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: Aston Martin DB5
The Aston Martin DB5 was built in tiny numbers compared to its contemporary British rival the Jaguar E-Type, but its enduring association with one of the most successful film franchises in history helped propel the luxury grand tourer coupe to cinematic and automotive immortality.
Rear View: BMW 2002 Turbo
Weighing just over 1000kg and punching out a lively 127kW and 241Nm from its force-fed 2.0-litre four-pot, the pugnacious BMW 2002 Turbo briefly terrorised far bigger and more powerful machines on German autobahns during the early 1970s.
Rear View: Honda NSX
Benchmarked against the Ferrari 328 and with development input from the great Ayrton Senna himself, the Honda NSX introduced a feast of firsts, its stunning performance, innovative design and outstanding quality impacting every supercar since.
Rear View: 1964 Ford Mustang
Demure enough for church-going, racy enough for the dragstrip, and modish enough for the country club, the original Ford Mustang was designed to appeal to young, educated, style-seeking but cost-conscious buyers. Clearly, it nailed the brief.
Retro Rides Presents: 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2
This is why Retro Rides’ own Michael Stahl, a 40-year career motoring journalist, bought his 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 back in 2012.
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.