Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

A

bacusAuctionsis anauctionhousethat

specialisesin rareandsoughtafterstamps,

butitscataloguesometimesincludesother

itemslikesignedphotographicmemorabilia–

likethepairofMadMaxsignedpicswhichwent

underthehammerin Melbournelatelastyear.

Thephotographofthe(FalconXB)

InterceptorfromtheoriginalMadMaxlmis

signedandendorsedbyMelGibsonaswell

asSteveBisley,whoplayedGibson’spolice

sidekick,‘TheGoose’.Bisleyreassuresthe

recipient,‘Trish’,thathislegis ‘theonlything

thatgoeslimp’(‘Goose’sustainsa leginjury

in thelmwhileattemptingtoapprehendthe

villainous‘Toecutter’).Theotherpicshowsone

ofthechiefbadguysfromthesecondMad

Maxlm,‘Wez’,andsignedbytheactorwho

playedWez,VernonWells,whothoughtfully

remindsTrishthat‘mohawksmakegreatcrutch

ticklers’.WhileAbacusestimatedtheprints

wouldsellfor$100,thewinningbidhit$145–

whichwereckonmightactuallybea bargain.

Bad Max

H

DThasalwaysdonethingsin itsown

stylishwayviaa giantpresenceand

heavyweightperformances.Thatapproach

hascarriedthroughtothelong-awaited50th

AnniversaryHDTArchiveCollectionwhichhas

nowlandedonourdeskwitha giantthud.

It’sfairto saywe’veneverseenanythingquite

likeit. It’sthepublishingversionof oneof HDT

SpecialVehicle’smorein-your-facevehiclesfrom

the 1980s.It evenhasrealbadgesin thelid!

This10kgcoffeetable-sizecollectioncertainly

deliversonHDTSVownerPeterChampion’s

promiseto createtheultimatecollector’sitem

for HDTenthusiasts.It’smassive!Mostly

becausethisboxedbehemothcomprisesthe

aforementioned

e

a

er

lift-outmemorabilia.Thelatter

comprisesonce-condential

internalpaperwork,vehicle

brochuresandindividually

printedpersonallettersfrom

pastemployeesandidentities

includingPeterLewis-

Williams,PeterJanson,Joe

Felice,JohnCrennan,Colin

Bond,IanTate,LarryPerkins,

Graeme(Mort)Brown,Craig

Fletcher,GregChambersand

DavidWhitehead.AMCwas

particularlytakenbytheEnergy

Polarisertmentinstructions.

Allof theitemscombined

captureHDT’shistorydating

backto theearliestMonaro

andrallycrossdays,through

to thelegendarydaysof

PeterBrockandHDTSpecial

Vehicles,boththeeighties

Commodoresandlatemodel

tributeversions.

t

Bigger than Brocky’s aura

The famous bridge

that spans Pit

Straight has been

removed to undergo a

refurbishment. Bathurst

Regional Council

oversaw the tricky

process of removing the

bridge by crane from

the circuit so it can

undergo a revamp. The

16-tonne bridge came

from the Sydney 2000

Olympic Games and was

installed in the 2004

redevelopment. The

refurbished bridge was

scheduled to be installed

in July ahead of the big

race over October 10-13.

1974 Oran Park