[Baldrick]

Good day everybody,

I'm new to the Team bhp forum, name is Rob and I live in Australia {New South Wales}. I've always been a bit of a petrol-head but other commitments probably limited my car acquisitions up until recent years.

Previously I've owned / driven:
several VW Beetles, VW scirocco, BMW 3.0Si, several Ford Cortina / Sierra, Vauxhall / Opel Astra, Rover 220, Citroen 2CV, Audi Coupe
My current "fleet" in order of "oldest first" is:

1953 Citroen 'Traction Avant' - the "Big 15" four cylinder, this one's in the middle of a long and extensive {and slow} restoration;
1953 Bristol 401 - one of the early examples of 'Superleggera' construction with a light alloy body over a tubular steel frame, this one needs an extensive restoration but sadly not started yet;
1969 Peugeot 404 Sedan - this is a "rolling restoration," still needs plenty more doing;
1975 Peugeot 504 Sedan - needs a full restoration, not yet started;
1989 Peugeot 505 Station Wagon - running OK, it was my "daily driver" for a few years, now substituted by the "Ute;"
2004 Smart 452 Roadster, 700cc 3 cylinder turbo - basically its a roadgoing "go-kart;"
2005 MG ZR160, one of the last UK produced MG's, didn't realise until recently how rare this model is in Aus, only 50 were brought here before MG Rover went bankrupt in 2005;
Last but not least 2013 Mahindra Pikup chassis-cab 'Utility' - probably the vehicle I spend most time driving;

Away from cars I have a piece of land further West that I attempt to grow things on - not always successfully! Also have a 1951 {I think} Ferguson TEA20 {'Fergie Grey'} on the land to help with my attempts at "farming." What with the ever expanding car fleet there's not much time left over for other things.

Regards,
Rob

[sidharth_j]

Welcome to the forum, Baldrick!
It's good to see another Sydneysider on team-bhp. (although I suspect you might be further out west ).

That's quite the car collection indeed!
And to top it all, you own that rarest of beasts - the Mahindra Pik-Up. Damn good value for money, that!

Looking forward to more posts from you.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Baldrick

Good day everybody,

I'm new to the Team bhp forum, name is Rob and I live in Australia {New South Wales}. I've always been a bit of a petrol-head but other commitments probably limited my car acquisitions up until recent years.

Away from cars I have a piece of land further West that I attempt to grow things on - not always successfully! Also have a 1951 {I think} Ferguson TEA20 {'Fergie Grey'} on the land to help with my attempts at "farming." What with the ever expanding car fleet there's not much time left over for other things.

G'Day Rob / Baldrick!

Do share the photos of your arsenal of cars as well as your attempts at farming. I love Australia, having visited a couple of times (hope the flooding spared you) and then visited Brisbane for a project! I love the spirit esp shown by the volunteer fire servicepeople in Jan 2020 - it is my model for civic behavior and I hope I can see such levels in India in my lifetime

In Australia I am assuming you would be hands on with the vehicle maintenance - would be all ears to hear how you maintain your cars.

In India, folks like me simply take it to the service center even at 10 years out - because labor and parts are cheap. Very curious how you maintain it.

[NPV]

Hi Rob, welcome to Team BHP

Wishing you a long, enjoyable stay here on Team BHP.

Look forward to hearing more about all the vintage vehicles you own, how you maintain them and your restoration experiences as well.

I've never been to Australia, would love to visit sometime hopefully on a slightly extended stay so as to spend time exploring places and driving around. Would be great if you can share your travel experiences as well, I know it's such a huge continent/country and has so much diversity in terms of people, culture, landscape and terrain.

Oh, and we'd love to hear about your farming exploits as well!

*Just out of curiosity, would like to know if you've been following Team BHP as a non-member and why you decided to take the membership and join the forum.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Baldrick

Good day everybody,

I'm new to the Team bhp forum, name is Rob and I live in Australia {New South Wales}. I've always been a bit of a petrol-head but other commitments probably limited my car acquisitions up until recent years.

G'day Rob, and welcome to Team-BHP. Quite a few Sydneysiders on the forum, so a fellow member is never far away holds true even in Australia.

There are a few members scattered in Victoria, as well as sunny Queensland, with lower numbers in the other states.

Originally Posted by Baldrick

Last but not least 2013 Mahindra Pikup chassis-cab 'Utility' - probably the vehicle I spend most time driving;

Interesting choice of vehicle, getting the Mahindra with all the other choices on offer. In saying that, I do see them around Brisbane and almost always they do seem to be used for what they were built for. I used to have a Scorpio which is the SUV version of the Pikup when back in India, and still feel the MHawk engine is a true delight. Would love to hear your thought process behind getting the Pikup, as well as your experiences with it.

Your intro is incomplete without pics of your cars.

[SS-Traveller]

A 64-year-old Aussie from NSW, with a keen interest in collecting and driving rare old cars; also interested in railways, music and history; and farming & horticulture. Think this will get to be a different kind of interaction!

Welcome to Team-BHP, Rob. Let's hear those questions.

Oh, and we take our English grammar, language and punctuation very seriously here, so can we have (first brackets) instead of {second brackets} please?

[Baldrick]

Thanks Sidharth, Phamilyman, NPV, Benbsb29, SS_Traveller,

Yes I am a little far out into the 'Wild West' but still a Sydneysider when I need to be (work mostly). I'm fairly "hands on" with the maintenance of my "fleet" but will likely 'chicken out' when it comes to things like paint respraying or interior retrimming. I found 'Team bhp' a bit by accident - doing a google search on wheel sizes for my 'Traction Avant' there was a post on this forum about that, and I just kept reading more and more.

The Mahindra I've had for about a year and a half now - absolutely delighted with it. I just wanted a basic simple 'carry all' vehicle without too much 'computery / electronicery.' Didn't have a big budget and looking at the secondhand ads for about Au$8,000 you could get a "mainstream" Ute (eg Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan) with about 300,000 Kms on the clock or one of the "non-mainstream" (eg GWM, LDV, Tata, or Mahindra) with about 100,000 Kms. Also reading the various forums there seemed to be all sorts of "issues" with most mainstream makes depending on series / year etc. So I went for the Mahindra, had a little bit of initial trouble which turned out to be the actuator for the 'EGR' valve, brilliant mechanic here in the Blue Mountains fixed it for me (he actually installed a tyre valve into the airway to the actuator to "regulate" the flow/pressure) and I've had no problem since. Every weekend it gets a load of stuff thrown in the back and a 200 Km round trip ending with about 5 Km of very rough dirt track - takes it all in its stride. The 2.2 litre diesel's a really willing engine and with the almost insanely high 5th gear ratio it just purrs along on the highway.

As for all the others, I've been trying to sort out things from a massive jumble of photos so here goes (ignore the 'Astra' - that's been sold now):

















Regards,
Rob

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Baldrick

2004 Smart 452 Roadster, 700cc 3 cylinder turbo - basically its a roadgoing "go-kart;"

Welcome Rob!
When I saw smart 452 in your list of cars, I am like . Next to the high regard I have for the lightweight roadsters of Lotus's Elise, Mazda's MX-5, Alpine's A110, Smart 452 is a genuine underrated driver's car for what it delivers. Looking forward to learn from your stories and experiences.

I hope you will have fun here!

cheers,
Karthik

[Baldrick]

Thanks Karthik,

yes the roadster's a rare beast here in Australia (was this model sold in India?). I think I discovered that 300 total were sold here between 2003 - 2006. I'd imagine most of those were in the Eastern States - don't think there'd be many in NT or even WA. Part of the problem was that they were very expensive when new - believe it was about Au$40,000 when a Mazda MX5 was closer to Au$30,000. Consequently 452's are rare, MX5's are everywhere.

Would love to have a Lotus Elise - but they're in a different league cost-wise and the Alpine A110 (original type) has to be one of my all-time favourites. Just a very few private import Alpines exist here - one or two even imported from Mexico where there was a 'shadow' Alpine factory. The "new" Alpine's available here but yet to see one on the road - maybe I should get out more :-)

Road testers back in the day criticised the "slow" gearchange of the 6 speed sequential on the Smart - nowadays we're used to the dual clutch instant shift but this was an early attempt with just one clutch. I find if you use 'semi-auto' and ease off throttle as you shake the gearshift to help it along its not too bad. Also you'll never win the "traffic light Grand Prix" as you can't build the revs then dump the clutch as its all auto-controlled. Those limitations aside its really fun to drive - specially on a twisty mountain road. Surprisingly for a 'city' car its also one of the best long distance machines I've encountered, the 6th gear is really high for relaxed freeway cruising, seats are comfortable, and it soaks up the bumps reasonably effectively given its short wheelbase - just don't expect to carry too much luggage :-) Been to Melbourne and back in mine a few years ago - best part of 1,000 Kms each way.
Regards,
Rob

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Baldrick

was this model sold in India?

No, but it was sold in the Netherlands, where I live. It is one of the cars on my hobby car list to buy cheap used and have fun. I had the chance to drive a friend's 452 once for a few hours and I must say, it is a small but very nimble and agile roadster, inspite of not being powerful. You can have fun and still be within speed limits. Agree with the highway experience, as it was pretty comfortable at cruising speeds too. It is one the rare road cars which has a De-dion suspension at the rear and I always wonder how or why was the decision made to go for a de-dion unit.