1974 Targa Florio
Ann and
Richard moved to Australia in December 2000 and were on the lookout for
vehicles. They had sold the P76 they owned in New Zealand before
leaving and wanted to replace it with another one. It took a few
years as there were other priorities but finally managed to track
down a 1974 Omega Navy Targa Florio just a couple of weeks before
the 2006 Australia P76 National Meeting being held on the Gold Coast
in Queensland.
With the
help of a couple of club members they were able to get a roadworthy
certificate on the car and get it registered in time to participate
in the Nationals. Nothing major to date as been done on the car
apart from getting it running smoothly and keeping it in good order.
It is registered as a ‘Special Vehicle’ which does not allow us to
use it on a daily basis but reduces the cost of registration
significantly. We drove this car to Geelong, Victoria, in 2008 and
Newcastle, NSW, in 2010 for the Nationals. It is only used once a
month to go on our monthly club run.
1973 Deluxe V8
The 1973
Bitter ApricotV8 Deluxe with black vinyl interior was purchased in
2008 through Ebay after talking with various people who knew the
vehicle and its owner. When they flew down to Melbourne and drove
another four hours to collect the car they were a little
apprehensive as to what it would be like. It was in great condition
so they drove it back to Queensland over a couple of days enjoying
the trip and the comfort. It travelled well on LPG.
It
had only been driven daily by the previous owner, approx 15km to
work and back for the past three years. All was well and the car got
home without any mishap. It is much cheaper to run being on LPG with
petrol backup than the Targa Florio but not as comfortable. It is
heavier in the driving with no power steering. At the moment the car
is the family sedan but normally is only driven once a week to keep
it running smoothly. They are in the process of getting a power
steering rack and pump reconditioned to be fitted onto the car.