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: 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.
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.