It's not that unusual to see old cars on the road here in Australia but they are usually old Holdens or Mustangs with a sprinkling of old Minis and others from time to time. It's not often that you see really unusual cars and this Riley Elf -top photo-spotted in Kiama two weeks ago is a real rarity.
The Elf was a badge engineered premium version of the BMC Mini produced in the UK between 1961 and !969. It was never sold in Australia so this one must have been a personal import.
The Elf had a sister variant, the Wolseley Hornet. Both were three box models with an extended front end with a big chrome grille and a boot extension.Viewed today they seem weird and ridiculously smal lbut in their day they were moderately succesful sellersin the UK.
The Vauxhall Cresta -below-spotted in a local car park last weekend would have been assembled by GMHolden here in Australia. In the 1960s in the UK the Cresta was seen as a spiv's or wideboy's car with its American styling and automatic gearbox. This is the first one I have ever seen in Australia. I suspect most fell victim to tinworm years ago.
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