Innholdsfortegnelse for #260 18-03 i Just Cars

In the main, concept cars predict what will happen with automobiles in the future, but Infiniti, Nissan’s high-end sub-brand, has created a concept that looks to the past. Asking – and answering – the question of what an open-wheel Infiniti racer from the 1930s or ’40s would look like, designers, engineers and craftspeople from Nissan and Infiniti created ‘Prototype 9’, which made its global debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the US this August. INFINITI ASKS ‘WHAT IF?’ While established automobile marques have, in some cases, more than 100 years of history to call upon, Infiniti has less than thirty. Created by Nissan as a premium subbrand (in the same way that Lexus is the premium Toyota), Infiniti launched in the US in 1989, so doesn’t have the…

The 1969 HT Monaro GTS 350 – billed as the first Holden Dealer Team racer and featured in JUST CARS #258 – proved to be a highly-desirable machine when it was recently auctioned. The Monaro was the star attraction at a special sale conducted by Lloyd’s Auctions on 19 August. As documented in #258, the Holden Dealer Team was founded in 1969, and the car featured - chassis HT/13681/M - was the first of four HT Monaro GTS 350s built by the Harry Firth-run team that year. In its first race, the Sandown curtain raiser to the Bathurst enduro, chassis HT/13681/M crashed due to brake failure caused by the racing brake pads being accidentally replaced with road-spec pads. While unable to be repaired for the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500, lessons learnt…

Shivering in their sheds, JUST CARS Historic Touring competitors had dug out their wet weather rubber in anticipation of precipitation forecast to hit the long circuit for this year’s Winton Festival of Speed event, which took place on August 5 and 6. Sure enough, qualifying was run in damp and chilly conditions, with Torana peddler Peter McNiven ending up on pole after a number of drivers were penalised grid positions following yellow flag infractions. Penrite Erebus Supercar star David Reynolds was among those naughty boys (welcome to Historics, David!), having taken the wheel of Joe Calleja’s recently acquired ‘69 Mustang fastback. After a very successful Historic Winton back in May, veteran Tony Hubbard suffered issues in his Camaro this time around and was sadly out for the duration of the…

Australia, and more specifically Victoria, has scored a motoring event coup in securing the hosting rights for the famous Targa Florio road race. Marking the first time the Targa Florio - formerly a road race and now a regularity and tour event - will be held outside of Italy, the ‘Targa Florio Australian Tribute 2017’ is a four-day event, taking in routes around Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay and Surf Coast, as well as the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas. Beating out a competing bid from the USA, Melbourne-based consulting group iSTEEM secured the rights for Victoria to host the event for the next five years, with the debut Australian Tribute scheduled for this coming 29 November to 3 December. More than 200 cars are expected to take part in the Targa…

If a trip to the classic motoring mecca that is the Goodwood Revival is on your bucket list, you need to enter the latest competition from Shannons. The major prize in the Shannons ‘Goodwood Revival UK Tour’ is a 13-night, fully escorted self-drive tour of the UK for two people. Focused on the 2018 Goodwood Revival, the tour also includes visits to other attractions, motoring events and vehicle collections. The winner will also score a new Indian Scout Bobber motorcycle, valued at up to $18,995 and with 12 months comprehensive Shannons insurance cover included. Get a quote on your car, bike or home & contents insurance and you get one entry into the competition. Take out a policy and you get five entries, while new and existing home & contents…

There were a number of new production and concept car reveals at this year’s Monterey Car Week and Pebble Beach concours in California, but none were as jaw-dropping as the Mercedes-Maybach Vision 6 Cabriolet concept. A soft top version of the Mercedes-Maybach 6 Coupe that was revealed at the same event last year, the Vision 6 Cabriolet is impressive for its size if nothing else, measuring 5.7 metres long x 2.1 metres wide, with a steeply raked windscreen contributing to the two-seater concept’s low 1.34 metre height. While inspired by coachbuilt cars from the past – “automotive haute couture” as Mercedes calls it – the Vision 6 Cabriolet features modern running gear in the form of a fully electric drivetrain. The four compact electric motors have a combined output of…

It’s known as Australia’s toughest hill climb for a reason. I’ve been attending Noosa’s picturesque Hill Climb for the last ten years, and racing here the past three, and there’s always – very sadly - a sorry sight of mangled metal at the end of each weekend’s play. This is not a slur on the event organisers, the track or even the drivers themselves. It’s merely a reflection of how hard and very unforgiving this 1.5km 14-turn hill climb course is. Truly quick and talented drivers have come unstuck here and lost out to concrete blocks, rock-lined walls or gum trees when the worst happens and you spear off down one of the steep drop-offs. But as many racers will tell you, part of the perverse appeal of racing at…

Ford has confirmed the highspecification ‘Focus RS Limited Edition’ for Australia, with 500 units due to arrive here from November, 2017. Ford says that global feedback determined the specification for the Limited Edition, which will arrive in Australia with a $56,990 list price – a $6,000 premium over the Focus RS. “Ford’s performance models are an important part of our line-up, and we’re excited to offer Australians an even more capable version of the Focus RS,” said Ford President and CEO Graeme Whickman. While featuring the same 257kW 2.3-litre EcoBoost powerplant, six-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive (with dynamic torque vectoring, adjustable dampers and launch control) as the Focus RS, the Limited Edition differs with the addition of a Quaife limited-slip diff on the front axle, as well as Michelin…

Replacing the California T as the hardtop convertible GT in Ferrari’s lineup, Ferrari’s ‘Portofino’ convertible features an allnew chassis that claims to be lighter and stronger than the California T, while the 3.9-litre V8 from that model has been tuned to deliver increased performance. Making its debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show, the Portofino is a fairly comprehensive restyle over the outgoing California T: while features like the grille and back end treatment are familiar, there are now 488-esque headlights (full LEDs), front guard cut-outs in the vein of the 812 Superfast and a more aggressive look to the bonnet and lower front vents. The design for the retractable hardtop is also described as being all new. Ferrari says the restyle is the result of a close collaboration between the…

Punching above its weight. That’s certainly something the tiny rural Queensland town of Leyburn managed back in 1949 when it won the right to host the 14th Australian Grand Prix. Leyburn may be home to only 300 souls, but its World War II airbase’s runways and taxiways were suitable to mark out a 7-kilometre race circuit, appealing enough for organisers to grant the green light for it to host Queensland’s first Australian Grand Prix. That spring day, around 30,000 people watched John Crouch triumph in his Delahaye 135MS. Some 70 years later and sleepy little Leyburn still knows how to put bums on seats, albeit today in the heart of town, about six-kilometres from the old airbase site. Now in its 22nd year, the Historic Leyburn Sprints trades on the town’s…

Working for JUST CARS, you come to appreciate the breadth and depth of automotive enthusiasm that’s present in this country. You also learn to never to think you “know it all” when it comes to makes and models, as you’re sure to be made a fool of when something you’ve never heard of pops up. Such is the case with the vehicle featured, which came to my attention a few years ago via regular JUST CARS advertiser, Russell Holden of Old World Lamps and Tyres, who has a passion for single and twocylinder veteran automobiles. If you’ve no idea what this vehicle is, you’re not alone. What you’re looking it is a “high wheeler”, more specifically a Black ‘Model 30’ delivery wagon high wheeler that Russell found in the USA in…