It is Winter and while others stay indoors, Uncle Phil is out and about - finding a cornucopia of motoring delights that will please all budgets
1972 FORD FALCON XY ‘GT UTE’
$85,000
With the value of Falcon GT replicas soaring, the appetite for anything Aussie resembling a GT has gone off its trolley. And before you fire off a note to Guido to say there never was a GT ute and Uncle Phil has lost the plot, I know Ford never made one (officially) but that hasn’t stopped anyone from creating one, and good on ’em I say.
This one is finished in Track Red and with its lowered ride height, Globe mags and shaker poking out the bonnet. I bet the retired boys from Ford wished they’d done a GT ute back then. Naturally this one has a 351 in its nose and a four-speed manual behind it.
And this enjoyable classic will turn heads for years to come, be a really nice thing to steer while tipping its hat to the great times and cars of Ford Oz in the 1970s.
| See the Falcon XY ute ad here
1963 Austin Healey 3000 MK2 BN7
$85,000
Whenever I see the squat, burly Austin Healey I think how good it still looks despite approcahing its 60th birthday. The curved body, two seats, manual gearbox, wooden steering wheel and open top ache for sunny days and drives along country roads or the coast, perhaps with a picnic hamper in the boot. The big 3000 like this one has a good turn of speed and produces a wonderful mechanical sound lacking in modern cars. No surprise they were raced successfully around the globe.
| See the Austin Healey ad here
1956 Holden FE
$18,000
This FE Holden, built in the year of the Melbourne Olympic games is finished in the popular and probably optional combination of a white roof over powder blue with red trim. A recent cosmetic resto is why it looks so sharp. Well priced and said to be ready to go it’s at a price that presents a good opportunity to grab an early Aussie classic. Sure it needs a bit of tidying up to bring it back to full factory glory but it’s all there and you can drive it between tinkering time in your shed. The best of both worlds?
| See the Holden FE ad here
1978 Leyland Clubman
$15,400
One of the cars that radically changed the auto industry was the Morris Mini in 1959. It took the world by storm and was a giant killer. Australia saw its first Minis in the early 1960s then started assembling them here. The Clubman arrived in 1971 with huge mechanical changes and a new look. This Aussie-built example ticks the boxes with its upgraded disc brake front end, and for the enthusiast it retains its original drivetrain that has only travelled 66,500kms. It looks smart in red with tan trim. Try restoring one for the same money.
| See the Leyland Clubman ad here
From Unique Cars #455, July 2021