READERS RIDES: Australian hot rods, PART 2

Australia’s John Sutton sent junkyardlife photos from a recent All Chrysler car show in Adelaide. The 2010 All Chrysler Day celebrated its twentieth anniversary in Southern Australia and forty years of the Chrysler’s VG Valiant. Australian Mopar fans were treated to the Mega Cruise that included motoring by Chrysler Australia assembly plants. Chrysler created a loyal following with automotive enthusiasts in Australia with the debut of the Hemi-6 engine in 1970. The Hemi name, made famous in the U.S., carried huge marketing appeal. These inline six cylinder engines solidified Chrysler’s reputation from 1970 to 1981. Hundreds of great Mopars turned out for Australia’s largest Chrylsler car show. Enjoy the photos from down under. 

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See more Australian hot rods here.

Read about a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner here.

READERS RIDES: Australian hot rods, PART 1

Wrenching on old cars, attending swap meets and car shows are all part of living a junkyardlife. This holds true no matter what part of the world you live in. John Sutton of Adelaide, Australia is more than 15,000 miles away from my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama in the U.S. but we enjoy our passion for all things automotive by doing the same things. Sutton sent us photos of two of his car projects, a 1970 Holden HG (above) and a 1968 Holden HK Premier. “I live about 15 minutes from the Holden factory in Adelaide,” said Sutton. “I can’t wait to start rebuilding my HK and giving it a new lease on life.” Sutton emailed these photos just before he left to attend two car shows in Adelaide. More hot rod photos from Australia are on the way. Life is good.

For those unfamiliar with Holden products you may know more than you think. General Motors has owned GM-Holden Ltd. since 1931. Chevrolet 350 cubic-inch, small-block engines have been produced in Holden vehicles in Australia since the 1960s. Sutton’s primered 1970 Holden HG is equipped with a GM V8 (right), Weld wheels and a host of speed parts. Future plans include installing a fresh V8 painted Chevrolet orange into Sutton’s silver 1968 Holden HK Premier.

Sutton thinks this may be the year to score a vintage American-made hot rod. “Hopefully this year some American iron will land in my driveway. A Camaro or 1955 Chevy?” Australia has a surprising amount of Fords, Chevys and Chryslers to choose from. 


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1968 Holden HK Premier.

Fresh V8 ready to install in the 1968 Holden HK Premier.

1970 Holden HG Premier, it’s right-hand drive in Australia.

1968 Holden HK Premier.

See more Readers Rides - ’55 Chevy, 1965 Corvette, 1973 Gran Torino

Rat Rod 101: Build your own budget ride or buy on the cheap

You don’t need a fat bankroll to build or buy a standout Rat Rod. The $5,500 entry price into Rat Rod stardom seemed like a small price to pay for the carefully crafted patina on this 1954 Chevrolet. The truck was built by Boaz, Alabama’s Billy Sampson and up for grabs in the car corral at the 2010 Alabama Antique & Classic Car Auction, Car Corral & Swap Meet at Talladega Superspeedway. Sampson’s custom Chevy drew as many stares as the $200,000, 1966 Corvette Sting Ray also parked in the car corral.


Sampson started with the cab of an early-1954 Chevrolet pick-up truck plus an off the shelf dropped tube front axle kit. He welded a square tube frame together and cut it to where it felt right. “I just looked at it and decided where I wanted the rear wheel to be,” Sampson said. “Then I cut the end of the frame off there.” The super short truck box has enough room for a sack of ‘fake’ taters and the fuel tank. Disc brakes at all corners create a measure of safety for the bumperless beast. A 350 cubic-inch Chevrolet engine backed by a Turbo 350 automatic transmission keep things moving. A four-link rear suspension kit sits between the wide white wall tires. A vintage 1955 Chevrolet radiator stamped with the year 1955 keeps the engine cool, while a Billy Beer can catches the overflow.


Junkyard parts and a pile of imagination will get you on the road to earning your Rat Rod merit badge. Sampson built his ’54 in about a year. Send him an email if you want to save time and buy this one.

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Looks like rust. No, just brown paint for authenticity.

See another homebuilt hot rod here.

1971 Pontiac Firebird pops up on top of VW bus in Louisiana junkyard

No, it’s not a deleted scene from ‘Smokey and the Bandit’.  Ron Arnold of Lafayette, La., sent me these photos of a high flying 1971 Firebird in a junkyard near Washington, Louisiana, see map here.  Arnold likes to roam the Louisiana back roads for old cars. He found this junkyard second generation (1970-81) Firebird on one of his outings.  “The owner says he doesn’t get much business anymore because most of the older stuff has come and gone,” Arnold says.  “Now, no one hardly comes by the junkyard.  Not being able to see the junkyard for the grass, I can see why.”

Can you close the hood a bit?  Rust likes it under there.

Pontiac Firebird production topped 53,125 in 1971. You can spot a 1971 Firebird by the horizontal louvers on the side of the fenders.  This bird is fortunate to be high and relatively dry in the humid southern climate of Louisiana.  This junkyard owner extended the life of a few Firebird parts by elevating the Pontiac on top of the Volkswagen.  You can tell a lot about the junkyard owner by his car stacking. It’s his pecking order.  I can tell this guy drives a domestic.  Too bad for you VW guys.

I don’t know which is worse? This Firebird wearing a Camaro spoiler or watching the Firebird rust away.

The VIN # on this Firebird is 223871N133544. 
Here is the break down.
2 - Pontiac line of GM
2 - Firebird series
3 - Standard model (70-71)
87 - Sport coupe (1970-81)
1 - 1971
N - Norwood, Ohio plant
133544 - Sequential production number starts with 100001 for V8 in 1971. It was the 33,544 Firebird produced in 1971.


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Pontiac 350 cubic inch engine rests under the hood of this 1971 Pontiac Firebird.  2-barrel carb? Probably.

160 MPH speedometer, check.  Mold colored seats, check.

Punch buggy. I win!

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MORE STORIES and PHOTOS 

My test drive of a 1972 Formula Firebird here.

A Cadillac bought by Elvis sits on the side of the road. See it here.

Or find out if 1957 Chevy four-door are cool here.

1954 Chevrolet truck, loads of vintage patina

Patina is beautiful. Junkyard savants know that patina doesn’t come easy. It is an acquired change produced by age, wear or exposure to the elements. It’s a different breed of owner who drives a vehicle wearing patina. I met one such owner who made no excuses and had no plans of changing his truck’s historic look.

This 1954 Chevrolet 3100 wheeled to the curb at a busy Birmingham, Alabama intersection. I spotted the peerlessly patinaed truck and made a bee-line for my camera. I had to be quick if I was going to head off the driver for some details. 


I caught the fleet-footed, silver-haired gentleman as he made his way back to his truck after wrapping up his business matters. "It's a 1954," he said. He batted away a few other questions, "No, you can't have my name. I live on the west side of town." I pressed on. This five-window truck has the historic look of millions of miles and a million stories.


He did not seem flattered with the fuss I made over his old truck. “I’ve owned the truck for 20 years,” he said as I took a photo and followed him across the street. I asked him if I could take more photos. "Sure, as long as I'm not in them." He paused long enough for me to snap one more photo before he climbed aboard. I couldn’t resist taking another from the tailgate view as he slammed the door shut. Parting words from the eccentric driver. "Everybody wants to buy it, but all they want to give is $300." He fired up the truck, shifted the manual transmission into gear and drove away.


Got cool car stories, photos? Send them to junkyardlife here.