The right international exotica often attracts Aussie buyers and likewise overseas interest in our home-based classics
Take a look at the league table for world population density and Australia sits not far off the bottom, right below Iceland. Consider then the hordes of scarce and significant cars that over many decades have called our nation home, ensuring that we punched well above our weight as a place to find important vehicles.
Once upon a time this country had at least five D-Type Jaguars running about, including a famous ex-Le Mans racer. Now – if it is still here after being listed for sale late last year with a British sports car specialist – we might have just one.
We also offered homes over the years to several Lamborghini Miuras plus at least five Toyota 2000GTs and an Aston Martin DB4GT.
| Read next: Toyota 2000GT rescue – part one
We once had 5 D-Types in Oz
We have managed to hang onto a few of the Lambos but the Aston is back in Britain and now worth around AU$5 million. Most of the Toyotas are gone too and one – not one of ours – in 2022 made US$2.55 million at the Amelia Island auction.
These cars mostly arrived when new, but we also saw some exotic racers that were left here by visiting teams or imported once their effective lives in Europe were over. Most also returned ‘home’ once their values on the international market soared past the point where tight-fisted local buyers lost interest.
Australia does have important cars of its own of course; their significance was emphasised recently when several Holdens with competition backgrounds being offered at auction were threatened with being deemed ‘Australian Protected Objects’ to stop them being taken offshore.
Porsche 959. Rally car became a road classic
The ploy worked too, with subdued bidding and a spokesperson for auction house Lloyds quoted in the trade press as saying that overseas bidders were being advised of possible challenges in exporting some of these special classics.
Britain has also been known to list cars as ‘National Treasures’ in attempts to thwart export. The most prominent was a Bentley-based racing car, the Birkin Bentley, which was sold in 2012 for over £5 million but had its sale delayed while a British buyer with money to match the overseas bid was unsuccessfully sought.
Cars from Australia appeal to people overseas because they are deemed to have spent their lives in a warm, relatively dry climate. Any rust they harbour will also be far easier to fix than the catastrophic tin worm that threatens ‘barn find’ rarities from Europe and the USA. Also, something purportedly rare is less likely to have been ‘cloned’ while spending its time away from the temptations of Europe.
If you think there would be no cars of world significance still waiting to be found here, consider our own fetish with those ‘barn finds’. If there are RPO83 Falcons and long-lost race cars hiding in dusty sheds there could also be important Ferraris, Porsches and Delages.
Despite efforts by governments dating back 30 years and with the stated intention of ‘improving safety standards’, Australians hang on grimly to our older vehicles.
Checking the Australian Bureau of Statistics Motor Vehicle Census released in 2021, we discover that, of 20.1 million registered vehicles on Australian roads, around 4.2 million from the Passenger and Light Commercial categories were built before 2006.
Hard to find parts make for an expensive project
Not all of them are as yet deemed ‘collectable’ or ‘classic’ but times and perceptions change. Some of us remember a time when 120Y Datsuns were things not to be seen dead in, but now they are proudly arrayed at Japanese Display Days and a very good sedan costs $8000.
Age alone will not determine desirability though. Some models that sold prolifically from the 1960s-80s (think Mitsubishi Sigma, Ford Escort, Datsun 180B) have almost disappeared and survivors can be expensive to salvage because the parts support enjoyed by other models just isn’t there.
Taking all of that into account, Australia still ranks as a great place to trawl for a restoration project or even a rarity of global significance. Also, the more people who get involved in the hobby will help resist political pressure to impose limits on the use of older models. Perhaps we can even find enough hidden treasures to push that 4.2 million population total a little higher.
Cliff Chambers
March 2023
From Unique Cars #476, March 2023
Photography: Unique Cars Archives