1956 Ford Customline + 1968 Lancia Fulvia + 1987 Toyota MR2 + MORE! - Phils's Picks #487

By: Phil Walker

Date: 15.02.2024

Uncle Phil has been out searching for classics and collectables for you to enjoy, now the weather is on the up.

Classic Ford from a special era

1956 FORD CUSTOMLINE - UNCLE PHIL'S TOP PICK OF THE MONTH 

Who would have thought a Customline could be found with a genuine 20,201 miles on the clock? Well, here it is. The two-door, with its unique body mouldings was never brought to Australia by Ford Aus, just the sedan, which my Dad owned. But I wish he’d had this stunning pillarless coupe.

This example, in Meadow Mist Green with Green Cloth trim runs a matching-numbers 272ci V8 and prior to the vendor buying it from Hemmings four years ago, it was displayed in a museum for over 30 years. It has had an external repaint, but everything else is day-one original. Mechanically, it has been maintained but never rebuilt. It is as close as it gets to buying a new Customline Tudor.

$74,990

1976 HOLDEN HX WAGON 

The penultimate Holden Kingswood series was the HX. Minor exterior updates over the prior HJ were a new grille and badging, and not much more. The big changes were under the bonnet to comply with new emission regs. The HX also coincided with Holden’s 50th anniversary. So, to mark the occasion, their marketing folk raided the parts warehouse and came up with this limited-edition model. I haven’t seen one in a long time and this one was in such good nick, it has spent the past while in the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania. It runs a rebuilt 308 V8 tied to a turbo 700 gearbox. 

$67,500

1968 LANCIA FULVIA

Whenever I see one of these Italian beauties on the road, I always stop for a look. Lancia’s heydays here were in the ’60s and ’70s. One of their finest and now rarest is the Fulvia Sports Zagato. Sporting a 1.3lt V4 engine, it had an aluminium bonnet, doors and spare-wheel hatch fitted to a steel body to reduce weight. This one is an Australian-delivered factory right-hand drive version and was with one of its five owners for 44 years. A resto started in 2018 and took two years, with a terrific result. Now its ready to be enjoyed, with all the hard work done.

$125,000

1987 TOYOTA MR2

The first generation MR2 was a hit when it landed here in the mid 1980s. It had appealing wedgy styling,  a high-revving mid-mounted engine, two seats and was big on the fun factor. But best of all, it wasn’t a wallet drainer like its Euro competitors. And after shelling out for one, it didn’t cost an arm or leg to run either. And it wasn’t expensive. This one is a supercharged 1600cc and strangely, it was ordered with an auto gearbox. Each to their own I suppose. It was imported in 1999 and has been resprayed, the engine rebuilt and inside reupholstered, all in the last five years. A good toy for weekend thrills.

$28,000

2003 HOLDEN MONARO CV8

When holden whipped the covers off the two-door Commodore at the Sydney Motor Show, the world stood still in awe. It was immediately dubbed the second coming of the ‘Monaro’ by the media and punters raced to the General’s showrooms to put their name against one. While the euphoria may have worn off , last-gen Monaros are still hugely popular and, despite Morley and Higgo owning them, prices remain strong. This one, with the six-speed manual, is with its second owner who has had it since 2005 and was used as a daily driver. It’s in storage since 2019 and done 124,493km. 

$44,800

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