DIRTY STUFF

A FAIR few years back, I got involved with a major restoration of a 1918 Australian Six. A big six-cylinder people transporter, these vehicles were built in large numbers in Sydney, and, for a while, sold well. But reliability problems with the imported Rutenber sidevalve engine – due to stuff like casting sand left in the internals and other shoddy assembly-caused disasters – crippled sales, and then the Depression killed them off.

This particular survivor had been a museum exhibit and was in reasonable