Innholdsfortegnelse for #271 19-01 i Just Cars

Lloyds Classic Car Auctions has set a new benchmark for Australian-made cars sold at auction, with an unrestored 1971 Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III selling for $1.03 million at their event conducted at Bathurst on 16 June. The date also marked the opening of Lloyds new auction house for classic cars in Bathurst. PAST ATTEMPTS While a million-plus sale has been predicted for some time, the closest an Australian-made car has got to a publicly-acknowledged seven figure sum before now was back in 2007, when another GT-HO was auctioned for $750,000. Since then, a number of cars have sold for mid-to-high six figures sums, including $672,000 for the first Australian-made Holden 48-215 in 2013, sold through Theodore Bruce at Motorclassica, and $500,000 for the ex-HDT Holden HT Monaro GTS…

This year’s Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in Colorado, USA, saw Volkswagen not just break, but absolutely smash the outright record set by Sebastien Loeb in a custom Peugeot five years ago, as well as the existing record for electric vehicles set in 2016. VW announced their plans to take on the 19.99km (12.42 mile), 156-corner high-altitude hillclimb in a specially-developed electric vehicle - the ‘I.D. R Pikes Peak’ - last September; their first factory attempt at the famous event since 1987. Romain Dumas, an experienced Pikes Peak entrant (and outright winner in 2014, 2016 and 2017), was employed to drive the I.D. R, with the all-electric machine considered to have an advantage over internal combustion engines in the thinner air of the hillclimb course, especially at the finish line that’s…

As this issue was about to go to press, Craig Lowndes announced that he would be retiring from the Supercars series at the end of this year’s season after more than 20 years in the sport. The 44-year-old had been contracted to Triple Eight (under Autobarn Lowndes Racing) for the full 2019 season, but recent discussions with team boss Roland Dane led to what’s reported as a mutual decision to wind up his full-time driving career a year early. Lowndes will stay involved with Triple Eight for at least the 2019 season, co-driving in the enduros and also serving an ambassadorial role with the team; mixing these jobs with a commentary role, too. Lowndes first raced touring cars in 1994, as a fill-in for Rickard Rydell at HRT, and made…

The Plymouth Barracuda remains one of the great “What Ifs” of the automotive world. As has been well documented, it was created along similar lines to Ford’s Mustang and actually came to market earlier, but was absolutely swamped by that model in the marketplace. What if Ford had held off the Mustang’s introduction for a year? What if the Mustang’s styling had been closer to the Falcon it was based on? What if the Barracuda had been marketed more aggressively? Who knows? But, if things had turned out differently, we could be talking about the whole genre of Barracudas, Mustangs, Camaros, etc. as “Fish Cars” rather than “Pony Cars”! EXPANDING THE COMPACT Plymouth, like their colleagues over at Ford and Chevrolet, had brought out a new “compact” model for the…

Remember the days when Japanese cars were just ‘rice burners’ or ‘Jap crap’? When old rotary Mazdas were only worth scrap metal if their engines blew? Thankfully, classic Japanese cars have undergone a renaissance with collectors in recent years, so it’s no surprise that car shows devoted to them have sprung up across the country. Leading the charge is Adelaide’s ‘All Japan Day’, which began back in 2008 and has since become so popular that the show’s small band of volunteer enthusiasts, backed by local Adelaide business, Iron Chef Imports, opted for a two-day format this year to cater for the 550 entrants. Held on the Glenelg waterfront at Wigley Reserve each summer, All Japan Day prides itself on being a “no frills” event; no prizes are awarded, there’s no…

A new President and CEO has been appointed for Ford Australia and New Zealand, with Kay Hart taking on the role on 2 July. The daughter of former All Blacks coach John Hart, the 40-year-old Kiwi has served in numerous roles with Ford, starting with the marketing department of Ford New Zealand in 1998. From 2013 to 2015, Hart was the managing director for Ford Philippines, directing what’s been described as a successful, product-led transformation of Ford’s business in that country. Most recently, Hart has been the global BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) manager, distribution & customer experience, for Team Edison - Ford’s electric vehicle research and development arm. Hart will be responsible for Ford’s National Sales Company in both Australia and New Zealand, including marketing, sales and service, dealer relations,…

To mark its tenth anniversary next year, the annual Sh*tbox Rally - where teams tour remote areas of Australia in cars costing less than $1,000 - will host its biggest event yet, with equally big plans for the fundraising target. The largest independent fundraiser for the Cancer Council, the Sh*tbox Rally was created by James Freeman in 2009 after he lost both his parents to cancer within 12 months. Since the first rally was held in 2010, participants have raised $14.78 million for the Cancer Council, including $1.97 million on this year’s event; the highest single-year total ever. The fundraising goal for next year’s rally is $2 million. “When I launched the Rally back in 2009, I hoped that within five years we would hit $1 million raised each rally,…

Ahead of this November’s Kennards Hire Rally Australia at Coffs Harbour - the final round of the 2018 WRC season - organisers have revealed a series of changes to the route, including deletion of the long Nambucca stage. The revamped course will see 16 of the 24 competitive stages from last year’s Rally Aus changed. Covering 317 kilometres, the 2018 route will see the removal of the testing 49.8km Nambucca stage, although parts of it will be used on a new 28.8km ‘Argents Hill Reserve’ stage. Wedding Bells will be run in the reverse direction and a bigger jump will be added to the Forests NSW Rally Village. The Raleigh Raceway stage will use the rallycross track twice this year, while the fan-favourite superspecial on the Coffs waterfront will add…

HANDS UP WHO HAD – OR STILL HAS - A DIE-CAST BATMOBILE IN THEIR TOY CAR COLLECTION? THAT’S A LOT OF YOU. IT’S NO WONDER, REALLY, AS FOR JUST CARS READERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, THE ORIGINAL BATMOBILE WAS THE COOLEST CAR EVER AND STILL LOOKS PRETTY DAMN AWESOME TODAY. Of course, everyone knows the original was built by George Barris, Bill Cushenberry and others at Barris Kustom Industries from the Lincoln Futura concept car. And most of you who know that will also recall that the original sold for AU$4.4 million at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 2013. But how many of you knew there was a series of Batmobile replicas produced, licensed by Barris for display at car shows and other events? BIRD-BASED BAT What you’re looking at here…

After a record-breaking event in Melbourne this year that saw more than 700 cars on show and almost 30,000 visitors, Meguiar’s MotorEx will return to Melbourne in 2019. Previously a Sydney-only event, Meguiar’s MotorEx first came to Melbourne in 2014, with the two cities then alternating hosting duties each year. However, the overwhelming enthusiasm for the event in Melbourne, compared to the tougher environment in Sydney, has led event owners, Out There Promotions, to announce that, despite initially looking at returning to Sydney in 2019, Meguiar’s MotorEx would stay in Melbourne next year, with no plans to return to Sydney in the foreseeable future. “The argument to stay in Melbourne has become undeniable,” said Andy Lopez, co-owner of MotorEx. “We’ve been able to create a real festival atmosphere, with drifting,…

Following confirmation in March of its Australian arrival, Ford has now confirmed the pricing and arrival date for the limited-edition Mustang Bullitt. The upcoming Bullitt takes its name and much of its styling inspiration from the Mustang 390 GT driven by Steve McQueen’s Lt. Frank Bullitt character in the 1968 movie of the same name; a movie that’s famous for its epic car chase between McQueen’s Highland Green Mustang and a black Dodge Charger. “Bullitt is the car-chase of car chases, and we know that Australians are passionate about Mustang, so we’re pleased to have secured our own batch of this unique model,” said Graeme Whickman, Ford Australia President and CEO. “Australians are looking for Mustangs that really stand out, and Mustang Bullitt really makes a statement.” (NOTE: less than…

One of the rarest and most valuable classic Lamborghinis recently emerged from a 19-month-long restoration by the company’s Polo Storico heritage division. GERMAN REQUEST The ‘Miura SVR’ was ordered in 1974 by German Lamborghini enthusiast Heinz Straber, who requested many of the mechanical and cosmetic features first seen on the one-off Miura P400 Jota. An experimental race car, the Jota had been developed by Lamborghini’s chief test driver Bob Wallace in 1970 for potential participation in FIA Appendix J racing, but Ferrucio Lamborghini was not supportive of taking his cars racing, so the project never got beyond the one prototype. Sold by Lamborghini in 1972 and destroyed soon after, the Miura Jota had received enough attention and press coverage during its short existence to lead a small number of Miura…

THE DEATH OF local manufacturing in Australia has meant a huge upheaval for those who were once employed by it. But it also means all change for the cars that we once recognised as our home-grown heroes. Chief among them is the Holden Commodore which becomes a fully-imported model, based on a European design and built in Germany. Gone is the V8 engine option of the previous local version, and gone too is rear-wheel-drive. Of course, had local production not ceased, it was probably this very car that would have eventually replaced the VF Commodore anyway. But, imported status aside, is it a real Commodore? WHAT IS THE 2018 HOLDEN COMMODORE? The Opel-designed Holden is available as a five-door liftback (but no conventional sedan) and a station-wagon (Sportwagon) that can…