Classics By The Beach – April 2015

Rain was the forecast but this morning saw beautiful conditions at Sandy Bay and the cars were shining at Classics By The Beach for April 2015.

Today was also Easter Sunday, so this ornament on an Alvis seemed quite appropriate.

We have a couple of ‘new’ cars this month and plenty of favourites that we’ve seen before.

Let’s take a look…..

Mini 2+2, engineered by Broadspeed

This was the car of the day, for me. I’d never even heard of a Broadspeed Mini before, let alone seen one. I’m glad I’ve seen one now. Magnificent!

The Broadspeed 2+2 was a Mini modified in the mid 1960’s by Broadspeed Engineering, a company started by a guy named Ralph Broad, in Birmingham. The body was modified using fibreglass panels in place of the original steel. The engine was also modified with Broadspeed’s own parts and 4 different levels of specification were offered. Only 28 original Broadspeeds were made. Another 4 were made in Australia using Australian-made Minis as a base. Two are believed to survive.

This example is a steel-bodied replica that the current owner has had for around 5 years. It has a 1300cc engine and it looked and sounded absolutely superb.

Click here for more Broadspeed 2+2 stories and information.

As always, click on any of the photos to enlarge…

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Alfa GTV 1750

Mark this down as one that I’d like to take more photos of one day, when I’m less pressed for time and with better light.

This 1971 model’s fresh from an engine rebuild and is in remarkable original condition, in Olive Green Metallic.

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Studebaker Lark

Charm is the key and this Lark had it in spades. Big wide chromies, a sanded roof and plenty of patina made a lot of people smile when they saw this old Stude today.

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Porsche 550 Spyder

This Spyder’s a regular at Classics but I haven’t photographed it for a while. New velocity stacks were the reason for the engine cover being open so I figured it was time to shoot some photos again.

It always looks great.

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Ford F100

I’m not one given to loving old utes. For me, they’re more about being useful than being show vehicles. But it’s impossible to deny this F100 being worthy of some photos. It looked fantastic. Original LHD.

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Porsche 911 Flachbau

I don’t know if the slantnose 911 is a divisive design, but given the iconic status afforded the traditional 911, it probably should be.

I like it. I like it a lot, in fact.

The wing’s off one of Porsche’s later GT models.

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Ford Cortina GT

There was a nice trio of Cortinas attending today. Whilst both white cars were beautiful, this GT was the one that attracted my camera. They were accompanied by a red Cortina, which I didn’t take a close look at. I should have.

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The Rest

I always feel awkward posting these as “The Rest” but I simply don’t have time to photograph or write about every car in detail.

Note the racing Fiat, which made a late appearance and is owned by a mate of mine here in Hobart. He’s completed many a Targa Tasmania, including several in this car. He was also in my Viggen with me when I wrote it off 🙁