event and it is up on the carsofaustralia website. LINK: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=5 Great little car !!!! MuscleCarBoy1957 Sydney, Australia

I thought that many of you on this general forum would be interested in viewing an interview that is up on the carsofaustralia.com.au website with John - the Aussie owner of a 1908 Cadillac Straightline Runabout. John does a great job of profiling his old Caddie in some technical detail. He also says the Cadillac was shipped to Australia in 1989, is one of only three such Cadillacs in the world, and the only one being driven on the road (apparently the other 2 are in Museums in the US). The 1908 Cadillac is a stunning piece of American engineering and machinery (for its time) and a credit to the owner. Enjoy the clip. LINK: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=5 MuscleCarBoy1957

I thought that many of you on this forum would be interested in viewing an interview that is up on the carsofaustralia.com.au website with John - the Aussie owner of a 1908 Cadillac Straightline Runabout. John does a great job of profiling his old Caddie in some technical detail. He also says the Cadillac was shipped to Australia in 1989, is one of only three such Cadillacs in the world, and the only one being driven on the road (apparently the other 2 are in Museums in the US). The 1908 Cadillac is a stunning piece of machinery (for its time) and a credit to the owner. Enjoy the clip. LINK: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=5 MuscleCarBoy1957

There was a 1918 Buick Speedster Special on display at the recent Motorfest event in Sydney and the owner was interviewed at the show with his vehicle. The clip is on the carsofaustralia website and Jim mentions in the interview that his car is one of just two remaining Speedsters. He goes on to say the other one is fully restored (his is not) and that this Speedster is in the USA. Does anyone have some information on these Speedsters. Jim says that they were built up in the USA from Buicks damaged in a fire and that there were only 4 made. What would his Speedster sell for in the USA ?? If you want to see the clip this is the link: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=5 JEff

Hi All, There were some great Buicks on display at the big Motorfest event in Sydney for Australia Day last Saturday week. The cars included a 1918 Buick Speedster Special, a superb 1948 Buick 76-5 Sedanette and a number of nicely presented Riviera's. There is a video clip showing a line-up of the Buicks on the carsofaustralia website. This is the link.....do a search under BUICK in the VIDEO area of this website. http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=2. Enjoy Jeff

Hi All, The annual NRMA Motorfest in Sydney on January 26 (our Australia Day) was once again well supported by the various car clubs in and around the city. I guess there must have been at least 1,000 cars parked in the blocked-off streets in the city and a big crowd of onlookers all keen to see the cars......I saw quite a few disregarding the ADMIRE BUT DON'T TOUCH signs as always. It is always pleasing to have the car clubs able to strut their stuff right in the middle of any city which is why this event seems to do so well. There are a host of pics and 7 video clips posted on the carsofaustralia website if you want to take a look. There are quite a few American cars on display. One of the video clips shows a line-up of lovely Buicks from 1918 thru to sixties Rivieras. The link is: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=2. Enjoy MuscleCarBoy

Hi tom, Always happy to provide you guys Stateside with details on some of the more interesting things that are happening at the growing number of events that are now being staged by the various car clubs for the Aussie car enthusiast. The classic car scene in Australia in particular has absolutley taken off in the last few years with record car numbers attending shows and record crowds. Perhaps it is the same in the US.......probably us baby boomers getting back to enjoying the things that we admired when we were just kids staring in amazement at a car on the street or in the showroom !!!! There is a big classic, vintage and veteran car show called MOTORFEST on this Saturday (26 Jan) in the CBD of Sydney where cars park along a long closed-off street that goes down to the Sydney Opera House....Sat is Australia Day so there is a lot happening in the city. I will be going along so I will send a link to some pics.

The annual All American Day Car Show in Sydney is in many ways a celebration of the contribution made to our way of life Down-Under by the American automobile industry. The 2008 event was held on Sunday and there were some fabulous classic and vintage cars on display covering a variety of American car manufacturers. There is a nice selection of pics and video clips up on the carsofaustralia.com.au website showing the many cars that attended. It is easiest to just follow the link to the pics and videos from the story on Sunday's car show that is shown on the home page of the website. Link: www.carsofaustralia.com.au

Rumour has it the boys at the Buick factory would also pack the cars UPSIDE DOWN in the shipping containers to send them Down-Under.

Thanks for the kind comments. Mr Earl I have placed a post on the BCA area and look forward to being further involved on this forum. MuscleCarBoy

Hi all, Thought some of you might like to see a video clip of this beautiful 1952 Buick Riviera Special Coupe from DownUnder. It is owned by the brother of my Mum and it is such a nice car. My uncle has done a fantastic restoration of this Riviera. You do not see too many of these models in Australia. The video clip is in the OWNER INTERVIEWS section of the Aussie website called carsofaustralia.com.au. The link is: http://www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=5 Hope you enjoy the profile of the Buick. MuscleCarBoy

Hi all, Thought some of you might like to see a video clip of this beautiful 1952 Buick Riviera Special Coupe from DownUnder. It is owned by the brother of my Mum and it is such a nice car. My uncle has done a fantastic restoration of this Riviera. You do not see too many of these models in Australia. The video clip is in the OWNER INTERVIEWS section of the Aussie website called carsofaustralia.com.au. The link is: www.carsofaustralia.com.au/downloads_and_fun.php?cat=5 Hope you enjoy the profile of the Buick. MuscleCarBoy