A Blast from the Past

My rego was PDS 332

I came across this piece of motorised nostalgia whilst visiting a local museum. 

It's nostalgic for me because I owned an almost identical vehicle from 1971 until 1974. My dad sold it to me after he bought it new in 1967. We arrived at a price by getting two trade-in valuations from a couple of Holden dealers. They were a dime a dozen (Holden dealers) back then.

They have now disappeared.

I write "almost" identical, because although it was the same colour and year, and had the same red upholstery it differed in engine and transmission. My car had the smaller 161 cubic inch engine. (That's 2.6 litres). This one was a 186 (3.04 litres).

This museum piece also had the optional disc brakes, and an Opel 4 speed floor shift from the GM parts bin. My car had drum brakes and a three on the tree shift. PDS 332 was very reliable in the three years I owned it, but those drum brakes were a problem once when they went out of round causing grabbing, and a pull to the right if applied vigorously. That was exciting.

Some detail on this car

In every other respect it was completely satisfactory and surprisingly economical on a long trip, although with fuel at 30 something cents a litre at the time, that wasn't really an issue.I undertook some remarkable trips in it, including Brisbane -Townsville - Mount Isa - Darwin - Alice Springs and return. It performed faultlessly and rescued my mate's near-new Toyota Corolla when it chewed up a fan belt between Katherine and Darwin.

Rescuing the Corolla

I'd love to drive this one. Not possible....