WELL-TRAVELLED UTE

I was very surprised to see a car that I owned about three to four years ago featured in an article in Unique Cars. It was page 11, the Blue HQ ute for sale on Gateway Classic Cars in Vegas. I had bought it from an older Italian Gentleman from Melbourne.

I f lew down, picked it up and drove it straight away from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, never missing a beat. It didn’t have power steering then and was dual fuel, with Cheviot mags. I did a fair bit of work to her, including fitting the power steering, some rust repairs, and a complete overhaul of front and back suspension.

I read with amusement the description of the US-styled bonnet mounted SA AS gauges. They were just cheap oil/temp and tacho gauges from Autobarn, as the ones in the dash were not very reliable, and I mounted them to the air-f low grille in front of windscreen.

I was hassled by this kid from down south to sell it to him after having it for 18 months or so and ended up selling it to him. Not for 31,000 Aussie dollars, that’s for sure!

It still has the old Narva driving lights that I had taken off my HJ sedan.

I’ve got another HQ ute now with everything the blue one didn’t have and I’m very happy with latest acquisition.

Alan McKitttrick

ED: A great story, Alan, thanks. I wonder how it ended up in Las Vegas?