Boazy

Lilly Pilly fruit are very edible, some can be made into jam - like the beautiful magenta coloured ones, there is a white one the size of a nectarine (home grown variety not pumped up shop stuff) and it tastes rather like a nashi pear I'm not sure if it will grow this far south.

TBC

Yup. I really used to love the smell of motorcycle early in the morning. Ironic now, cos I over react to chemical anything these days - hence living among tree. I used to ride an old Suzuki 360 with the Ram Air cooling. I have ridden better bikes, but this old thing was solid, steady and never over heated. My fave bike was also an oldie that a friend lent out to me a 1960 BMW 600 - with those bizarre cyclinders. But the thing felt lighter than the 360 and balanced like an angle on a pin.

I am hoping that Hasbeen's triumph is a Spitfire - Stags are just a bit too common, don't you think?

My other fave car, was a reworked Mazda RX 3 - yes I said '3' not '7' which (being VERY carbon evil) was faster than the equivalent RX7 - because it was not held in check by all the pollution gear on the exhaust.

Those were the days, my friend...

Severin.... "because it was not held in check by all the pollution gear on the exhaust".. a car for PH, Stern and Yabby, with no regulations holding it back eh?

I think my favourite cars have been a Chev Belair V8 and a Citroen Light 15, both extremes at different ends of the market.

Yes, the Stag... a hotch-potch engine made from two Saab V4s stuck together. An attempt to be suave, not too conservative, yet daring all at the same time, which didn't quite work out as well as perhaps it should have... probably could have done with the Rover V8.

The Spitfire could be a Hasbeen chariot, as an old Herald owner I did look out for one to move up to years ago, but I always preferred the GT6, a Spitfire with a hardtop and bigger engine.

My fourth form master had a red one and I recall we all thought he was very 'with-it' at the time.

Then again, maybe he has a TR2/3... very distinctive and still unpolished beasts.

One of my brothers friends, whose father had a stable of MG Midgets in different stages of rebuild, responded to a newspaper ad' for a 'Triumph sports car' for sale (many years ago in the UK).

Turned out to be a TR2, and on investigation it was actually a factory prototype testbed that had been fitted with a steel sheet underneath for some speed record attempt. A very battered and bruised car but it hadn't done too many miles and he just left it as-is.

Do tell us Hasbeen... what do you drive... the suspense is killing us.

Amazing... just found a YouTube clip of the speed attempt in 1953:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVCEvK3JMng

Watch past the 'talking man' at the start and see the 'test pilot' take the TR2 to 125 mph.

Not bad for the engine that powered the original grey Massey Ferguson tractor for so many years... and the Vanguards, and all the TRs up to the TR5.

Dear Ludwig,

"A few loose screws in a rocking chair,
Would simply be too hard to bear,
'Cause the chair could break,
No joy would come,
Rock-a-bye Ludwig, the outlook is glum!"

Foxy
Did you write those poems? very clever even remembering them.

Hasbeen,

People.

Nature that hasn't been spoiled by the yobs.

Real Democracy not the drivel that political parties proffer.

Logical informed conversation.

My late Bouvier dog :-( I still miss her. 3years now.

*music all types. from Baroque -jazz -doo wop -acopella - barbershop - harmony- 40/50/60/70s- some ethnic- Blues- r&b- acid rock rock- you get the drift...hate rap, current female screamers pop stars.*

Factual books maybe some Scifi.

Favourite cars I've owned- hotted "S" series Valiant.(rocket ship not good on cornering or stopping :-( ), Subaru Ute, Subaru station wagon, current subi car. Oh yes, HORAS old....old diesel truck (work vehicle) buried it in concrete in the end (literally)...couldn't kill it.

Least favourite, 2 year old Ford Fairlane (caught fire in car park $68k damage to other cars roller and benz. You should have heard me trying to explain that to the insurance co. Went to insurance category 8 squillion after that ), Comode- dore,(nuf said)
Hmm not sure cars... my Roles Royce (driving a battle ship...lots of naughty memories though .... cue evil laugh) Me roller? long story.
XK 150 & XK 120 look good but.......

Did I mention music ?

No blue, it's not one with a tractor engine.

I bought a Morgan +4 new in 1962, which had one of those, the 1991 cc TR3A engine. Funnily enough, that car is worth so much today that I could not afford to buy it back, even if I wanted to. I raced that car for a couple of years, [it did 124.6MPH down conrod], & decided the engine really was more suitable for tractors.

No my choice of Triumph is the much maligned TR7 FHC 2 liter, & an ex US TR8 DHC, V8. I was lucky enough to buy the 7 as two wrecks, & the 8, before they started to get valuable. I am also lucky I don't have exotic, or expensive tastes.

I share the 8 with my son. He often takes it to Sydney, when he is going to be in port for a while. He tends to spend money on making the thing more powerful, then brings it back, just before it is totally broken, for me to fix, before he takes it again. He reckons it keeps me fit, & young. It' a great car for a wind in the hair Sunday drive.

The 7 is a wonderful car for a long run, so comfortable & easy to drive. You kind of become part of it, & think it down the road, effortlessly. I came home from Bathurst recently in 12 hours, arrived feeling fresh, & got better than 7L/100Km economy. What modern , even with tons of electronics could do better.

I almost bought a Holden 327 HK Monaro a few years back, a bit of nostalgia. I drove one of them to a podium place for the Holden Dealer Team, at Bathurst in 68, & always had a yen for one. I wish I had now, they have gone up about $150,000 in price since then, but I could just not justify such a big thirsty car in my life.

I've been driving my Triumph for 9 years now, & can see no reason to change. We can just grow older together.