The Classic Throttle Shop in Sydney contains a little bit of Goodwood...

Bits of Goodwood turn up where you least expect them. Such as, in the Sydney Harbour Bridge…

Part of the structure of the giant coathanger includes Milsons Point railway station, the arches under which are home to a rather special classic car dealership. Complete with an assortment of paddock shelter signs from the Revival!

This is the Classic Throttle Shop, which owner Rory Johnston bills as one of the best classic car showroom in the southern hemisphere.

You can see why. In the past, they have handled the sale of some significant sports and racing cars from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, as well as some more everyday classics. When GRR called in, cars for sale included a beautifully original and well cared-for 37,000km early Alfetta GT at $30,000 (tempting indeed at near two-dollars-to-the-pound) to a Porsche Carrera RS at close on $1m.

A Pur Sang (Argentina-built) Bugatti 35B, E-types, Dino, 308s and 328 Ferraris, Bentleys, a replica Aston DBR1, Mercs and MGs – all clearly hand picked for their condition – helped fill the spaces under the Revival signs in the listed building.

Not there when we called but for sale was a 1965 Brabham BT16. The car was raced by Graham Hill in F2 for John Coombs Racing before it headed Down Under and was re-engined for the Tasman Series, with Frank Gardner among its drivers. Best result: third in the Australian Grand Prix of 1967.

Freshly restored, it sounds like a car that should make its way to Goodwood pronto! That would make up for all those Revival signs heading in the opposite direction. You can see more on Classic Throttle Shop’s website here.

It’s all just one side of Australia’s particularly infectious enthusiasm for cars and motor sport (see our pic gallery above). Oz car culture embraces all sorts (as a wander round the V8 Supercars race in Sydney recently showed) – from Countach lookalike dragsters to the beloved utes (and even lairy V8 ute racing), heritage touring cars and drivers like the late Peter Brock.

Australians don’t quickly forget their heroes…