BETTER THAN NEW

WHO NEEDS INFOTAINMENT? GET A CAR

THERE ARE times when the entire motor industr y seems to have fa llen of f its collect ive litt le t rolley. Harsh? Maybe.

What got muggins on this theme was watching a couple of car ads recent ly. And no I can’t reca ll t he brands or models – which in itself says a lot about t he content.

What I do recall is an enormous amount of information about t he seating and, most critica lly, t he entertainment system and its connectiv it y. By t he end, I got t his uncomfortable feeling t hey were tr y ing to f log an infotainment suite t hat just looked like a car. You rea lly couldn’t be sure t hat it would actua lly ta ke you any where.

However, that doesn’t mean we should shun lu xur y. Oh no. As t he recent purchaser of 1989 long-wheelbase S-class Benz, which was much cheaper than any new car in the countr y, I can vouch for hav ing a bit of retro lu xo as part of t he family f leet. Its infotainment levels are positively spartan by modern standards, but it’s a magnificent t hing to cover big miles in.

Fortunately we’ve been blessed with decades-worth of land yachts built right here in Austra lia. Probably top of my peronal list would be a Brock Magnum verison of the Holden Statesman, and what you see here – the might y Ford LTD P6 from t he seventies.

These were well-matched to loca l needs and as reliable as a hammer, while being simple and relatively cheap to maintain. And just quiet ly, t he P6 is among t he few Aussie chrome bumper cars that haven’t yet seen meteoric price rises. You could get one for less t han t he cost of a new Kia Sorento, and I k now damn well what I’d rather have.

Here’s my favourite P6 stor y, from reader Steve Koukouletas: “My uncle is a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church,” Steve said. “When he got the car some of the church community thought it was a Rolls-Royce and were say ing he must have been robbing the church funds to afford it.

“He had to spend quite a bit of time conv incing them that it was rea lly a Ford and not worth any t hing like t hey t hought it was.”

Me, I would’ve f itted R-R badges just to mess wit h t hem...