primotipo…

Spring has well and truly sprung in Australia, it brings lots of good things; The AFL Grand Final at the MCG, Bathurst 1000, Motorclassica, Melbourne Cup, Moto GP at Phillip Island and lots of Car Club Concours events…

I’m not talking Pebble Beach, not my cup of tea at all, its much more owner display stuff, a nice way to spend a couple of hours. On Sunday 29 November 2015 the Alfa Club and Porsche 356 Register had events on adjoining ovals at Wesley College in St Kilda Road, Melbourne, a good ‘dropkick’ from Albert Park for those of you who have attended the AGP.

Alfa 2000 Spyder ‘Touring’ acquired by an Aussie in Brescia and apparently restored there. Very nice cruiser! 1975cc DOHC 4 cylinder 113bhp@5700rpm. 5 speed ‘box, drums front and rear.

Alfa 8C2300 Corto Replica…’Pursang’ Argentinian car, 4 or 5 years old now and used a lot so now has some patina. I’ve no issue with Replicas…as long as the punters who own the things make it clear they are. Even the seriously wealthy can’t afford real stuff like this, one of these is on my ‘dream on’ list, so its a sensible way to experience, at circa $A300K! what the real McCoy is like.

I wrote an article on the 8C2300/Monzas a while back;

https://primotipo.com/2014/10/09/antonio-brivio-targa-florio-1933-alfa-romeo-8c2300-monza/

Our Historic Racing Regulations in Australia are the strictest in the world, which is a good thing.

A car like the 8C2300 or even a ‘Cameron Millar’ Maserati 250F cannot get a CAMS historic logbook/’certificate of description’ to race here.

Mind you, the only 250F in Oz is a CM 250F. I would love to see it being raced and would create a class(es) so Replicas can run but are overtly described as such. Some of the crap which races in Oz from overseas in the AGP and Phillip Island meetings is laughable in terms of specification. That is, not resembling the spec of the car ‘in period’ if in fact the car existed ‘in period’!

This 1951 356 Cab is especially stunning. Chassis # 10110, built on 13 July 1951 is the first RHD car made by Porsche and one of the first cars imported by Norman Hamilton to Australia in September 1951

Hamilton famously secured the first Porsche franchise in the world, when on a European trip and cruising through the Alps was ’rounded up’ by Ferry Porsche at a fast pace in a very early car. Hamilton approached him at a roadside stop where Porsche was enjoying a coffee and a business deal followed which saw the marque flourish in Oz over the decades.

I wrote about son Alan Hamilton’s racing exploits a while back;

https://primotipo.com/2015/08/20/alan-hamilton-his-porsche-9048-and-two-906s/

This car was raced, sprinted and hillclimbed in 1952/3 by Hamilton, Ken Harper and Ken McConville as part of a ‘brand-building’ program before being restored complete mit 1300 motor between 1990 and 1995.

The information sheet says there are less than 20 1950 and 1951 model 356’s left in the world. Makes me laugh, the values of the things now, when i was a Uni student in the mid-seventies there were 3 0r 4 of em’ in the Monash University car park all beaten up, held together by ‘bog’, just a cheap car. If only!…

Tidy chassis’ both. Mid-sixties 365 GTC and owner both delightfully sculpted by Pininfarina. 1968, 4.4 litre ‘Colombo’ 320bhp V12, 5 speed ‘box. Beautifully balanced for a big car, Ferrari locating the gearbox and final drive at the rear.

Driving a 356 was a disappointment years ago but early-ish 911’s are a different kettle of fish. I had an ’85 Carrera 3.2, the last of the light, leaded-fuel cars as a daily driver for 7 years from ’97-2004, what a fantastic thing it was. Big enough to cart 3 growing boys around but a blast to enjoy every day. I still have left leg muscles which reflect the butch, beefy mechanical clutch! This is a 2.4E, nice. A  2.4S about as good as they get this side of a 2.7RS but prices are ‘nutso’.

Best of the Sixties to Finish? P400S Miura, Australian delivered RHD car, had more changes of color than most but oh so nice! 4 litre V12, circa 370bhp, mid mounted, 5 speed ‘box. Design team Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani and development engineer, Kiwi Bob Wallace. Couture by Marcello Gandini. About as good as it gets.

Photo Credits…

Mark Bisset and trusty iPad!