Rare and interesting car sightings

[Swift]

Here is an unusual looking early Toyota Prius.

[Ikarbus]

The first Prius model.

Does anyone know what these early gen hybrid cars are like now and how they are ageing? I remember talk at the time they came out that their batteries would need replacing after about 10 years at a cost of approximately $8k or something.

What about all the Camry hybrid taxis out there, what's their end of life/post taxi-life expectancy like?

[Swift]

I imagine you won't see many ex taxi Camry Hybrids like driving around like you did the Falcons.
They do their job saving wear and fuel whilst doing stop start taxi duties, which is where these types of vehicles are in their absolute element. Once they have racked up gargantuan mileage, and their generator and battery packs are spent, they would make for a poor proposition as personal transport as they will be spent and the generators cost a fortune to replace. The battery packs have come down in price, from $6000 down to about $1500. That is probably why that older model has managed to stay on the road.

[Ikarbus]

I imagine you won't see many ex taxi Camry Hybrids like driving around like you did the Falcons.
They do their job saving wear and fuel whilst doing stop start taxi duties, which is where these types of vehicles are in their absolute element. Once they have racked up gargantuan mileage, and their generator and battery packs are spent, they would make for a poor proposition as personal transport as they will be spent and the generators cost a fortune to replace. The battery packs have come down in price, from $6000 down to about $1500. That is probably why that older model has managed to stay on the road.

Agree regarding taxis. For ordinary privately owned units, that is a substantial reduction in battery pack cost, which certainly makes them more attractive in the long term and second hand market.

[Merc1107]

Batteries are quite cheap to replace these days, yes.

I think the larger issue with Hybrids will be engines worn out from excessive stop-start operation and transition straight to "revving its tits off, even when cold" from a cold start. Even regularly serviced Pri-i (and other Japanese makes) are notorious for heavy oil consumption as they age, its a consequence of the low-tension rings used in engines to save minute quantities of fuel.

Whilst on the freeway the other day, a Hybrid Camry taxi passed me making a constant, awful clatter... Pinging. How an engine designed to run on regular unleaded petrol can ping so badly with modern engine management systems, I cannot fathom. Can't be good for the engine's longevity!

[Nugget]

We had a TM for about a decade, maybe more and we had to replace the box once. It just died one day. That said, the NRMA membership took care of towing to the dealer and the dealer/Mitsubishi took care of the rest. The box didn't have any troubles after that.

How far into the decade did it need replacing?

I think it was in the third year of the decade, pretty early on. It was before MMAL freely admitted they had a problem but they did acknowledge it once we had it.

[Swift]

That was one of the earliest learning transmissions wasn't it? No wonder they develop problems when they constantly adjust their shift points.
Regarding hybrid engines, I wouldn't imagine they would be subject to much different conditions to a standard efi motor. They are designed to be driven off straight away and as long as you go easier for the first few kilometres, it shouldn't present a problem in a hybrid. The engines activate quite often, at least in the case of the Camry Hybrid. Also, in taxi use, just like other cars, the engines stay warm more often in most cases.

[Swift]

KB Laser from 1982 -85 in Matraville and a collaboration
between Mitsubishi and Mercedes?

[scott]

Our neighbours had one of those Lasers back in the day, was a good little car, but a pain to start on a cold morning, I remember hearing him crank the crap out it. Must of had a crook carby or choke from new as not even Lube Mobile could fix it.

It got taken off the road by the EPA as it blew too much smoke, was traded as it would cost too much to fix. Only 10 years old at the time.

Those Express vans were axed in 2013 because they did not meet current standards. Mitsi have not got anything to replace it.

[Swift]

In other markets, the 1.5 litre was available with efi. You would think they could have offered it as an option, at least on the Ghia. The XE Falcon had already introduced efi at the time.
Those Mercedes wheel covers on the express van are off a 1967 model.

[boronia]

A set of good Merc hubcaps probably worth more than the van.

[scott]

Anyone want a nice EB GT for $40,000?

https://www.australianmusclecarsales.com.au/muscle/225069-1992-eb-gt-falcon-89.html

Has the nice Alpine stereo and CD stacker that featured on the higher EB II models and the DCII LTD.

The husband of a friend of my grandmother worked at Ford in Broadmeadows as a supervisor, and he got some nice company cars every 9 months. One of them was a lovely EBII 6 cyl Ghia fully optioned and with said Alpine equipment, was fun as a 10 year old reading the manual to figure out how to use it. Nearly bought it for himself at the end of the 9 months but someone at the factory got in first and snapped it up. He bought his 9 month old EF Ghia company car when he retired.

[Swift]

The husband of a friend of my grandmother worked at Ford in Broadmeadows as a supervisor, and he got some nice company cars every 9 months. One of them was a lovely EBII 6 cyl Ghia fully optioned and with said Alpine equipment, was fun as a 10 year old reading the manual to figure out how to use it. Nearly bought it for himself at the end of the 9 months but someone at the factory got in first and snapped it up. He bought his 9 month old EF Ghia company car when he retired.

Nice work if you can get it! Thanks for showing us the GT. I recently watched an edition of Shannons TV covering the EB and the model has a surprising amount of race history. They were actually saying special editions of the EB could still be obtained at sensible money. Not anymore!

[boronia]

On display in Paddy'd Markets

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[Swift]

Funny enough, today's Judge Judy featured a man with a grievance over an early 60s VW bus rolling shell he was restoring with a bloke he was trying to get compensation off for not completing paid work on the body.

[scott]

They also built a special batch of EB II S packs badged as SS if I remember correctly, sometime in 1992 or early to mid 1993.

[Swift]

They also built a special batch of EB II S packs badged as SS if I remember correctly, sometime in 1992 or early to mid 1993.

Yes, I'm pretty sure they mentioned the SS, which I thought was funny as that is better known as a Holden Commodore variant.
Here is the video of that episode. Well worth checking out.
https://youtu.be/MJPzQmfFZMU

[boronia]

Hanging around Kensington today

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[Swift]

Recently saw a dark coloured VK Commodore in tidy looking condition parked in Flinders St Darlinghurst late at night. Felt like a blast from the past seeing it parked there like any other vehicle.
Came across a dark blue 1968 VE Valiant on club plates in Maroubra Jcn earlier tonight.

[Swift]

Here is one Boronia should appreciate. An early 70s Volvo with 5 speed manual. Apparently the previous owner painted it into lipstick red from it's original orange red. The owners showed me some of the original paint showing in the door jambs. It had been used for racing and had a roll cage in it in the past. The current owners want to restore it back to original.

[Nugget]

An early 70s Volvo with 5 speed manual.

A 5 speed is already an upgrade, I think they were standard with 4 speeds in the early 70s.

[Swift]

A 5 speed is already an upgrade, I think they were standard with 4 speeds in the early 70s.

One lack of originality I would be happy to keep!

[huppypuppy]

Here is an unusual looking early Toyota Prius.

With a equally rare/interesting Mack MetroLiner concrete truck behind it! :O

[huppypuppy]

Not so much a rare/interesting car but a rare/interesting coach!
Austral HRP2 Minimaster TV8354 by Joe Hupp, on Flickr

Austral HRP2 Minimaster - rare in that five were made and all went to Deluxe Coachlines. This survivor was the third unit off the Austral Bus and Coach production line and wore Deluxe fleet number 203. Currently owned by former Deluxe employee, Phil Langley of Dubbo, NSW, this Minimaster was given the Deluxe repaint as Phil is hosting this year's Deluxe reunion at his yard in West Dubbo

[Swift]

Here is an unusual looking early Toyota Prius.

With a equally rare/interesting Mack MetroLiner concrete truck behind it! :O

Good eye for detail. Good find with the coach as well. You could really post that as a stand-alone topic under Sydney NSW photos. I haven't seen that style front in ages and it's nice to see Deluxe back.