Mr reliable - Revcounter 454

By: Guy Allen

Date: 04.07.2021

It's all about getting there

The engineers who worked for Holden back in the 1970s should be pleased. One of their products just won a contest between a Kingswood and what was once a $220,000 BMW.

Okay, maybe that’s not entirely fair. But it goes like this: we had decided to drive Melbourne-Sydney and return for the Rolling 30 event. We would have been spending very little time on the ground, and there was a magazine deadline to meet. So breakdowns were not acceptable.

And the field? A BMW 633csi sold in 1976 and which has been given a fair old workout in recent years; the 1979 Kingswood you see here; a 1989 300 SEL Mercedes-Benz in which we’ve recently done a couple of long trips in comfort; and the 1993 BMW 850ci V12, which is highly entertaining but relatively new to the stable and more of an unknown quantity.

Something contrary in my make-up said risk the 850. It’s been annoying me with a couple of minor issues recently and is incredibly complex (particularly when it comes to electronics). Maybe not.

As for the 633, it’s surprisingly tough, but it’s more the sort of thing you prefer to play with on some backroads. Frankly the Benz is a much better freeway car and would probably cross the country without fuss.

What kept nagging me was the thought of that looming deadline. Losing half a day with a sick car just wasn’t acceptable. With the Holden, I know even my bare-essentials toolkit (gaffer tape, a handful of cable ties, a shifter and a multitool, plus a spare fanbelt) will cover pretty much everything bar a direct hit from a comet.
As luck would have it, in Winter (it has a heater bit no air-con) it’s also a really comfortable tourer. Problem solved.

From Unique Cars #454, June 2021

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