Aside from the 25 Belletts we had at the Bay to Birdwood, there were about 1700 OTHER cars that were there as well...

Tell me this is not the most ridiculously awesome Landcruiser you've ever seen?


And this has got to be one of the nicest RT40 Coronas...


The old Corona Mark II six cylinder sedan. I used to get driven to school in one of these every day!


Keeping on the Jap stuff, this Prince Skyline was a recent immigrant, bought from a Victorian enthusiast. How good does it look with those Hustlers?




This Nissan wagon was pretty cool as well. The strange arrangement of the roll-down rear window was a sight to behold!




Not many of these Crown-fighting Datsun 260C's still floating around...


There were a few S600 and S800s. This convertible was a bit of alright.




The British were out in force as always. Here are a few of my picks!

The Reliant Scimitar is always a head-turner. They should make more wagonoid sports cars! I'd buy one!





I had to take a photo of this Marina. I spoke to the lady and it was her daily driver for about 17 years, however the husband wanted to enter the Bay to Birdwood, so it was dusted off and given a fresh set of rubber! She said it didn't normally get that kind of nice treatment when it was her daily! My mate is restoring one of these, so the photo is really for him. And me. Coz it's so bad, it's cool!



I took a photo of this MG B GT V8 as it's the exact same specification and colour as the first ever 1:43-scale model I got, a late-1980's 1:43-scale Dinky-brand MG B GT V8. I guess I thought MG's were cool, so a V8 one would have to be cooler! Uh, I dunno about that.



Europeans were everywhere as well. Highlights include:

Darren and Brooke's BMW 2002. I know it has appeared on this forum before, but it's pretty cool so it can appear again.



Actually, it's not as cool as this BMW, the Isetta.



I don't think I've ever seen one of these in the metal and had to hike up a considerable hill in mud and the rain to check it out closely, but it's the impossibly compact-yet-beautiful Opel GT.





Oddities rubbing doorhandles with Italian thoroughbreds...



Back to Earth.... this Humber Sceptre Mark III was really cool. Totally not available here so foreign to our eyes, but very much a pimped out Hillman Hunter in reality!





This TC Ford Cortina was just so PURPLE!



The Aussies are always out in force at the Bay to Birdwood and I love Aussie cars. Unsure why I got into Belletts - probably because nobody else loves them (well, I thought that until I was involved in a forum with 120 members!).

This R-series Valiant was one of about 1007 built. They sold out in about 5 minutes flat and were replaced by the less dramatic S-series which missed out on the crazy cat's eyes taillights and the spare wheel impression in the bootlid. Damn!



There were some hot Toranas here this year.

The LH Torana G-Pack was a tart-up package for the manual 6 cylinder to sell stripes to baby boomers who weren't allowed or couldn't afford to buy an sporty Torana SLR. Now people are restoring them! Killer! Pictured here with the lowest of the low, a Lotus Europa.



The toughest Torana around is the Torana SS hatch with the full A9X-spec body kit. This looks tough-as, however methinks he found he had a bit too much power on the muddy field that was the Birdwood National Motor Museum grounds.



The Holden Torana A9X Nationals were held at the same time as the Bellett Nationals. Sounds like a good idea! However, it might have only taken one or two of them to equal the value of our field! These genuine Torana A9X's are selling for about $75-$125k depending on provenance. Wish I'd bought one already...



I love my oddball cars and this Leyland P76 Targa Florio is pretty oddball. It was immaculate too. The Targa Florio was built to commemorate the P76's success in a stage of the Targa Florio rally in Italy. It was also a convenient way to get rid of some sporty alloy wheels and steering wheels that had been made for the stillborn Leyland P76 Force 7V coupe.



This Ford Fairmont GT (yes, Fairmont GT) was made in South Africa. They only sold the Aussie-designed Falcon there as a Fairmont, so a Falcon GT wouldn't have made sense to them. This is one of the few Fairmont GTs that hasn't been modified into a Falcon GT replica, which pretty much ruins them, I reckon. Be a Fairmont GT and be proud!





As usual, there are tonnes of Yank tanks, but they don't fit in my camera.

Here is a picture that demonstrates the true meaning of the words Yank and Tank.



Finally, here's a fully restored International fire engine! This is owned by forum member Bettybellett. How much Autosol would you use polishing up this sucker?





Whew I think that's about it.

Cheers,


Dave

Thanks for the great photos and bits of info Dave - awesome.

Almost made me feel like I was there (I wish)

Cheers,
Neil
Darwin

And even for those who were there, Neil. We got lost in "historic and Bellet world" and didn't take many pics. So glad you posted this up the top somewhere, Dave, even though it's some serious nonsense. Thanks for putting these gems up.

That 'cruiser is definitely a shanghai taxi. Is that Belletts in the back ground ?
Saw RT40 in traffic yesterday, not quite so minta but it was polonesian blue and looked like someone else's "you know what" from a distance.
That late 60's Skyline looks like it's got Wantanna"havebabies" on it, tres horn
The Honda S was a little weapon.
I had a matchbox Scimitar once upon a time. No wonder it was so appealing and left an impression.
Yes, the Marina can be bad and cool at the same time.
Goodie, the Isetta....a freak of nature
How can something as rare as the Opel GT (mini corvette) be put up the top of a muddy paddock ? Thanks for chasing that one up.
Ah yes, and those "contancerous tank yankers". No show complete without lounge rooms on wheels.
And the ultimate firetruck. What age is that one Dave ?

B and B needs to be two days long, thanks for the snap shot, B

Re; firetruck, I think it's about a 1969-vintage but I'd have to ask Leigh again.

There are two RT40 Coronas going around that are similar in colour to Polynesian blue.

Confusingly, they BOTH have rego #'s that start in REN-xxx.

I spoke to a guy with one and talked to him about Bay to Birdwood, etc and he said he hadn't entered in the previous one and I almost ARGUED with him as I was sure I had a photo.

Later, I chased up that photo and it was a DIFFERENT CAR. Not long after, the owner of that car rolled into Shannons and I had a brief chat with her and advised her that her car had a twin and she buzzed out.

Freakily, both of the blue REN-rego'ed RT40s are the early version, which has some major differences to the later RT40 (like the white one above) in regards to bumper shape, grille and lenses. However unless you had the two side-by-side you'd never notice!!!!

That's the ballad of the blue RT40 Coronas.

Coincidentally, Paul's GT had REN as the start of the original rego, as does another Bellett GT owner floating around. Strange that these oddball cars ended up all over the place with REN regos!

Perhaps I could get the numberplate STIMPY and just cruise around parking next to them.

Perhaps I should get off the net and into the real world and stop typing pointless posts!


Goodnight!

Dave

Never pointless.

Maybe REN+STIMPY if it fits on the plate.

B.

Always entertaining and informative - heh heh heh