Holden Toranas sell for a pretty penny these days.
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Especially iconic ones, like this 1977 Holden LX Torana driven by renowned race car driver John Harvey in the Australian Touring Car Championship.
It's up for auction on Saturday. Bidding online has already reached $695,000.
Lee Hames, of Lloyds Auctions, said he "wouldn't be surprised if it sells for $2 million".
Lee said the vehicle was "arguably one of the most important pieces of Australian motor racing history to go under the hammer in some time".
"This amazing car still runs as good as the days it was thundering around the tracks in the late '70s."
The revheads sure did love the Torana.
Car Watching
Col Maybury has been watching the "myriad cars streaming past" from his new place at Boolaroo.
"I have moved from an acreage at Kurri Kurri to a cosy retirement village in busy Boolaroo, just down from Bunnings," Col said.
The vehicles flow by, mesmerising him. He perceives it as a "pastiche of colours", as various car makes whiz past, including "a glistening Holden ute, here and there".
He sees very few cars.
"And it comes to me that I have seen the rise and fall of Australia's own car."
The first Holden - a 48-215, also known as the FX - rolled off the assembly line in 1948, watched by Prime Minister Ben Chifley.
Australia became the land of the car.
"Carry the sheep in the back seat and take the missus to church on Sunday," Col quipped.
"The Belmont, the Kingswood, the Commodore - each bigger and more powerful. The thrilling battles at Bathurst's Mount Panorama. The screech of tyres and the smell of oil. The characters.
"Then came the Japanese imports, little cars, half the cost. Now the roads are filled with truncated but colourful SUVs [sports utility vehicles] from a hundred makers. They are shiny, new and affordable.
"They stream past and slumber on the footpaths, for they tell us our cars are only used 6 per cent of the time on average [most of the time they're parked]."
Col is glad to have seen the evolution of the car in Australia.
"I am pleased the Holden shone, albeit for only 70 years. I can't help but wonder what the next 70 years will bring in personal transportation," he said.
Maryland or Thailand?
We reported on Tuesday how a card sent to Maitland Hospital ended up in Thailand. Someone at the post office, it seems, confused Maitland with Thailand.
Fran Faulkner tells Topics that her husband just received a birthday card from his sister that was posted in April from Gosford to Maryland. Maryland, it seems, was also confused with Thailand.