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.