Aussie Tim...it was a real pleasure visiting Oz in the early '80s. Great people and plenty of Emu Export and Black Swan Lager beer in Perth and Fremantle's bars...and lovely girls in the discos along Hay Street in old downtown Perth. I got to see an impromptu car show in a Happy Jack's parking lot (the Oz version of Burger King) in Fremantle...Holden Monaros, Chrysler Valiant Chargers, and 4-door Tri-Fives that were hot rodded (no 2-doors).
I was trying to remember how I knew Bob Wingate and I realized he was a regular at the big auto swap meet at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena in the early '80s. He brought cars to sell and was also looking for cars (mostly classic Chevys). At that time there were a lot of ultra-classic Tri-Fives like Nomads and Belair convertibles (and the occasional early Vette) to be found at that swap meet for very reasonable money. The swap meet at the LA County Fairgrounds in Pomona also attracted a lot of classic project cars, but not as interesting or nice as Pasadena's...it was not uncommon to see Packards from the '20s and '30s that had been dragged unrunning from a nearby garages to be sold in the car corral. The most collectible Chevy part I ever saw there was a complete NOS cowl plenum air cleaner for a 1st Gen Z28 for $250. I wish I could use a wayback machine to get some of the great deals from back them (don't we all!).
