Innholdsfortegnelse for #291 20-08 i Just Cars

At last year’s annual auction in Kissimmee, Florida, Mecum Auctions set a new record price for a Mustang sold at auction of US$2.2 million (AU$3.47 million approx.). At this year’s Florida auction event, Mecum comfortably beat that when the 1968 Ford Mustang GT used in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie Bullitt crossed the auction block. LONG LOST MUSTANG As has already been widely reported, two Highland Green 1968-model Mustang GTs with the 390 cubic inch V8 engine and 4-speed manual transmission were purchased for use in the film, most notably for the chase in which McQueen’s character, Detective Frank Bullitt, is alternately chased by then chasing would-be assassins in a black 1968 Dodge Charger through the streets of San Francisco. Widely regarded as one of the best movie car chase…

To celebrate 55 years of the Mustang fastback in 2020, Ford has announced the release of special, limited-run ‘Heritage Edition’ package for the US market. Available on both the GT350 and GT350R, the package includes Wimbledon White paint, with side and over-the-top racing stripes in Guardsman Blue: the colour scheme paying tribute to the original Shelby racing Mustangs from 1965. Additional features include Guardsman Blue exterior badges and a special dash badge inside. On Shelby GT350Rs with the Heritage Edition package, the seats will be all black, with contrast red stitching. Tapping in to the recent hype of the Ford vs Ferrari film, Ford’s PR notes that Ken Miles was the first to drive a Shelby GT350 to victory when he won an SCCA race at Green Valley Raceway in…

Following the 2019 release of the Huracan EVO, Lamborghini has added a rear-wheel drive version – the Huracan EVO RWD. As the name makes plain, the Huracan EVO RWD is a rear-wheel drive only version of the Huracan EVO that’s normally all-wheel drive. The new addition sacrifices some performance numbers, but Lamborghini says this makes the RWD version “an instinctive driver’s car”. “The Huracan EVO rear-wheel drive puts the car in the driver’s hands: the driving experience is delivered by the hardware,” said Stefano Domenicali, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini. “This car reminds the driver of Lamborghini’s pure engineering origins: the driver is at the centre of the Huracan EVO RWD’s performance, with unfiltered feedback and an emotive and more engaging driving experience controlled by the pilot.…

Why that car? It’s a question that gets asked a lot in these articles about an enthusiast’s new purchase, fresh restoration or newly-completed project. More often than not, the answer to that question will be something to do with the car their family had, the first car they owned, or the first resto project they did. For better or worse, we often build a connection with our cars, particularly units that impressed us as children, that we owned for a long time, or put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into. In the case of this custom 1966 HR Premier built by Stewart Pope, all three of those reasons applied. A HISTORY IN HOLDEN South Australian born and bred, Stewart can distinctly recall the first car that made an…

Barrett-Jackson auctions CEO Craig Jackson recently presented two special Mustangs, bringing them together for the first time. The two cars were experimental units built by Shelby American in the 1960s. The first, a 1967 Mustang GT500 EXP (for experimental) coupe was known as ‘Little Red’. A year later, a 1968 version, also a coupe, was built, with this unit known as ‘Green Hornet’ EXP 500. Both are unique, insofar as Shelbys were never built on the notchback coupe body style, only fastbacks and convertibles. Additionally, the two cars carried features unavailable on Shelby-built Mustangs of the period. In the case of Little Red (so named for its Candyapple Red paint), these features included a special fibreglass bonnet to give clearance for the Paxton supercharger that had been fitted to the…

Marking 70 years since the release of their Plus 4 model in 1950, Morgan Motor Company has announced a special, 70th Anniversary Edition. Only 20 units of the “Plus 4 70th Anniversary Edition” will be built, only for the UK market and all had been accounted for at time of writing. Each unit will be finished in Platinum Metallic paint with sain dark grey wire wheels, a “motorsport inspired” front valance and exterior black pack that includes blackout treatment of the stone guard, sidescreen surrounds and A-pillars. Inside, high-quality leather seats with heating and specially-embroidered headrests, a Ravenwood veneer dash, dark grey carpets and a stain black Moto Lita steering wheel will be standard, with each unit carrying an individually-numbered plaque. Leather trim on the steering cowl and door handles,…

On 19 January, Red Bull Holden Racing Team unveiled the new livery for their ZB Commodore racers ahead of the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship season opening round at Adelaide this 20 – 23 February. The Brisbane-based squad is expecting the new Red Bull Holden ZB Commodores design will turn plenty of heads in 2020. The new livery retains the white and blue theme of recent years, with a sharp look featuring geometric shapes in varying shades of blue. Seven-time Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup said he can't wait to get behind the wheel and show off the new look. “Great to see the car for the first time today, we were lucky enough to see a sneak peek of the livery late last year but to see it in full…

Perfect conditions greeted participants and spectators for the eighth running of the Geelong Revival Motoring Festival this past 22-24 November. And the big crowd that came to the 2019 Revival were spoilt for choice when it came to attractions on the sprint track, in the pits and through the adjacent display areas. While classic and modern cars of all types, sizes and configurations were in action on the quarter mile sprint course over two days, there was even more variety in the adjacent static displays. From classic and modern cars to hot rods, drift cars, motorcycles, vintage boats, trucks, military vehicles and even high-powered beasts used for tractor pulls, there was plenty for visitors to see. A LONG HISTORY As the name suggests, the Revival is a resurrection, specifically a…

After a high of 9,165 sales in 2017, Mustang sales plummeted in 2019, with 3,948 sales for the year being the lowest full-year total since it arrived here. The total for 2019 is down 38.4 per cent on 2018’s 6,412 total, which in turn was down 30 per cent on the high of 2017. Ever-rising prices for the Mustang have been cited as one reason for the slump, as well as speculation that local demand has been met, while some potential buyers may be waiting for the arrival of the locally-developed supercharged R-Spec version, which is due for release shortly. More pertinent is the depressed new car market overall, which saw sales for 2019 down 7.8 per cent on 2018 levels. All major brands, with the exception of Kia, saw…

After two separate appearances in their catalogue, Bentley will retire their Mulsanne model this year and also send off their long-running 6 ¾-litre V8 engine. The two will be combined, with the final Mulsannes to be badged as the Mulsanne ‘6.75 Edition’. “The Mulsanne has played a pivotal role in maintaining Bentley’s position as global leader of the luxury limousine segment. The flagship of our model range, its longevity is a testament to our ongoing commitment to hand-building the finest motor cars in the world. The new Mulsanne 6.75 Edition is the culmination of that achievement,” said Chris Craft, Member of the Board, Sales, Marketing and Aftersales at Bentley Motors. “While production of the Mulsanne will end in Spring 2020, this decision has been taken at a time when we…

Last October, Ford Australia made waves when they announced the ‘R-Spec’ Mustang with a 520kW and 830Nm supercharged 5.0-litre V8. Roush Performance must have looked at that and said, ‘Hold my Beer’, because a month later, they unveiled a special edition Mustang with a whopping 578kW and 908Nm. As impressive as those numbers are, the fact that a couple of these high-performance pony cars are coming to Australia is even better… A HISTORY IN SPEED Jack Roush may not be a familiar name to Aussie performance car enthusiasts, but he’s been just as influential in the US racing and performance car scene as Carroll Shelby. As a young man, Roush worked for Ford Motor Company (and, Chrysler, briefly) before setting up his own business – Jack Roush Performance Engineering -…

This year’s Albury Wodonga Chrysler Club ‘Chryslers on the Murray’ event is just around the corner – 13 to 15 March, 2020. The theme for the 28th annual Chrysler gathering at Gateway Lakes, Wodonga, is US Mopar Muscle, specifically Mopar’s finest from 1962 to 1974, so expect to see Road Runners like Elliot’s, along with Chargers, Barracudas, Dusters, Super Bees and more. For the past six years, Chryslers on the Murray (CotM) has also hosted the Australian AMC/Rambler Show. The AMC movement here in Australia has really gained steam in recent years, with numbers increasing and some high-quality restorations of very rare and unique cars appearing under the banner of the ‘Australian AMC/Rambler Show’. This year, the AMC crew will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the AMC Gremlin and AMC/Rambler…

Whoever dreamed up the Yellow Pages advertisement using the Goggo Dart and Tommy Dysart with his deep baritone Scottish accented voice uttering those now famous words, “G,O,G,G,O….No! No! Not the Dart!” should be canonised for posterity. Simply brilliant! The pity of it all was the actual car, the Dart, was nowhere near as clever as the advertisement. Its greatest claim to fame was the fact that it was uniquely Australian; it was never made by the parent company, Hans Glas GmbH, back in Dingolfing, Bavaria, Germany. Bill Buckle began importing Goggo sedan chassis into Australia and fitting them with Buckle-made fibreglass replica bodies (the German cars had steel bodies) that were lighter and pretty soon he had a booming business selling over 5000 of them during the mid-to-late 60s. But…