Politics. When you read the word you would normally go to Liberal v Labor, Republicans v Democrats...for those that have and do work in the fields of motorsport and car sales, the word is just as applicable. The 2019 film Ford vs Ferrari is about politics in those fields. Yet, the title is largely about the sub-plot of what happened between Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford the second. Although the event is why the film exists, the film focuses more on the relationship between Ford’s favourite son in the 1960s, Carroll Shelby, and his friend, engineer Ken Miles. Shelby made his name selling higher ..read more

Tasmania. The Apple Isle. The isolated bit of Oz south of Victoria. It’s a pretty place and it’s got some of the best driving roads in the world. Longford is a historic town with settlers putting down stakes for land as early as 1807 and is located some twenty minutes drive southwest from Launceston. It’s a farmland settlement and home to the oldest continually operating horse racing site in Australia. And from 1953 to 1968 it played host to a number of motorsports events including two Australian Grands Prix. The street based track just to the north of the town was spread over 4.5 miles or ar ..read more

There are few phrases that are guaranteed to annoy someone than “back in the day” or “when I was young” to infer things were better then. They’re a couple of phrases that can be applied to so many things like Star Wars films, tv comedies, Formula 1, console games and with car racing. Whoa! Wait a second. Do you mean that hi-res graphics, ultra-realistic driving dynamics, and surround sound isn’t as good as what the 1980s brought alive? Pretty much. Like everything with a tradition, console games had to start somewhere. The 1980s gave us Space Invaders, Missile Command, and some little yellow ..read more

 Supercars, as they are now known, and previously as the V8 Supercars and Australian Touring Car Championship, have had a strong presence in this country for quite some time now. Followers have seen Falcons, Commodores, Skylines, and more, pound the circuits of Australia. However, there were occasional excursions to places other than Sydney or Perth or tracks in Tasmania. And for the sake of prudency we’ll also include New Zealand as we’re looking at locations such as Europe or Japan. Travel back in time to when the Group A category was in place; 1982 and the Fédération Internationale de l'Aut ..read more

Ford’s Mustang has proven to be an immense success since its release a few years ago. Sold with a choice of 2.3L EcoBoost four or the markedly more popular 5.0L V8, Ford Australia has seen the Mustang roll into a dealership and roll out seemingly within seconds, such has been its popularity. But companies have to move with the times, and Ford has chosen to try and see into the future by electrifying a Mustang. And what’s more, they’ve stayed with history by building this car with a manual. The Ford Mustang Lithium is an “ultra-high-performance battery electric Mustang fastback prototype” says ..read more

There’s a saying: Time waits for no man. This could be applied to forms of motorsport. Australia’s Touring Car Masters is a great example; as time passes the kind of cars that were once not eligible or deemed not suitable are changing. This includes the early examples of Holden’s iconic Commodore. Information going back to early 2018 indicated that the VB and VC series Commodore, covering 1978 through to 1982, will be made eligible for entry into the Touring Car Masters (TCM) 2020 season. The VH version (1982-1984)will also be made welcome however there may be some extra work required for th ..read more

Rockhampton Regional Council has today announced that it has secured a major Naming Rights Partner for the inaugural Rockynats event. Rare Spares, known as the largest supplier of automotive restoration parts and accessories in Australia, signed the Partnership deal for what is set to be the greatest motoring festival brought to Central Queensland. Rare Spares Managing Director, Lance Corby said it is really exciting to come on board as a naming rights sponsor. “Rockynats is already set to be one of the biggest events of its kind in the country,” said Mr Corby. “Partnering with events like th ..read more

Summer in Australia. Perth has a dry, baking heat. Darwin and the FNQ region has “the wet”. Brisbane and Sydney have a mix of wet heat and thunderstorms. Melbourne and Hobart have their own climate requirements, as does Adelaide.   This makes looking after a car’s paint potentially fraught with region specific issues for a vehicle built to cover a wide environment. Here’s a few tips that may help.   Although it’s not always possible, a garage or carport is a great start in protecting paint. This is a great investment against the number one killer of a car’s outside. Ultra violet rays. These ca ..read more

  There are car shows, and there are car SHOWS.  We’ve used capitals in this case as we’re talking SEMA. The Speciality Equipment Market Association holds a massive get together once a year and has done so since 1963 after a number of automotive aftermarket parts makers, including Dean Moon and Vic Edelbrock saw a niche that needed filling. It’s grown every year and now brings together nearly 6,400 companies to showcase their wares. The show itself is only open to those in the industry, not to the public, and its quasi-motorsport roots are shown in the original name, Speed Equipment Manufact ..read more

It’s regarded as Australia’s biggest horsepower party and was once famous for BBB. Beer, boobs, and burnouts.  Summernats has gone hard in recent years to make the BBB more bbb. There are still boob, beer, and burnouts, but the reliance and focus on those as what made it Summernats has been changed.   There is still plenty of muscle in the form of tricked up and injected, turboed and supercharged, engines aplenty. The magicians that press, bend, fold, weld, and massage sheetmetal are still there in numbers, and it’s this area that can catch the eyeballs more than a towering intake stack. Sum ..read more