Innholdsfortegnelse for #367 25-DEC i Just Cars

This past October, a rare example of the world’s smallest production car, the Peel P50, sold for what’s believed to be the highest price ever achieved in Australia at Donington Auctions’ Collector & Competition Car Auction. The 10-day, timed online auction saw 49 lots offered, covering cars, collectables and automobilia. Vehicles varied from an aero-engined M.A.B. veteran to a late model Mercedes-Benz B200, with some of the more popular lots including an MGA 1600, Mercedes-Benz 350SL convertible, and a classic Fiat 500. Greater interest was directed to the pair of microcars in the auction - the aforementioned Peel P50 and a Messerschmitt KR200. Both had come to Australia from the UK in 1988 and spent most of their time here in storage at an undisclosed location on the Gold Coast.…

After eight years across two separate stints, Will Davison will end his time with Dick Johnson Racing (Shell V-Power Racing Team) at the end of the 2025 Repco Supercars season. His replacement in the Queensland-based squad will be this year’s Dunlop Super2 Series championship contender, Rylan Gray. Davison made his full time Supercars debut with Dick Johnson Racing in 2006 and remained with the team until 2009. He then spent time with the Holden Racing Team, Ford Performance Racing, Erebus Motorsport, Tekno Autosports and 23 Red Racing, before returning to DJR in 2021. While Davison is a two-time Bathurst winner and Supercars championship runner-up, most of his success has been achieved with other teams. Across both DJR stints, Davison’s tally (at time of writing) stands at five race wins, with…

With the Christmas season upon us, an awesome Aussie Falcon would make the ultimate gift, right? Just such a car could be yours, not from Santa, but the jolly folks at Classics Retro Rewards. Already a car with the lot, this 1974 XB hardtop’s white paint and red trim are Christmas colours, too! SUNSHINE STATE SELECTION Known as ‘FAT XB’, this hardtop is a magazine feature car and multiple award winner. Put together by Pat’s Pro Restos in Queensland, with interior trimming by Elite Interiors, and an engine from TOCA Performance, FAT XB took around 3,000 hours to build, but all that time was worth it. CLEVO AND C4 Powering FAT XB is a built 383 Cleveland V8, with a Scat crank and rods, SRP pistons, Isky solid lifters, ported…

It’s more than just metal, chrome and horsepower. Your classic car is a piece of history, a labour of love, and a significant investment. You’ve poured countless hours and hard-earned dollars into it, but when you lock the garage or showroom door, is your security older than the car it’s supposed to protect? For decades, securing automotive treasures meant heavy locks, a sensitive car alarm that the neighbourhood cat could trigger, or costly guards on patrol. Today, in an age of increasingly sophisticated thieves, these old-school methods are simply being outmanoeuvred. It’s time for a security solution with the performance to match your car. Enter the new era of security: proactive video monitoring. This isn’t just a camera recording to a hard drive; it’s a live, intelligent and immediate defence…

This year marks the 60th Anniversary of Bentley’s T Series, the 40th Anniversary of their Turbo R and 20th Anniversary of the Flying Spur (aka the Continental Flying Spur) - models that all played an important part in the British carmaker’s post-War history. To celebrate, Bentley has unveiled a trio of one-off cars that pay tribute to these historical sedans. Produced by Mulliner, the bespoke division of Bentley, and based on the MY25 Flying Spur, all three tributes took inspiration for their colours, trim and detailing from examples of the original cars that are in Bentley’s Heritage Collection. 1965 T SERIES - FLYING SPUR AZURE Launched in 1965, the Bentley T1 was mechanically identical to the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and almost physically identical, too, with only the grille and badging…

Melbourne-based boutique auction house, Chicane Auctions, saw an enthusiastic response to their most recent event. The timed online auction, held from 16 to 23 October, saw a very impressive 91 per cent clearance rate, with multiple consignments selling for six-figure sums. Vehicles on offer covered classic Aussie muscle, European sports and modern performance, with some outstanding examples of automotive Americana, too. Top seller was a 1989 ‘GTD 40’ Ford GT40 replica. The product of GT Developments in the UK, these GT40 replicas were well regarded, with most of the approximately 400 units they produced being offered to the home builder in kit form. This example combined a Ford 302 Windsor with a Renault five-speed transaxle, four-wheel disc brakes, BRM replica wheels and Hoosier tyres. Outside, Azure Blue paint with white…

Following its successful debut this year, the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Australasia has been confirmed for a return in 2026. Ferrari has released the calendar for the second edition of the championship, which will expand to five rounds. Queensland Raceway is the new addition to the 2026 calendar that includes rounds at Mount Panorama, Phillip Island, Sydney Motorsport Park and The Bend. The youngest member of the global Ferrari Challenge family, the Australasian series runs to the same formula as long-standing Challenge championships in Europe, the UK, USA and Japan that are open to gentleman drivers, enthusiasts and young talent. This year’s inaugural Ferrari Challenge Australasia saw Antoine Gittany win the Trofeo Pirelli class, with Enzo Cheng victorious in Coppa Shell. Both drivers represented Ferrari Sydney, with Cheng dominating his…

For a lucky few, the chance to attain the car of their dreams is possible while still young. For the rest of us, it takes a little longer, as mortgages, kids and life’s demands limit the finances available. But for some of us, changing tastes and new interests means it takes a LOT longer to circle back to those cars we fell in love with in our youth. The 1964 Holden EH Premier featured belongs to Peter Stonebridge and is a car of the type he fell in love with as a kid. After restoring his first car as a 16-year-old, Peter was able to buy a second-hand EH Special when he was 18, but his budget back then didn’t stretch to a Premier: “I always wanted a Premier, but…

If there’s one sure thing at JUST CARS & COFFEE Brisbane, it’s that you’ll see something different every time. Such was the case for the October edition of this monthly car meet at Café Elle in Geebung. This time around, there were even more cars, utes and pickups making their show debut than usual, covering a broad spectrum of makes, models, ages and body styles. Parked front and centre at Café Elle, a C1973 Mazda RX3 wagon was rocking a 13B rotary with lots of extras and rolling on a set of Center Line Convo Pros. Classic! Speaking of classic, there was also a very neat Gen 1 Camaro, finished in satin black, with fat tyres filling the rear wheelarches. A pair of Pontiac Firebirds also made an impression, especially…

Australian motorsport has lost one of its most revered, popular and irreverent characters in Garry Rogers, who passed away on 23 October, aged 80. The founder of Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM), Rogers spent 24 years in the Supercars Championship before moving GRM into the TCR Australia Series, Trans Am and other categories. Rogers was also a longtime supporter of young driving talent. As a driver, Rogers started in 1963, racing ‘Humpy Holdens’ in Appendix J, before making a mark in Sports Sedans, then moving into the Australian Touring Car Championship. Rogers made his Bathurst 1000 debut in 1978, with his best result - fourth in a VC Commodore – achieved in 1981. Although he dialled back his driving ambitions in the 1980s to focus on running the Nissan dealership he…

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has announced they’ll take an unchanged driver lineup into the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship, with George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli retained for what will be a pivotal year for the sport. With smaller cars, changes to power units and aerodynamics, reduced downforce and other changes coming into effect next year, plus the arrival of new teams, the works Mercedes squad have chosen to continue with their current pairing. “Confirming our driver line-up was always a matter of when, not if,” CEO and Team Principal, Toto Wolff explained. “We wanted to take our time, handle the negotiations properly and make sure everyone, on all sides, was happy. I’m pleased we have done that. George and Kimi have proved a strong pairing and we’re…