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Magnificent Classic Cars

March 30, 2021 by David Herd

Magnificent Classic Cars starting with the E-Type Jaguar

Magnificent Classic Cars

Magnificent Classic Cars that I guarantee will put a smile on your face. I count myself extremely lucky to have actually owned a 1971 4.2 E-Type, this fabulous vehicle was once called “the most beautiful car ever made” by Enzo Ferrari.

The photo in the header features the fabulous 1974 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible.

1968 Chevrolet Corvette

Magnificent Classic Cars

Certainly the most collected vehicle in America.

1959 Buick Electra 225

Magnificent Classic Cars

 The 1959 Buicks were introduced to the public on September 16, 1958, and the years production was 285,089 units.

1957 Jag XK140

Magnificent Cars

The rarest of all XK versions : the XK140 DHC. In total only 2789 units were made, and that makes it today the most sought after XK for collectors.

Magnificent Classic Cars, Mercedes SL 300 Gullwing

Magnificent Cars

 The company introduced the 300 SL in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show in New York City instead of in Europe to get it into U.S. buyers’ hands sooner.

1936 Auburn Boattail Speedster Replica

Magnificent Classic Cars

The Auburn Speedster Replicas would achieve fame as the hero car in various movies including the 1990 movie Dick Tracy starring Warren Beatty and Madonna, and the 1980s TV hit Remington Steel featuring future James Bond star Pierce Brosnan.

1939 Bugatti Type 57C Cabriolet by Vanvooren

Magnificent Classic Cars

During the Great Depression sales of luxury automobiles dwindled as you can imagine. Consequently Ettore Bugatti and his brilliant son Jean understood that a special model was imperative to help their company survive. The resulting new Type 57’s styling was at once contemporary and affordable, with custom coachwork available for the very wealthy.

1959 Cadillac Series Sixty-Two Convertible

Magnificent Classic Cars

The 1959 Cadillacs wore the tallest tail fins in the industry. They make this model year the most memorable and identifiable Cadillac in history.

1958 Chevy Impala convertible

Magnificent Classic Cars

The Impala was Chevrolet’s popular flagship passenger car and was among the better selling American-made automobiles in the United States.

1960 STAINLESS STEEL Ford Thunderbird (one of just 2)

Magnificent Classic Cars

They are among some of the rarest Ford’s you will ever find and now they have been put up for auction.

1967 Camaro

Magnificent Classic Cars

The 1967 model had the same body lines as the 1968 model.

1952 Chevy Styeline Deluxe Convertible

Magnificent Cars

 The Chevrolet Special and Deluxe were introduced for the 1949 model year. Built on the GM ‘A’ body, the Chevrolet Special and Deluxe were a series of full size cars, available as sedans, coupes, convertibles, and station wagons.

1971 Mercedes 350 SL

2007 Golf at The Villa 001

This beautiful scores a place in this blog because I was the proud owner of this yellow one for 17 years back in the 90s. In the 70s I also owned a white one for several years. When it was new back in 1971, this Mercedes-Benz 350SL cost twice as much as a Jaguar E-Type.

1960 Ford Thunderbird

1960 Ford Thunderbird

The country was aghast when the new-for’58 Thunderbird was stretched into a four-seater. Everyone, it seemed, loved the cute, cozy styling of the small T-Birds that preceded it. For the era, they were sensational-looking cars–they still are today–but not everyone who lusted after a 1955-’57 Thunderbird could justify buying one due to their limited seating capacity. And so, many didn’t.
 
Adding those two extra seats in the back changed everything. Sales skyrocketed, and the all-new, bigger, roomier and more practical Thunderbird became the must-see car in Ford showrooms that year. It was the talk of the town, and Americans everywhere wanted to be seen driving one.
Magnificent Classic Cars 1956 Monarch Richelieu Convertible

Magnificent Classic Cars

Monarch Richelieu Phaeton. In 1956 the Monarch Richelieu Phaeton was the top of line Monarch.

1953 Cadillac Eldorado

Magnificent Classic Cars

The Eldorado model was part of the Cadillac line from 1953 to 2002. The Cadillac Eldorado was the longest running American personal luxury car as it was the only one sold after the 1998 model year.

1930 Mercedes SSK Roadster

Classic Cars

One of the most revered sports cars in the world is the SSK and this one features the most dramatic body of them all. It’s nicknamed after Carlo Trossi who was its first owner and had close connections to the industry. In fact, he had the foresight to be an initial investor of Scuderia Ferrari and later became the team’s President.

1938 Bantam Roadster

Magnificent Classic Cars

The American Austin Car Company was founded in 1929 in Butler, Pennsylvania, with the goal of creating a market for small-car enthusiasts in the United States. The company, later renamed American Bantam, produced vehicles licensed from the British Austin Motor Company. They had a blistering top speed of 50 MPH. 🙂

1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Convertible

Magnificent Classic Cars

As competition to the best that Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Isotta-Fraschini could offer, the J12 in many respects was the superior design.

The centerpiece of every J12 was its locomotive-like 60˚ V12 which could produce 250 bhp no a good day. The 10-liter engine used a 70 lbs crankshaft held in seven main bearings. Spark was provided by 2 Scintilla magnetos and many ancillary pieces were cast from aluminum with very low tolerances.

Much of the chassis was over-engineered to achieve a near-silent operation noise ease of use. It had fully adjustable servo-assisted brakes and the transmission was geared for the extreme torque made by the engine.

The J12 was one of the most expensive pre-war chassis, costing $10,150.

1954 Packard Caribbean Convertible

Magnificent Classic Cars

This Packard is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 13.1 sec, from 0 to 100 km/h in 14.1 sec, from 0 to 160 km/h (100 mph) in 57 sec and the quarter mile drag time is 19.2 sec.

1957 Borgward Isabella Coupé

1957 Borgward Isabella Coupé aa

The Borgward Isabella is a medium sized two door saloon that was manufactured by the Bremen based auto-manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH between 1954 and 1962.

1958 Cadillac Fleetwood Series Sixty-Special

Magnificent Classic Cars

The eminent Fleetwood Series Sixty-Special was the “Standard of the World” in magnificence and dignity. It was the most distinguished name in motorcars. Every Fleetwood model was truly a masterpiece.

1938 Delahaye 165 Cabriolet

Magnificent Classic Cars

Basically built on a production-version of the V12 145 race car chassis, it received accolades for both radical performance and world class elegance. Furthermore, it is one of only a handful of cars to receive Delahaye’s rare V12 engine.

Of all the cabriolet bodies that Figoni et Falaschi made, this sweeping design is their most harmonious. Dashes help split up the profile and conceal the engine bay vents as well as the door handles. Chrome brightwork runs along the sills and neatly wraps around the rear end brake lights.

1964 Aston Martin DB5

1964-Aston-Martin-DB5-main

 The Aston Martin DB5 is a British luxury grand tourer (GT) that was made by Aston Martin. Although not the first in the DB series, the DB5 is the best-known cinematic James Bond car, first appearing in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964).

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Pattaya live webcam

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Sensational life Sydney 1983

March 4, 2020 by David Herd

Sensational life Sydney 1983

Sensational life Sydney 1983

Sensational life Sydney 1983 is no exaggeration, in fact the 80s was probably my favourite decade. A harbour side condo with my Bertram cruiser moored outside, my very own liquor store & a white Mercedes Sports.

Above are two of my best friends at the time, Wolf Wottke & Ross Ansell, we spent a lot of time in my boat on Sydney harbour & lunching at Doyle’s on the beach at Watson’s Bay.

Sydenham Cellars

Sensational life Sydney 1983 Located in Unwins Bridge Road next to the railway station. I opened it in 1980 & sold it in 1984 with a tax loss of $150,000. Luckily I owned the freehold which showed a profit of $180,000 which was tax free. That’s Madison sitting at the front door. 🙂

Boats, babes & booze

Sensational life Sydney 1983What more could a man want in life. 🙂 I feel so lucky having the fabulous life I had in the 80s, + lucky I was always a photo fanatic, & have thousands of shots to display on my photo blogs.

Marlene Cuthbert

Sensational life Sydney 1983Great lady with a sexy voice, workrd for Ansett airlines & did their announcements at the airport.

Boxing Day 1983

Sensational life Sydney 1983The start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, we used to follow the boats out to sea.

A crowded harbour

Sensational life Sydney 1983 Throw in the choppy water & you had to be very careful to avoid collisions. 🙂

Sydney heads in the distance

Sensational life Sydney 1983Great memories of my Sensational life Sydney 1983 on the world’s best harbour. 

Peak Avenue Surfers Paradise

Sensational life Sydney 1983Here I am in the middle of a plethora of gorgeous, where else would I rather be?

Always lots of parties in Peak Ave Main Beach.

Sensational life Sydney 1983That’s Chris Adams on the left & Harley Bradstreet on the right. When I often visited I would sleep on a mattress in the garage. 🙂

Never a dull moment in Peak Avenue. 🙂

Sensational life Sydney 1983 That’s Rob Rubis on the left, a well known Gold Coast chick magnet in the fabulous 80s.

Judy Paris a pretty blonde babe

Sensational life Sydney 1983Judy was tangled up in a messy court case in 1952 when her husband Bobby Lulham was poisoned by his mother-in-law. 

A few days in Melbourne

Sensational life Sydney 1983

Ross Ansell with his 2 daughters Tanya & Fiona, Marlene Cuthbert & I stayed at Ross’s pub in Curzon St North Melbourne.

The Black Prince

Sensational life Sydney 1983Doesn’t look too special but we had some great nights there.

Back to Sydney for a Drummoyne BBQ.

Sensational life Sydney 1983I lived in Wrights Rd Drummoyne for 6 years from 1979, & wow! Diddn’t we have some parties there. Here I am with Dirk Kammerling, aka Dirk Suave.

View from my apartment

Sensational life Sydney 1983 Life was very good for me in the 80s.

This gorgeous babe live just around the corner.

Sensational life Sydney 1983 A well known Sydney model Yolande did a popular toothpaste commercial in 1969. 

Macleans Toothpaste Advert 1969

Meet Helen & Roylene

Sensational life Sydney 1983 Two of my favourite party girls.

Lets have a closer look

Sensational life Sydney 1983 One of the many dinner parties at my apartment.

Sensational life Sydney 1983

Sensational life Sydney 1983It seemed like the end of an era, meet Karen Smith who became my 3rd & final fiancee, we moved to 31 Herbert Avenue Newport & parted 3 years later. So I packed up my belongings & moved to Surfers Paradise. 🙂

Thanks for visiting my Sensational life Sydney 1983 photo blog.

Take a look at exciting 1982 and my big change of lifestyle in 1984.

 Here are some more posts to check out

         Life 2015                     Family history                   Life 1982

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  Adelaide 1972                 Iron Bar Freddy               Sydney 2006

417091_10150704751043594_62315468_n          Susies home Newport 1 (1)        April24FreewayHotel-33 (1)

Thailand 2008                Gold Coast Babes               World trip 2003

Fun in Pattaya-116         92bfa275-a122-4078-9970-1e24188a5917        CopacabanabeachNov2003-124

             Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book
                  through these links below.  Book now & pay later.
Free Cancellation. 
                              Bangkok Hotels                    Pattaya Hotels
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 That’s all folks
Surfers Paradise Party Animals
 
 
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Counter only started June16 2020.

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Boys must have toys

August 7, 2019 by David Herd

Boys must have toys

Boys must have toys

Boys must have toys, it’s ingrained in our DNA. I have searched through my photos to find nearly all of the cars & boats I have had the pleasure of owning throughout my life.

They don’t come much prettier than my yellow canary shown above, I owned this beautiful Mercedes 350SL for 17 years from 1990 till 2007.

Here’s what you do with a beautiful carYou fill it up with pretty girls of course. 🙂

When you own a beautiful Mercedes….

Boys must have toys

Naturally you need a Porsche to keep it company. 🙂

When you drove a Porsche on the Gold Coast……..

Boys must have toys

Good things seemed to happen.

My first Mercedes 350 SL

Boys must have toys

I purchased this classic in 1980, it was the ultimate chick magnet. 🙂

When you have a Mercedes & a Porsche…..

Boys must have toys
Naturally you need a boat. 🙂 This is a 22′ Fraser with a 200 HP Yamaha.

Next you need a crash test dummy

Boys must have toys

This keeps the birds away when the covers are off. 🙂

My previous boat.

Boys must have toys 

19 foot long with a 150 HP Suzuki. 

Life is hard, then you die.

Boys must have toys

Joking of course, life is wonderful, when you die you can take a rest. 🙂

26 foot Williams bay cruiser

Boys must have toys

This was my boat when I lived in Newport in Sydney in the 80s.

Also at Newport

Boys must have toys 

A little runabout to get me around Pittwater & Scotland Island. Do you like the name?

Here is my Bertram 25

Boys must have toys

A terrific flybridge cruiser with twin 165 HP Mercury inboards. It was moored outside my Drummoyne apartment in the early 80s & spent most of the time visiting Doyles at Watsons Bay.

When you own a boat…..

Boys must have toys 

Good things seem to happen. 🙂 🙂 🙂 

Loading the team on board

Boys must have toys 

Off to Doyles again.

Gluttony at it’s very best. 🙂

Boys must have toys 

So many memories of long lazy lunches at Doyles.

A typical Sunday at Doyles

Boys must have toys

Huge crowd at Doyles & the Watson’s Bay hotel next door.

Back to the cars

Boys must have toys

Early 80s I drove a Ford Marquis for a while.

You gotta love a Benz. 🙂

Boys must have toys

This was my Mercedes 280 E in 1989.

My beautiful Jaguar XJ 6.

Boys must have toys 

It came with 2 petrol tanks & 2 gorgeous girls.

My first car

Boys must have toys

Sorry about the photo quality most of my photos were damaged when my home in Melbourne was firebombed in September 1977. But that’s another story, it & others are on THIS LINK.

Next car was an iconic FJ Holden.

Boys must have toys

My girlfriend Beth washing my FJ Holden outside my home at 58 Kihilla Rd Auburn. 

I was lucky to survive some of the things I did in this car. Looking back, I was a typical teenager in the 60s who knew no fear.

Then came the Volkswagen

Boys must have toys 

I can remember floating it on the flooded highway at Ballina in the floods. I just pushed it 50 metres to the dry road.

When you owned a VW in the 60s……

Boys must have toys

Good things happened, for example “Veronica Crocker”.

EH Holden station wagon.

Boys must have toys

This was my next car after arriving home in 1965 after 18 months in England & Europe, including a 4 month stint as an officer on the La Maria.

A 1970 MGB, my first new car.

Boys must have toys

It set me back just under $3000, worth every cent. Purchased in Melbourne, relocated to Sydney for 2 years then moved to Adelaide in 1972.

A 1971 E Type Jaguar

Boys must have toys 

Forget the photo quality the car was magnificent. I remember driving from Adelaide to Melbourne in the middle of the night in 5 hours 45 minutes.

When you drove an E type good things happened.

Boys must have toys

Meet Jan Seagars & my Doberman Ziggy, this was Lexton Grove Windsor in 1974. Three thoroughbreds together.

My two sports cars

Boys must have toys

One was a little faster than the other, but I loved them both. Madison was guarding the fleet.

The work horse

Boys must have toys

My Commodore station wagon initially was my 2nd car, in 2003 I took 3 Japanese students on a road trip which started in Surfers Paradise & went through Broken Hill  NSW to Coober Pedy in South Australia. The next leg took us to Uluru aka Ayers Rock. 

Boys must have toys

Boys must have toys 

You may think this Lexus is a little out of character, I owned it for 3 years prior to moving to Thailand in 2011. Without a doubt it was the best value out of all the vehicles I ever owned. Paid $7,500 in 2008 & sold it for $7,000, it was as smooth as silk.

Well, that’s all folks.

Boys must have toys

Many thanks for visiting my Boys must have toys photo blog & indulging me in truck loads of nostalgia. 

 Here are some more posts to check out

         Life 2015                     Family history                   Life 1982

2835141a-02cf-4cda-a909-2a8408a99f47        6a173a01-9744-404a-a45f-87a975ec90fa          d5436828-abbc-4da1-a638-7f90436c6417

  Adelaide 1972                 Iron Bar Freddy               Sydney 2006

417091_10150704751043594_62315468_n          Susies home Newport 1 (1)        April24FreewayHotel-33 (1)

Thailand 2008                Gold Coast Babes               World trip 2003

Fun in Pattaya-116         92bfa275-a122-4078-9970-1e24188a5917        CopacabanabeachNov2003-124

             Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book
                  through these links below.  Book now & pay later.
Free Cancellation. 
                              Bangkok Hotels                    Pattaya Hotels
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 That’s all folks
 
 
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A-One hotel on Beach Road

Seven deadly Songkran days

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

 

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.