Australia then and now

I’ve always been a strange sort in a strange place. Old habits etc :wink:

The only ones on the taxis in Sydney were the Holden, the Valiant and the Falcon. I started on a Holden, only had a ride in a Valiant and then settled on 2 versions of Falcons. And I was sold.

But for my own wheels, I bought a Hawk…a Humber Hawk. :joy:

Paddy’s had enough of cold and wet Ireland, so decided Australia might offer a pleasant meteorological change. He gets himself to Australia House, to make enquiries on the process. The fellow on reception, calming Paddy’s exuberance, told him that an IQ of 150 is usually required. No worries, says Paddy. You’ll need a test, he is told.
The rest of the exchange went as following.
P. “Oh begorrah, what if I exaggerated and it’s only 140?”
R. “That’s not a major problem, we can always use truck drivers.”
P. “Hmm, what if it’s only 70?”
R. “Mmm, would you be prepared to train to be a doctor?”
P. “Well what if it is only 35?”
R. “Getting harder, but you could become a plumber or electrician.”
P." 20?"
R. “Geez Paddy, that’s pretty low. Politician.”
P. “And 10?”
R. “10! 1O! Paddy, if you had an IQ of 10, you couldn’t tie your own shoe laces.”
P. “Is that why all Aussies wear thongs?”
images - 2024-07-26T071328.869

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Cricky, talk about experts who know ⅝ of sweet fanny adams.

Full of misinformation, wrong “facts” and mispronounciations. :rage:

Are there many Volvo 140/160 - 240/260s over there SDU .They are getting rarer now here and demanding high prices for rust free examples.Could be a sideline for you

Ramone, One Series are pretty rare but not entirely unseen. Two and Seven Series have a healthy following, they have reached the stage where all eary Volvo drivers wave to each other. It’s surprising how many under 25yo are into them.

P.S. Ramone, one of my mates has a mint Amazon.

The Amazons are fairly expensive the P1800s are really expensive the older ones up to and beyond £40000 and mint 244/245s are up to £10000 .If you see a Mini Cooper from the 60s that’s original well thats another story. There’s a program over here called Bangers and cash a vintage car auction house and they had a “barn find” Mini Cooper which was absolutely gone virtually rotten everywhere and it reached nearly £20000 and the bloke brought it back to as new. Capris Escorts Sierra Cosworths fetch massive money

If anyone Up Over wants to know what it looks like on the road these days Down Under, you could always have a shufti at Dash Cam Owners Australia.

Here’s this month’s entertaining compilation.

Warning: Australian four-letter expletives

I was watching a YT vid of one of your compatriots the other day restoring an old Bedford tipper truck with an inline six cylinder petrol engine that had been sat for a decade or so.
The amount of snake skins in the thing would have put me right off going into that cab. :scream:

That’s not our worst, we have a big problem with speed (the drug) and those morons think they’re invincible, exceeding the speed limit, on the footpath. When they get caught, they think being under the influence of drugs is a mitigating circumstance.
Then we have “driver’s” from a particular geographical location (if mentioned some limp wristed fairy will complain and have the post removed) who have no concept of rules, common sense or good manners.
Never mind, they make the remaining 20% of us look like model drivers, shame they can’t recognise it.

I’d be more scared of the rust than the snakes. At the end of too much hard work, you’d still end up with a Bedford.
GM-Holden offered a 253 or 308 cu " V8 in those smaller Bedfords.

I think that Bedford looks well gone hopefully the snakes too.I didn’t know they offered petrol versions.I drove a few around the yard where my dad worked many years ago in my early teens.They had a couple of ex council Commers too .I didnt like them

The Bedfords had 240, 300 and 330 petrol engines.

It’s not even straight “speed” any more, it gets mixed with all sorts these days. Speaking of footpaths, I was doing a residential drop a few weeks ago and was all but mown down by someone on a “mobility vehicle”. I shan’t comment on the remainder of your reply, for obvious reasons :wink:

If you liked that, you’ll love Steve’s Place Down Under on youtube. All sorts of rusty stuff (wagons, tractors, cranes) parked in a paddock, some of them even move under their own steam.

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So did Ford D-series here. The thing for petrol-engine wagons in Oz has long baffled me. One of the worst I drove was an ACCO C1600, twisty Armstrong steering, flat-glass mirrors, no torque, f/a power.

Acco or C Line? Acco was cab-over, C was bonneted, same cab as Dodge. Bear in mind 1610/30 was the smallest/entry model. It could have been worse, you could have had the later Acco 510.
I reckon Inters were a step up from Ford D or Bedford TK.
You’d be flat out getting a young bloke to drive any of them, these days.
The bigger IHs such as 3070 and 2670 were honest jiggers with good specs.

This is how Jack Ashworth of Bradford moved International Harvester tractors .All home made bodies by the man himself

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