Australia then and now

Nice bit of kindling to pop under the billy-can for a brew up :wink:

1 Like

We’ve moved on a bit from my school days, now it’s 12 volts or LPG under the billy. :fondue:

And a twin-burner, no doubt!

I used to use a twin burner, but then we got what are now ubiquitous, single burner, self contained in its own case, fuelled by an aerosol gas can, appliance. They were too cheap and convenient to ignore.

I don’t remember that Booth’s address in NSW, but I should do as I was a Sydney taxi driver around that time, or just after, but I reckon the pronunciation of the Haulier’s address, Wauchope, was pronounce Walkup. :rofl: SDU will confirm or otherwise. :wink:

Pronounced warhope, mate.
I wonder if that Booth had any connection with Booth transport that is still operating.
Bell Bros, the WA dealer, was a transport and resource company, sent bust by Sailor Bond.

1 Like

Wasn’t he the America’s Cup winner?

One and the same, Spardo.

I believe one Christopher Skase was cut from the same cloth…

Some here will know what an ACCO is

… and how they came about.

1 Like

Mack Ultraliner II

2 Likes

A morsel for sdu and spardo:

Chrysler CL Valiant Charger, 265 Hemi

1 Like

FIAT 600 (no, not that one)

51814016028_6b92b6ba07_k

Yes, it is a Fergie 35 with a front-end loader next to it.

No Italian in my heritage, ergo, I’ve never owned a Valiant. :laughing:

The Charger was developed secretly, in Australia, without Detroit’s knowledge. The high performance version was shipped to Italy, to be tailor fitted with three twin throat Webber 45s.

The car was a smash hit, as was the commercial.

1 Like

TBH I’m a pom and it’s taken me years to get used to Australian versions of US brands/ models - to me, Chrysler, Ford Falcon etc. were American. I’m not knocking home-grown ingenuity here (see what Holden did with the Opel Omega B platform), but I still struggle a bit.

BTW going back a while, my boss’s missus had a metallic silver Chrysler Valiant sedan (saloon) with a V8 and a 3-speed slushmatic (Borg-Warner?), a bench front seat and alloys. Every now and then, I was detailed to drive her to the bank, wait and drive her back. Two miles round trip, but I did get partial to the sound of it :wink:

All of the above started of as locally assembled version of the American product. They were later engineered, redesigned and designed for local conditions.

Holden: The first model, 48/215 (year/cu") was a rejected Pontiac design, redesigned for Australia. From that point on the cars were wholly Australian, taking some componentary and styling cues from USA.

Ford: Released the XK in 1960, a RHD copy of the Dearborn product. It managed to turn the Ford name to mud, it was that bad. Suspension was its biggest issue, punching the McPherson struts through the bonnet. The next model, XL, was hurriedly relaesed with a different grill and almost totally different mechanicals. From '62 until '70 Falcons were loosely based on on the parent company’s design but heavily modified for our conditions. In 1970 America dropped the Falcon, it continued on here as a wholly Australian designed product.

Chrysler/Valiant: The first models, R and S were followed by the AP4 and AP5 (AP being Australian Production), all very much mildly Australianised. Chrysler must have learned from Ford’s expensive lesson. Chrysler Royal was also am AP(?)2. From the VC on, Chrysler became more Australian until they, like Ford became an all Australian design, outliving the USA products.
Chrysler and Valiant were always the underrated underdog. Perhaps due to their relatively late entry to the market and/or because they were slightly bigger, with larger engines.

Thank you for that “in a nutshell” explanation.

When I got here 36 years ago, it was familiar but foreign to me. Yes people drove on the left (ish) and there was the odd Cortina or Capri or Marina or Trannie van on the streets, along with something I thought was a slightly odd-looking Granada (which turned out to be an XD Falcon). The Holden/ GM thing and the US vs AU Ford Falcon is reasonably easy to track, if you know where to look. My confusion regarding Chrysler (AU) stems from Chrysler taking over the remnants of the Rootes Group in the UK, whereby a Hillman became a Talbot became a Chrysler (or the other way around).

All that said, it turns out there was a Chrysler that did translate from Britain/ Europe to Oz with little modification. A long time ago, I spotted something in a car park and I thought “bless me, a 180C”, bronze metallic paint vinyl roof and all.

Turns out this car that I thought was a Chrysler 180 was a Chrysler Centura, a redesigned and locally assembled version of the 180 with the choice of the (Simca) 2.0l 4 or two Chrysler Australia “Hemi” 6’s.

Only another fourteen years you can call yourself a local, mate. :wink:
Those Hemi 245 (cu") Centuras went like the proverbial off a shovel, unfortunately a bit of spirited driving quickly revealed the four cylinder roots of the platform.