Michael Stahl
Michael Stahl is one of Australia's most celebrated motoring Journalists. He has won numerous writing awards, including Motoring Journalist of the Year in 1998 and the magazine industry association Publishers Australia Journalist of the Year in 2011. In addition he was contributing Editor of Wheels magazine and Motoring Editor for the Australian Financial review.
Latest articles
Rear View: 1961 Lincoln Continental
With its trademark suicide doors and elegant slab-side body work, the 1961 Lincoln Continental was the pinnacle of the US automotive industry when released. Boasting a feast of luxury innovations, a mighty 7.0-litre V8 and an equally mighty 2300kg kerb weight, it set a benchmark for design elegance and innovation.
Rear View: Ford Falcon XP
A tortuous 70,000-mile durability marathon at Ford Australia’s then-new You Yangs proving ground helped convince sceptical Australians that the new XP Falcon was the real deal.
Rear View: Holden Torana GTR XU-1
Holden turned the humble Vauxhall Viva into the giant-killing Torana GTR XU-1, one of Australia’s greatest ever homologation specials.
Rear View: Jaguar E-Type
The Jaguar E-Type’s gorgeous curves were shaped by an ace aerodynamicist using mathematical logarithms and lengths of wool taped to the bodywork to illustrate airflow.
Rear View: Audi Quattro
Winter testing in Scandinavia with a VW military vehicle gave Audi engineer Jörg Bensinger the idea for the landmark Audi Quattro.
Rear View: Datsun 1600
How the stub-tailed Datsun 1600 brought a new level of style and mechanical specification within reach of the masses, and kick-started more rally driving careers than perhaps any other vehicle.
Rear View: 1970 Range Rover
The revolutionary Range Rover emerged from the questionable Road Rover concept to rewrite the rule book for 4x4 wagons.
Rear View: Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R 1969
Decades before the R32 famously won the 1991 Bathurst 1000, it’s grandaddy the 1969 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R stalked the expressways of Japan. Japan has produced some individual and impressive performance cars over the past six decades, machines as varied as the Mazda RX-7, Honda NS-X, Subaru and Mitsubishi turbo AWD rally rockets and more recently, the Nissan R35 GT-R.
Rear View: VW Golf GTI Mk1
VW replaced the revolutionary Bettle with the innovative Golf, adding the now-iconic GTI badge to help pioneer the hot hatch concept.
Rear View: Lamborghini Countach
The Lamborghini Countach became the definitive supercar of the 1970s, and the decade after.